Snapback is a tiny Raspberry Pi box that quietly buffers whatever's on your HDMI source. Something great happens? Tap one button on your phone and keep the last 30 seconds, or grab a full-res screenshot.
No accounts, no settings screens, no app to install. Open a web page on your phone and tap.
HDMI from your console, camera, or computer goes into a Cam Link on a Raspberry Pi 5.
Snapback encodes a continuous H.264 buffer and keeps about the last minute on the Pi.
Open the Pi's web page on your iPhone. Save a screenshot or the last 30 seconds, straight to Files or Photos.
A home project that does one job well and stays out of the way.
Saved clips are stitched without re-encoding, so they're ready in about a second.
Screenshots are full 1920x1080 JPEGs. Clips are H.264 + AAC MP4s that play anywhere.
A single mobile web page with big, thumb-sized buttons, built for Safari on iPhone.
Your captures live on the Pi. No cloud, no telemetry, no accounts, nothing phoning home.
Python, FastAPI, ffmpeg, and one HTML file. No Docker, no database, no JS build step.
Unplug the HDMI or reset the capture card and the buffer restarts by itself.
Off-the-shelf parts, no soldering, no GPIO.
On Raspberry Pi OS with ffmpeg and Python 3 installed. Full notes are in the README.
# on the Pi git clone https://github.com/dconroy/snapback.git ~/snapback cd ~/snapback python3 -m venv .venv .venv/bin/pip install -r requirements.txt .venv/bin/python -m quickcap serve # on your phone open http://<your-pi>.local:8080/
Snapback is an early-stage personal home project. Read the full disclaimer before using it. Questions or concerns: contact@snapback.video.
No warranty of any kind. Clips may be missing, late, or corrupted. The authors are not liable for any damages, data loss, or hardware damage from using it.
Respect copyright, terms of service, and audio/video recording and consent laws where you live. Snapback is not intended to bypass HDCP or other copy protection.
Anyone on your network can open it. Never expose it to the internet.
Not affiliated with or endorsed by Raspberry Pi Ltd, Elgato/Corsair, Apple, or FFmpeg. Trademarks belong to their owners.