DISPLAY WIDGETS
Build your own board from reusable split-flap parts that flip independently and mix freely. flaps.tv offers live clocks, countdowns, counters, and tickers as drop-in widgets you combine on a forked template, each updatable in real time from its own data source.
+ BROWSE
A live GitHub repo board that flips stars, forks, and open-issue counts plus the latest release tag for facebook/react, each fed by the public GitHub API. Engineering teams put it on the office TV to watch a release land or a star milestone tick past. Swap two URLs to track your own repository instead.
A live earthquake monitor that lists recent seismic events — magnitude and place — from the USGS all-day GeoJSON feed on an 11x44 split-flap grid. Newsrooms, geology classrooms, and data-curious offices run it as a real-time wall display with the source credited on the board. The repeater widget shows four events at a time in orange.
A New Year countdown board that flips away the seconds to midnight, January 1, 2027 — in whatever timezone the TV is in — under a gold "new year 2027" header and above two resolution lines about making every second count. Parties, bars, offices, and living rooms cast it to the big screen for a built-in ball-drop moment; the final minute is pure flip noise.
Composing a custom board from split-flap widgets
Set the grid before placing anything. Rows and columns define what each widget can occupy, so decide the board's shape — wide and shallow for a shelf-top counter, tall for a portrait lobby screen — then drop widgets into position: a clock in the header, a countdown or number tile as the centerpiece, a ticker along the base. Every widget scales to the cells you give it, and the fastest path is forking a widget template close to your layout and rearranging rather than building bare.
Give each widget its own job and its own source. A clock needs only a timezone; a countdown a target date; a counter or data widget takes a JSON or API URL with a poll interval you set per widget, so one board can mix a slow-refresh weather tile with a fast-flipping metric. Live JSON sources are part of the Business plan. Because every value flips independently, the board reads as one instrument even though five different feeds are driving it.
When a board gets crowded, split it into scenes instead of shrinking widgets. A clock-and-weather scene, a metrics scene, and a countdown scene rotating on their own durations each stay legible, where one crammed layout would not. Building and arranging is free, so prototype the full board before paying — a plan is only needed when it goes live on a TV, and any browser-capable screen from a Chromecast to a smart TV runs the finished composition with no other hardware.
- 01Live clock and time-zone widget
- 02Countdown timer to any date
- 03Auto-incrementing live counter
- 04Scrolling text ticker utility
- 05Single-value metric tile
- 06Stackable widgets for custom boards
Can I combine several widgets on one board?
Yes. Widgets are designed to mix, so you can place a clock, countdown, and counter side by side on a single forked board.
Can each widget pull from a different data source?
Each widget can point at its own JSON or API URL, so one board can show several live feeds updating in real time.
Do I need to code to add a widget to a board?
No. Drop a widget onto a forked template and configure its label, style, and data URL through the editor, no code involved.
Do I have to pay to experiment with widgets?
No. Building boards and arranging widgets is free, so you can prototype a layout end to end first. A paid plan starts at $8/mo when you put a board live on a TV, and live JSON sources for data widgets come with the Business plan.
What do I need to run a widget board on a screen?
Any device that opens a URL: a smart TV browser, Chromecast, Fire TV, or Apple TV. There is no player hardware or installation — the widgets render in the browser at 60 FPS, so an existing screen becomes the display.