Share across the room, not across the internet.
Push a photo from a phone to the desktop over Wi-Fi. Connect two machines directly. Share a screen, talk it through, cast to the classroom TV. None of it stops working when the school connection does.
Updated
What is included
Everything a class actually needs to move work between devices, built into the studio.
Send files from a phone over Wi-Fi
A built-in local server lets a phone push photos and documents straight into the desktop app on the same network. No cable, no cloud, no messaging app in the middle.
Peer-to-peer rooms
Create or join a room and connect directly between machines, with NAT traversal handled for you. Work is exchanged device to device rather than through a server.
Screen sharing
Share a screen from inside the studio for a walkthrough or a critique, without moving the class to a separate meeting tool.
Audio collaboration
Talk while you work on the same project. Useful for a lab pair on two machines and for remote help on a piece of coursework.
Chat scoped to a group
Messaging attached to a class group rather than a general-purpose chat app, so project conversation stays with the project.
Cast to a TV
Discover devices on the network and stream to a classroom TV or display, which removes the cable hunt at the start of a lesson.
Class group workspaces
Groups carry their roster across assignments and shared projects, so a class is set up once rather than per activity.
Portable project files
Whole projects export as a single file with their assets, so work moves between the lab and home on a USB stick if that is easier.
Why local transfer beats a cloud drive at school
The standard way a student moves a photograph of their homework onto a computer is to email it to themselves, or put it in a cloud drive, or send it over a messaging app. Every one of those routes the file through a third party, and at least one of them is usually blocked by the school filter.
A local transfer server solves it in the obvious way: the phone and the laptop are already on the same network, so the file goes directly. It is faster, it works when the internet is down, and the image of a child’s worksheet does not end up in a consumer messaging service.
Where this shows up in real use
- Photographing a stack of answer scripts and sending them to the teacher’s machine for offline grading.
- Capturing pages of a physical textbook into the AI-Memory module to study from.
- Handing a finished project to a partner on the next machine without uploading it anywhere.
- Putting a student’s work on the classroom display without hunting for an adapter.
Frequently asked questions
Can students share work without an internet connection?
Yes. Grout includes a local Wi-Fi transfer server and peer-to-peer rooms, so files and projects move between devices on the same network without touching the internet. Projects also export as a single portable file.
How do you get a photo from a phone into the app?
Start the Wi-Fi transfer server on the desktop and send from the phone over the local network. This is how photographed notes and scanned answer sheets get in without a cable or a cloud upload.
Does screen sharing need a separate meeting app?
No. Screen sharing and audio are built into the studio, so a walkthrough happens where the work already is rather than in a second application.
Is peer-to-peer sharing safe on a school network?
Connections are direct between the participating devices rather than routed through a third-party server, which means the work is not being copied to an intermediary. On a managed network your IT team controls which devices can see each other, as with any local service.
Can I cast to a classroom TV?
Yes. Grout can discover devices on the network and stream to a display, which is normally quicker than finding the right adapter.
Move work between devices, even when the internet is down
Free download for Windows and macOS. Wi-Fi transfer, rooms, screen share and casting included.
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