Home Assistant VNC Web Browser Addon

This addon allows you to display multiple web pages through VNC connections. Each web page runs in its own Chromium instance with a dedicated VNC server, making it perfect for displaying dashboards, cameras, or any other web content.

This is especially useful for older or low power devices that don't have a recent browser. You can use old tablets or e-ink devices as dashboards.

Installation

1. Add https://github.com/MindFreeze/home-assistant-addons to the addon store repositories
2. Install the VNC Web Browser addon
3. Configure the addon as described below
4. Start the addon

Configuration

Example configuration:

displays:
  - url: "http://example1.com"
    resolution: "1920x1080"
    port: 5901
    depth: 16
    view_only: false
  - url: "http://example2.com"
    resolution: "1280x720"
    port: 5902
    depth: 16
    view_only: false
vnc_password: "your_secure_password"

Configuration Options

• displays: List of displays to create
  • url: The URL to display in the browser
  • resolution: The resolution of the display (e.g., "1920x1080")
  • port: VNC port number (must be between 5901 and 5908). This is the port used in the docker container. You can map it to another port in the addon's network configuration
  • depth: Color depth in bits (8-32, defaults to 16). Common values are 8, 16, 24, or 32. There seem to be some issues with 8 bit depth so be careful with that value
  • view_only: Optional boolean to enable view-only mode (defaults to false). When enabled, keyboard and pointer events from VNC clients will be ignored
• vnc_password: Password for VNC connections (required)

Usage

1. Configure your displays in the addon configuration
2. Start the addon
3. Connect to the VNC displays using any VNC client:
   • Host: Your Home Assistant IP address
   • Port: As configured per display (5901-5908)
   • Password: As configured in vnc_password

Note: Devices without a keyboard like old kindles can't log in but you can use a VNC client on another device to connect to the same session and log in. The session data is saved so you shouldn't need to do this more than once.

Notes

• Each display runs in its own Chromium instance
• The addon supports up to 4 simultaneous displays
• Make sure your VNC client supports the resolution you configure
• The VNC password is not considered very secure so I would advise against exposing this outside your network

This addon is based on this POC https://github.com/MindFreeze/vnc-web