Whether you’re a veteran on Twitch or a newer content creator, you’ve probably heard of an Elgato Stream Deck. Stream Decks are cool devices that can help make streaming a lot easier all around, but there’s a catch — they tend to be quite pricey.
Of course, you could always use Stream Deck mobile or find a bunch of other Stream Deck alternatives. These alternatives offer you excellent ways to save a ton of money while still performing the same functions as a Stream Deck. Some of these alternatives even offer more features and integrations than the Elgato option!
Out of all the alternatives, however, there’s one that stands out: LioranBoard.
Editor’s Note: At this time, LioranBoard is officially SAMMI. For more information about the rebranding and the switch, click here.
What is LioranBoard?
As you might’ve already guessed, LioranBoard is an alternative to the Elgato Stream Deck. However, what makes it so awesome is the fact that it is available entirely for free. That’s right — you don’t have to pay a single dime to use this software at all.
There are other free alternatives out there, such as Touch Portal. However, if you want to get more features and more buttons, you’re going to have to upgrade to the pro version. Luckily, it’s an affordable one-time purchase. But, if you really don’t want to spend at all, LioranBoard is your best bet.
LioranBoard is like a stream deck on steroids. You can use it for everything you’d normally use an Elgato Stream Deck for, such as switching your scenes, muting and unmuting your mic or audio, hiding or displaying your camera and other sources on OBS, and more.
Even better, you can use LioranBoard to create more fun, engaging experiences on your stream. Many streamers use LioranBoard as a way to create really fun channel point redemptions such as allowing you to change your camera’s positioning, changing your background, playing a sound effect, queueing up an entire song, playing a video clip, and more. Setting up these redemptions is pretty simple if you follow one of the many guides online. You can even use some templates or create your own redemptions from scratch.
Want to make a little bit of extra money with some of these redemptions? You can! You can also make LioranBoard work with bits and subscriptions. Pretty cool, right?
One drawback to LioranBoard, however, is the fact that it only works with OBS Studio. So if you’re a Streamlabs Desktop fan, you may have to make the switch. But trust us — it might just be worth it — especially now that LioranBoard is on version 2!
The Drama and the Rebranding
Going to the LioranBoard Github page will show you various links that say “SAMMI.” Clicking on the old LioranBoard website links will show you that it is permanently down and inaccessible to anyone.
What gives?
It’s worth noting that as of July 2022, LioranBoard has started rebranding to SAMMI. There has been a bunch of drama surrounding LioranBoard’s creator and main developer, Lioran. Over the past few months, there was some drama happening back and forth that saw Lioran leaving and rejoining the project a number of times.
For a while, the development of LioranBoard seemed to be entirely up in the air, but passionate community contributors and moderators who worked on the project managed to create LioranBoard 2 CE (Community Edition).
Statements have been made in the Discord server about the app’s future development, which seems to be pushing through entirely at this point. As of August 2022, it appears Lioran has left the project entirely, and the development of SAMMI is in the hands of the dedicated community that continues to keep it going.
Now that the dust is beginning to settle, the SAMMI devs have released the official SAMMI app, which you can now start using!
Download SAMMI
LioranBoard devs have stopped supporting LB 1 in March of 2022. This August 2022, they released their first version of the rebranded SAMMI (previously LioranBoard 2).
Just like LB 1 and LB 2, SAMMI only works with OBS Studio.
LioranBoard 1 had some handy extensions that made setting up your LB stream deck a bit easier. However, since the switch to LioranBoard 2, not all extensions have been switched over just yet. That just means that you’ll have even more exciting features to look forward to in the future!
Unfortunately, LioranBoard is only available on Windows at this time. However, you can make it work on macOS with an app called Wine. Once you have Wineskin sorted, you can proceed with installing and using LioranBoard as normal.
How to Set Up SAMMI for Streaming on Twitch
Setting up SAMMI isn’t too much of a challenge, and thankfully so. Just follow the steps below to get everything going!
- Before you can start using SAMMI with OBS, you must first download OBS Websocket. Make sure that OBS is closed, and that you install it into your existing installation for OBS Studio. Once it is installed, launch OBS and you will see Websocket Server Settings under the “Tools” option in the top menu bar.
You will want to open WebSockets Server Settings and uncheck enable authentication for now (you can reenable it later). There is no need too change any other settings.
- Go ahead and download the latest stable version of SAMMI from this link. You can also opt for the beta versions if you’d like, which you can find in the SAMMI Discord server.
- When the file is done downloading, unzip it. You may want to place this folder somewhere else than your Downloads. You don’t need to install anything, as SAMMI will work right out of the box.
- Open SAMMI Core, which is the main component of SAMMI. It is here that you can change all of your settings, add new decks and modify existing ones, program your new buttons, and more. Launching SAMMI initially may cause Windows Firewall to ask whether you want to give it access. Click Allow Access.
- To connect SAMMI to OBS, open SAMMI core and click on “OBS Connections” on the bottom part of the window (seen below). Leave everything default and click Connect. You should be able to see a popup that says WebSocket client connected. In the SAMMI Core window, the Main OBS indicator will turn to green.
- From SAMMI Core, you can start setting up your first deck and your new buttons. However, remember that SAMMI Core only works as an editor. To actually press your buttons, you need to open SAMMI Deck. Opening Deck will show you the window below. You don’t actually have to change anything, as the default URL and port are already set up correctly. Click on Connect.
- Clicking connect will allow you to select a deck to load and change some settings before you click on Load Deck. Once you load your deck, you’ll effectively have your virtual stream deck.
- Now, to connect your SAMMI to your Twitch Account, open SAMMI Core. On the bottom of the window, you will see Twitch Connection. Click on it to bring up the Twitch Connections window.
For more information on integrating SAMMI with Twitch, click here.
- This step is best done while you are offline as you can accidentally expose your Twitch access token to your stream otherwise! Click on copy URL and open it in your browser, or open URL directly in your browser. There, you’ll get the window to authorize SAMMI to access your Twitch account.
And that’s it! You should now be able to start tinkering with SAMMI to set up your buttons and triggers. If you’d like to learn more about what you can do with this tool you can check out their documentation here. In their documentation you’ll find everything from guides to frequently asked questions and troubleshooting tips.
Don’t forget, you can also look for guides on setting up SAMMI or LioranBoard 2 on YouTube. Most content right now would probably still be about LioranBoard 2, but will soon start switching over to the new name once the rebranding is through.
Wrapping Up
LioranBoard 1 was a fantastic free solution for creating a stream deck. With it, you could do whatever you wanted, and all you really had to do was get a little creative. There were even templates to help you get started.
LioranBoard 2 got a little caught up in drama, but it came out unscathed. Now, with creator Lioran out of the picture, the LB community has begun rebranding to SAMMI, and the future of this wonderful free app is secure.
We hope this guide has helped you figure out how to set SAMMI up for streaming on Twitch!
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