An unpublished part of iPhone’s latest programming framework lets third-party developers pipe video out to an external device, albeit not without a few catches.

Confirmed by Ars Technica, an iPhone technical site, a programming class in the iPhone SDK known as MPTVOutWindow does essentially what its name implies: it sends video out through the Dock Connector port to an outside source, such as an external screen. This was not previously allowed under other versions of the SDK, based on various sources.

The adaptation is primarily meant for movies but allows any program to export the current contents of the screen, theoretically allowing apps intended for screens larger than the 3.5-inch iPhone LCD.

After testing, however, well-known iPhone developer Erica Sadun notes that touch input is disabled in this mode with current implementations and so prevents using the iPhone as a regular controller for games or presentations. It does recognize accelerometer input for a basic level of control, but that’s all. Still, this does allow for various presentations and the ability to use the iPhone for new types of business applications, and hopefully, it continues to be developed.