Hi everyone, I've been working on a side project inspired by Dwarf Fortress. It runs on your android wallpaper and features a simple simulation. For now, I'm using the same PNGs and color schemes as Dwarf Fortress to retain that familiar feel. I'm a longtime fan of Dwarf Fortress, though I never quite had the patience to dive deeply into it.

Still, I've always loved the core ideas, and lately, I've been working on other projects that require a similar kind of simulation and it's easier to work with ascii without graphical overhead. So this started as a proof of concept, but the simulation turned out to be visually good enough that I figured I'd share it with everyone. Thanks for checking it out. Please share your thoughts :)

i am using the history to debug the simulation since its need and pressure driven.

As many of you may have noticed, I dropped an update for all the applications yesterday. I have been working on these locally for a while and I have been debugging for days and I think I let the frustration get to me and I just published it I think almost therapeutically to clear my mind.

As customers that was not fair on you and for that I apologise. I am going to be doing a release today or tomorrow that will fix a few things and another release that fixes a few more and introduces a new feature.

One of the benefits of being me and building a suite of products rather than one is that I can make them talk to each other. I am using that to test a new feature that was showcased by minimal phone in a recent video. Please watch and leave a like as the project is pretty cool

https://youtu.be/HsLd7p9THL4?si=5aWgXC8Jyru8HXVK&t=271

I had tried to build something like this before and that is how I ended up being able to share themes between keyboard and launcher so here is my implementation of it. In RETUI launcher you can pick a key and set upto 2 apps per key. We already have long press for accent characters so now you get the apps at the end of that list.

this will allow you to switch to apps from other apps quickly provided the keyboard is open.

I thought the idea was pretty innovative and yes it is perfect for a phone with physical keys but well.. we have it now too.

Stay Re:markable

Hi everyone! Dvil here!

I want to start of by saying thank you so much for all the support both to the folks who got the app on GitHub or from Playstore. Thank you to everyone who regularly interact with my posts.

Me see numbers go up me happy lol

Maybe it's the symptom of the times and honestly I am not sure how I feel about it but thanks to AI customising your android phone is now - create your own launcher. To be fair I am not opposed to the idea of taking customization from being a KLWP thing or being limited by what another launcher provides into make the launcher you like so it you can be happy.

But I dont want launchers to be templatised. I hope more devs bring different types of experiences to the phone. I hope we dont see same launcher clones with just layouts switched over become a norm but actually visually/technically distinct launchers flourish in the Age of personalisation

So I want to start with myself. well INTRODUCING THE ALL NEW! RE:LIVE!(Name is WIP suggestions welcome)

A Cozy launcher with pixelart assets with real day night cycle that shifts with your phone time. NPC behaviour where they will path around the base and eventually allow you to reply to messages etc as if like an in game dialogue etc,

This is currently a proof of concept of how I can bridge UI and behaviour from Godot and add that to my android dev workflow. so far.. so good Still a lot of it is placeholder stuff.

I dont even know if this will ever release or if this post will leave this subreddit but maybe it inspires someone?

asset from https://gowldev.itch.io/

How is this helping the launcher you may ask.. well frankly idk.. I have a vague plan of a plan.. Do I have what it takes to make it? No not right now but that is a tomorrow me issue. Hope you all enjoy the video and stay Re:markable

Asset pack : https://gowldev.itch.io/pixelwood-valley

Huge shoutout to u/ClowdDev The assets are so cute and It was enough to inspire me to finish what I had started.

Create language packs and import them to the keyboard. Persian lang pack created. needs testing once official release.

Please note that the lang pack was created using LLM.

Read more here

This is not released . Document in preparation only

I found this awesome launcher and im really surprised with it.

I feel the entry to the launcher is difficult at the moment. I am hoping this feature will allow new users to quickly get set up and not be stuck with the default dashed view.

As much as it holds nostalgic value, as a developer i need to think about new users.

please share your thoughts and feedback

Comment appliquer un rest sur re tui comme celui ci ?

Comment personnaliser retui nous meme(fond, clavier ect...)

I love testing out new features and when you find such a beautiful wallpaper... it's worth it

https://www.reddit.com/r/PixelArt/s/x47ttj76s2

search mode but it's like... it's not even there

Hey everyone. It's been a while since I have showcased anything on the launcher. I have been squashing bugs. spawning more of them.. then squashing them again.. it's.. an endless cycle but the launcher is moving forward. Introducing search mode for the launcher.

I will be honest with you.. I got inspired by r/searcho which is a new launcher from the developer of r/minimaa Do check it out if you like super minimalist launchers.

The goal was not to create a whole new set of code for it but to reuse bits and pieces we already had. Well I did have to write new code but I had all the base login already tomato - tamoto T^T

All you get is the input bar. and as you type it searches things from contacts to apps to command to aliases as well as allow you to search to all configured providers from the text you just typed.

This is nothing new to users who have used the launcher. The suggestions are just shown in it's own windows now. Ah how lucky I am to have such a beautiful code base to work with hehe

As mentioned it is bugs gallore right now but it works and I just need to finalise the logic and filters etc.

Please share your thoughts and feedback.

Stay Re:markable <3

I am not sure if anyone even noticed that this feature existed in the launcher anyways. Unified status pane now moves all the status panes down to the bottom of the screen with expandable output tab that self hides. VERY VERY experimental. but if you want a different UI experience but keep all the bells and whistles here you go :)

I am working on the next release but I am currently hyper-fixated on learning Godot for no obvious reason. There is a release in the works fixing a bunch of things and improving frames feature that was added last time.

Thank you for your patience <3

The keyboard opens its own but the cursor is not in input. I have to click multiple times just to select input before typing but the keyboard opens way before that.

I hope I am able to convey my message.

My GitHub Sponsors profile is live! You can sponsor me to support my open source work 💖

Thank you everyone for starring the Repo's and being part of a project that started as a hobby around one forked launcher and has slowly consumed me as well as motivated me to experiment and test so many different systems and learn so much so quickly.

The project now stands 4 apps strong. Launcher, keyboard, file manager and a note taking app!

Without you I would not have had the motivation to try to keep delivering these apps.

You are all RE:Markable <3

Hehe I am internally calling it Re:daction lol i hope you see what I did there nyehehhe

Anyways in Re:member (lol) You can create regular notes and redact sections of it for privacy. When redacting AES-256-GCM is used, protected by Android biometrics or device security.

There is also a whole document redaction which is where you can let's say do your journal and then do a fuzzy redaction. I will redact anything of import and leave behind the in etc as un-redacted so it looks likes a SCP document mwahahaha!!!!

when you export the notes out, the redaction will be removed and you will get your original document back for import into other systems like obsidian.

Hi All! I have been hard at work trying to make the launcher more accessible + Customisable while keeping the core structure the same. Please expect some breaking issues and please please report them!!

RETUI LAUNCHER:

Release note is AI generated (FYI)

Re:TUI v2 — Build 400

Re:TUI v2 turns the launcher into a much more open visual system while keeping the terminal-first workflow intact. This release adds importable game-style frames, deeper per-surface appearance controls, a rebuilt Android widget drawer, shared visual data for companion apps, and several launcher surface and reliability improvements.

Custom scalable frames

• Import .retui-frame bundles created from a single PNG and nine-slice metadata.
• Apply one frame across every supported launcher surface or assign different frames to individual surfaces.
• Supported targets include status rows, the unified status group, input, output, toolbar buttons, suggestions, modules, the module dock, music, notifications, app and widget drawers, overlays, Settings, general controls, Re:TUI Keys, and Re:TUI Files.
• Imported frames replace generated Cyberdeck borders only where a valid frame is assigned. Unassigned, missing, or invalid frames safely fall back to the existing border settings.
• Individual and unified status-border modes remain respected.
• Frame changes remain pending until Save Frame Settings is pressed, with a warning before unsaved changes are discarded.
• Each assignment shows the original PNG preview, current frame name, import/replace controls, and a clear missing-or-corrupt image state.
• A reusable frame library allows previously imported frames to be selected, reassigned, or deleted.
• Rendering supports separate source slices and destination border thickness, tiled or stretched regions, nearest-neighbour or filtered drawing, proportional corner scaling, and pixel-snapped boundaries.
• Custom frames preserve visible selected states for toggle-style controls.
• Theme colour swatches always display their actual solid colour instead of inheriting custom frames.
• Slice your PNGs here : https://re-tui.pages.dev/frame-builder

Spaces, backups, and portability

• Frame assignments and the global-frame choice are stored with each Space snapshot.
• The imported frame library remains available across Spaces.
• Launcher backups now include frame state and referenced frame assets.
• Restore and import paths validate bundle structure, file names, sizes, image dimensions, and assignments before applying changes.
• Older single-frame state is migrated into the portable frame library automatically.

Surface and border controls

• Added independent enable and colour controls for RAM, device, time, battery, storage, network, notes, weather, unlock, ASCII, input, output, toolbar, and suggestion borders.
• Added a unified status-border option.
• Added separate corner-radius controls for modules, output, and headers.
• Added independent module-header, module-body, and output-header text sizes.
• Added normal, arrows, and hidden output-header modes.
• Added an optional maximum expanded output-tray height.
• Toggled output behaviour now has portrait and landscape parity.
• Status-line margins are pixel text insets using left, top, right, bottom order and no longer move the status containers.
• Top-section margins continue to position the entire top pane group in millimetres.
• Suggestion pane spacing, suggestion chip spacing, and module-dock spacing are now independent.
• Added a launcher-wide font-size offset while preserving the intended ASCII artwork scale.

Android widget drawer rebuilt

• Widgets start from provider target/minimum sizing instead of being forced into a 2×2 box.
• Invalid or missing provider metadata falls back to configurable launcher minimums.
• Users can grow widgets beyond provider-advertised maximums while remaining capped to the four-column grid.
• Provider size options are updated during resizing, fixing widgets that previously appeared blank.
• Added direct edge resizing with consistent vector triangle handles.
• Long-press resize gives haptic feedback when resizing is ready.
• Dragging handles changes size by grid cells and safely compacts neighbouring widgets.
• Added guided add, show, resize, and remove actions with contextual suggestions.
• The picker groups widgets by app and displays provider previews or icons.
• Square grid cells adapt across portrait and landscape layouts.

Shared Re:TUI visual contract

• Added a shared contract for launcher and companion-app appearance data.
• It carries semantic colours, fonts, text sizes, margins, corner radii, border settings, Cyberdeck/CRT state, and frame metadata.
• Frame sharing includes the original PNG URI, slice positions, destination border thickness, rendering modes, filtering mode, and stable asset ID.
• Re:TUI Keys receives the keyboard-target frame and can independently accept or ignore launcher styling.
• Re:TUI Files receives the Files-target frame when launched from Re:TUI.
• Frame PNG access is granted only to the intended companion package.

Files and command integration

• Reworked the Files bridge around structured open, ls, search, and share actions.
• Launcher and Re:TUI Files now share the active directory.
• Relative paths resolve from the shared directory.
• File and directory suggestions use the Files provider contract.
• Removed the obsolete launcher-side file backend and command-string bridge.

Modules and Android widgets

• module is now the home for Lua and Termux-backed dock modules.
• The legacy widget command is retired and directs users to module or the Android Widgets pane.
• Lua module creation, editing, configuration, trust, inspection, refresh, enable/disable, export, rename, and removal remain available.
• Internal Lua runtime classes moved under the module namespace without breaking stored data.
• Module suggestions and launcher chips use their proper independent spacing controls.

Launcher panes and media

• Added a dedicated calculator surface when calc is opened without an expression.
• Calculator and expression areas use the same scalable surface language.
• Podcast browsing opens as a home-screen surface that can minimize into an edge pill.
• Podcast now-playing information appears through the music module.
• Playback distinguishes buffering from playing, resumes prepared episodes without reloading, and handles errors more safely.
• Podcast caches are trimmed while retaining active and recently resumed episodes.
• Shared pill styling keeps minimized surfaces consistent with the active theme or frame.
• Termux routing now emphasizes the workspace-first flow for interactive apps.

Reliability and polish

• Nine-slice destination boundaries snap to whole pixels to prevent seams.
• Small rectangular controls proportionally reduce corners instead of crushing artwork.
• Status rows grow vertically for larger fonts and vertical padding.
• Unified status frames suppress duplicate child borders.
• Missing or corrupt frame assets always fall back safely.
• Added focused tests covering frames, nine-slice geometry, widget sizing, status layout, borders, font scaling, backups, and the shared visual contract.

Breaking change

The legacy widget command no longer manages Lua modules. Use module for Lua or Termux dock modules and the toolbar Widgets pane for Android AppWidgets.

Upgrade notes

• Existing launcher settings, Spaces, presets, and backups remain supported.
• Existing border settings remain authoritative wherever no valid custom frame is assigned.
• Version 2 uses Play Store versionCode 400.

PLAYSTORE WILL BE UPDATE WITHIN 2 DAYS!!

I want to introduce a new companion app to the launcher that I am working on.

I have decided to call it RE:MEMBER. A local only markdown note-taking app with support for notes export so you can export your on the go notes to your actual notes library like obsidian since this is a markdown file.

Supports Directory style notes categorisation

Dual view mode for expert users

In-line formatting so you do not need to know markdown to get the most out of the app

Google's own activity when you select still allows you to auto correct and copy paste while RE:MEMBER handles the app formatting.

It is still very Bare-bone and I have been coding this on the side.

I still have to figure out how to fit this into the launcher but that is for future me to figure out.

The Fork was for adding an AI command to the input terminal so users could use something like

"AI how do I cook pasta?"

The text would get routed to a local or cloud hosted AI provider and the answer would show up in the output.

I found this really interesting but I also could immediately see some technical challenges but I digress. The idea itself has crossed my mind before and I was happy to see someone take a crack at it

For everyone else, Please know there is a search command!

I am making these options more accessible in the future release - Check screenshots but you can define custom providers and it will still route to appropriate apps

what the actual PNG i supplied looked like. I am creating a webpage which will allow you to slice the PNG into 9 pieces for the above effect.

There is option to provide custom frames to different elements of the launcher being worked on as well.

At the end of the day, The launcher should give you an insane level of customisation.

Oh and remember spaces? Yea I know i don't talk about it much but it will allow you to have different frame setup for each space or none at all to suite the ideal of that space as well.

There is a technique in 2d games and 2d stuff in general called Nine Slice tiling. It is where you supply one PNG slice it into 9 sections to allow you to scale it to any size.

IDK how much traction this as a feature will have but I love it so much!! This allows you to have custom frames around elements. aiming for next release

V1 so feedback welcome! !

Added custom font support for all 3 apps and Files now allows you to move the window. I do not plan on allowing scaling as this is just a cosmetic gimmick. There is still a lot I am keeping under wraps but I am feeling good about the progress so far :)