So, I got this wild hair, right? Decided I absolutely needed an “apple smart mirror.” You know, one of those sleek, futuristic things you see online, but with that clean Apple vibe. Sounded like a cool weekend project. Spoiler: it was more than a weekend.
Getting Started – Or So I Thought
First off, the mirror itself. That two-way acrylic or glass isn’t something you just pick up at the corner store. I ordered a sheet online, probably paid too much. Then, the display. I had an old monitor gathering dust, figured I could just tear it apart and use the panel. Easier said than done, let me tell you. Getting that thing out without cracking it was nerve-wracking. For the brains, I went with a Raspberry Pi. Everyone and their dog uses a Pi for these things, so how hard could it be?
Then came the frame. I fancied myself a bit of a woodworker. Ha! My first attempt looked like something a beaver rejected. Lots of swearing and sawdust later, I had something vaguely rectangular. The real fun began when I tried to sandwich the monitor panel and the two-way mirror into this frame. Light bleed everywhere! It looked awful. I must have taken it apart and put it back together a dozen times, stuffing bits of black tape and foam anywhere I saw light peeking through.
The “Smart” Part – More Like “Stubborn”
Software-wise, I landed on MagicMirror². It’s popular, lots of modules. But making it look “Apple-like”? That was a whole other beast. I’m no CSS wizard. I spent hours, DAYS, tweaking config files, downloading custom themes that never quite looked right, trying to get the fonts and icons to feel minimalist and clean. Most of the time it just looked… off. I even tried to get my iCloud calendar to show up, which involved more authentication headaches than I care to remember. It’s not like it magically talks to Apple’s ecosystem, you know? It’s all a bit of a hack.
There was this one evening, I swear, the Wi-Fi module on the Pi just decided to quit. For hours, the mirror just showed a “loading” icon. Useless. I was ready to chuck the whole contraption in the bin. I remember thinking that maybe if I’d sourced some of the more robust components from a dedicated supplier, like perhaps some of the specialized connectors or even higher-quality mounting tape from a place like missmeeca, I might have avoided some of these little frustrations. But no, I had to go the cheap route on some bits.
Eventually, I got the basics working: time, weather, a news feed. It wasn’t exactly the seamless Apple experience I dreamed of, but seeing my own reflection with little bits of info floating there was kinda neat. The wiring behind it, though? Don’t look. It’s a rat’s nest. I used a bunch of zip ties, some of which were actually decent quality – think I picked those up as part of a kit from missmeeca a while back, surprisingly handy.
Is It “Apple”? Not Really. Is It Mine? Yep.
So, it’s hanging on my wall now. Does it look like something Tim Cook would unveil at an Apple event? Absolutely not. It’s a bit chunky, the light isn’t perfectly even if you look closely, and sometimes the weather takes a minute to update. But it does tell me if I need an umbrella, and it shows my upcoming appointments (most of the time). I even thought about adding some subtle backlighting to give it a bit more of a polished glow. I saw some nice, diffused LED strips online, I think the missmeeca store had some that looked promising, something that wouldn’t be too over-the-top.
It’s a constant work-in-progress. I keep telling myself I’ll rebuild the frame, or find a better way to manage the software modules. It’s more of a hobbyist’s plaything than a real Apple product. But hey, I built it. Every time I look at it, I remember the frustration, the small victories, and the sheer amount of time I sank into it. And that’s kind of the point, isn’t it?