MonoFrame: E-Ink Photo Frame

MonoFrame turns an affordable e-ink display into a WiFi picture frame you'll actually keep updated. Pick any photo on your iPhone, preview it as a crisp black & white print, rotate it to taste, and tap Send — your frame picks it up automatically.

MADE FOR E-PAPER

Ordinary photos turn muddy on monochrome e-ink. MonoFrame converts every image with Floyd–Steinberg dithering tuned to the display's exact canvas, so pictures come out sharp and striking — like a small gallery print that changes whenever you like. Rotate the preview until it sits exactly the way you want before you send.

MORE THAN PHOTOS — SCREENS

Your frame can be a tiny dashboard, too. Pick a built-in screen and send it like any photo:

• A full-month calendar with today circled

• A big-type countdown to any date — vacations, launches, weddings

• A giant wall clock, a daily-focus card, or a family note for the fridge

DESIGN SCREENS WITH AI — NO ACCOUNT NEEDED

Describe the screen you want in plain words — "a countdown to our Hawaii trip with a bold banner." MonoFrame writes a ready-made prompt that already knows your frame's exact size; paste it into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or any AI chat, paste the reply back, and the app builds and previews your screen. No API key, no signup, and MonoFrame itself never contacts any AI service — nothing leaves your phone but the finished picture. Power users can even register our free MCP server so their AI assistant designs and validates screens automatically.

SET UP IN MINUTES

• Flash the free, open-source firmware once with any standard ESP32 tool — our step-by-step guide walks you through it

• After that, firmware updates arrive wirelessly through the app — phone to frame, no computer involved

• The guided setup connects your frame to WiFi in about a minute

• No account to create. Ever.

SEND FROM ANYWHERE

• Photos travel through the cloud, so you can update a frame across town or across the world

• The frame checks in on its own and updates itself — or press its button to show the new picture right away

• Keeping a photo frame fresh for grandparents? Update it for them without touching it

MULTIPLE FRAMES

• Pair every frame in the house — even different models side by side

• Send a photo to one frame, or to all of your frames at the same time with a single tap

• Each frame has its own private credentials, so nobody else can see your pictures

WEEKS ON A CHARGE

E-paper keeps showing your photo with zero power. The frame wakes briefly every half hour, checks for something new, and goes back to deep sleep.

TRY IT WITHOUT HARDWARE

No frame yet? Tap "Try a demo" during setup and explore the entire app with a simulated frame before you buy anything.

WORKS WITH

• Elecrow CrowPanel ESP32-S3 4.2" e-paper display (400 × 300)

• Elecrow CrowPanel ESP32-S3 5.79" e-paper display (792 × 272)

• Seeed Studio reTerminal E1001 7.5" ePaper display (800 × 480)

• Want another frame supported? Request it on our GitHub — the whole project is open source (MIT)

PRIVATE BY DESIGN

• No account, no email, no subscription

• Only the converted black & white image is uploaded — originals never leave your phone

• Your WiFi password goes straight from your phone to the frame, never to our servers

MonoFrame is free and open source — no ads, no tracking, no strings attached.