React WebRTC Video Call App – Screenshare Not Working? Here's What I Found

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AI Illustration React WebRTC screen sharing issue illustration with video call and screen share icons

Introduction

Recently, while working on a React-based WebRTC video call application, I ran into a common yet frustrating issue: screen sharing wasn't working as expected. The core video and audio functionalities were up and running smoothly, but the moment I tried to implement getDisplayMedia() for screen sharing, the remote peer couldn’t see anything.

Rather than reinventing the wheel, I decided to dive into existing open-source repositories on GitHub to learn from real-world implementations and see if I could spot where things were going wrong.

My Research Process

I searched GitHub with the query:

reactjs webrtc screenshare

Here are a few repositories I came across and tested locally:

While these projects are insightful, they came with their own hurdles:

  • Some had dependency issues or were outdated.
  • Others required complex backend setups, database integration, or environment variable configuration, which slowed me down.
  • And a few didn’t isolate the screen-sharing feature enough to test quickly.

The Pain Point

I was just looking for a minimal and quick-to-run setup — ideally something like: 

docker run screen_share_app

…or even a simple npm install && npm start without any extra fluff.

Unfortunately, many repos were either tightly coupled with backend services or lacked documentation. At this point, I decided to ask the community for help on this StackOverflow thread. If you’ve come across a solid working example of screen sharing in a React WebRTC app—or better yet, a simple Dockerized version—please drop a comment!

What I’m Looking For

  • A working React + WebRTC demo that includes screen sharing
  • Ideally with Docker support for fast setup
  • Bonus if it includes dynamic switching between webcam and screen share
  • Clean and well-documented code for learning and extending

If you’re a developer trying to integrate screen sharing into your WebRTC app, and you’re stuck like I was, I hope this post helps streamline your search. If you’ve found a golden repo or have tips, let’s collaborate and share insights to make this easier for others.

Let me know in the comments, or fork and tag me in a PR if you end up creating something awesome!

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