u/DashWriting

Here's the latest in my super long running series of developer interviews, this time with the team behind Cocoon, the Android frontend.

I find their devs especially interesting because the trio have such distinct roles: development, UI/UX design and sound. I was so fascinated to learn early that they've even commissioned musicians and instruments specifically for Cocoon's menu music. I mean, everything else as well, but that was taking things to the next level for me.

Anyway, it's a super long and super detailed interview, so if you're interested in Cocoon or software development, UI/UX, sound design, dual-screen handhelds, their history and how Cocoon is made, or just getting a behind-the-scenes look at how projects like this are done, there's a lot to dig into here.

Hope some here enjoy it :)

This is just a very small interview (at least by my standards!) with Jiayu, a girl from China who spends her time custom-making replacement buttons for handhelds like the AYN Thor, Odin 3, the Steam Deck, Switch, 3DS and so on. I love her buttons on the Thor handhelds (she owns a lot of systems!)

I chatted to her a bit for another article I wrote about the community which has grown for the AYN Thor, but there was so much I couldn't use in that one that I thought it'd be nice to share out chat in full.

She covers plenty of the process: how and why she makes custom buttons, and there's a bunch of behind the scenes pics of her work. I know this is a little different to what you normally see in the scene, but I love her craft and just hope this is a bit of fun regardless.

Hope some of you enjoy it!

I’ve just published a different kind of AYN Thor Lite feature, looking at why the lowest-spec Thor makes more sense in 2026 than it might have at launch. Back when this all started, AYN sent me the Thor Pro for review which clearly I loved and reviewed to high heavens, but I thought that with how things are at the moment (current cost-of-living conditions, the RAM crisis making prices skyrocket), the very base model makes more sense than ever. Mostly because the community surrounding the Thor has just grown and grown and grown, the things developers and makers have created are just incredible.

So instead of the whole specs and performance angle, I wanted to look at what has grown up around the hardware, and I was lucky enough to speak to, interview and quote a whole bunch of the people making it happen, some of them friends and some of them just so lovely to want to chat with me:

• Moth (lead developer of Cocoon)
• Nathan (lead developer of iiSU)
• PlayTranslate's developer - u/domino_stars
• Camille LaVey (lead developer/creator of Eden)
• MithrilMods (behind those amazing magnetic buttons/d-pads/grips on etsy) - u/N7Peterson
• Kitsabble Creations (who created Pokémon-themed decal front skins for the AYN Thors, also on etsy) - u/ShawnOfTheSheep
• MagiGamer (whose custom-made buttons are the prettiest damn thing ever made) - u/Magigamerr

(hopefully I got the right username tags in here, I know they're in this community!)

Plus a few other community creators and accessory makers.

I talked to them all about the software ecosystem, dual-screen development, Japanese games and translation, emulation on the Snapdragon 865, custom grips and controls, handmade buttons, skins, and all the other ways people have taken AYN's hardware and made it their own. My focus for this whole article was how AYN released a near-perfect handheld, but the community around it has now taken it and run with it.

I hope some in here enjoy this, at least to hear from some of the people behind the programs and projects you might know and love :)

P.S. Will have a couple follow-ups to this, including a full interview with MagiGamer tomorrow, a feature on how installing, testing and enjoying MithrilMods' magnetic d-pad/buttons and grip is, and also a full chat with the Cocoon team! If you're looking for more way-too-long-Thor-specific articles, then that might make you happy!

After spending time with Anbernic's RGSP, my hands-on review is now live. Mine got super delayed because I have a ton of other things I've been working on, so I'm sure not much in here will be a surprise to anyone. But if you're a fan of written articles, then this might tick that nostalgia box for you.

I spoke with Frysee, the lead developer of NextUI, and pvaibhav, who has been leading much of the H700/RG SP implementation, about what it takes to bring NextUI's firmware experience to Anbernic's latest clamshell effort. Frysee's dev unit arrived a good few days ago, so by the time you all have these in your hands, whatever tiny quirks will have been well ironed out.

Their takes on topics like boot times, display calibration, lid detection, feature parity with stock firmware, and the philosophy behind creating a true "pick up and play" experience was nice, and add a perspective.

I hope at least some of you here enjoy it :)

This is a different kind of article for me, where I quickly catch up with my friend Brandon (K-Wall), the developer behind Cannoli, for a small follow-up chat to a full interview I did with him just over three months ago. Typically this would be a bit crazy, since that minimal time between interviews wouldn't mean so much, but Cannoli has been coming along in leaps and bounds. Think of this lil one as a kinda short 'coffee-break style' read to see how things have progressed since we last spoke.

We talked about Cannoli's growth over the past few months, being covered by Russ (and a ton of others!) the influx of new users, community feedback, developing for more handhelds, and how the project has evolved now that it's getting so much attention. And a little on what is next for Cannoli.

It's a relaxed mini-article, rather than my usual formal interview style, and hopefully gives a nice snapshot of where Cannoli is today without taking up too much of your day!

So this is my written article covering the Retroid Pocket Nova. This one might be interesting to you because as well as chatting to Retroid, I asked them to share a couple of the early design renders of the Nova with me to feature in here.

They said yes, and you can see some of the differences between what they were planning, and what we got!

Along with that I chatted to developers like those behind Leaf Studio, rootComputer: the Steam Curator behind Is it 4:3 (the page covering all the PC games they add to their collection, which is super apt for the Nova), and bmdhacks, a friend and dev from ARMSX2.

Naturally I cover the usual things in here, but I thought these might be interesting too!

Hope you enjoy it :)

So, to join the cavalcade of Hidizs AP30 impressions and reviews over the last few weeks, now it is my turn to share an article. I think mine is a fairly detailed look for you, with a ton of photos, a short video on how slowly the Tetris clone blocks fall when you don't press down on the d-pad, and runs just over 4,000 words.

Most reviews understandably focus on the sound quality, but I also covered the built-in Tetris clone, Linux under the hood, USB DAC mode, Bluetooth performance, the eBook reader (including how to set it up), and paired it with Hidizs' MY LIN IEMs.

I'm someone usually reviews retro handhelds (that's my thing!), so I couldn't help looking at it from that angle too, so I'm hoping to follow this review up by seeing what else the little device might be capable of, whether I and a few interested Linux devs I know might be able to get this emulating anything. I'm 99% confident the answer is "no", but I'm still dead curious.

If you're considering one, I'm happy to answer any questions (though I'm sharing this at 10 PM from a tiny island off the coast of Aus, so I might not see things until the morning!)

The TRIMUI Brick Pro is one of the most controversial retro handhelds to come out lately for release. TRIMUI just kept the same specs, and just built a bigger body with thumbsticks for this.

They've got this one I reviewed (the TRIMUI Brick Pro) but they also have a far more powerful (and far more expensive) Android model made from metal coming out soon also. Anyway, this is the Linux/plastic version I've reviewed.

I just reviewed whether the unchanged Allwinner A133P holds it back, how the larger display and Hall effect thumbsticks change the experience, and whether this could ever become a nice Linux handheld to buy for custom firmware fans.

I also spoke with my friend Frysee from NextUI and long-time TRIMUI community member Kyle to get perspectives from both the developers building for the platform and the fans who love it, just for something different in this review.

I wrote a little feature (super rambling and tangent-y) on something I've been thinking about for a while: the people still making physical games feel special.

From the era of big-box PC gaming to today's boutique publishers and creators like RowanFN, it's just a little snapshot of why thoughtful physical releases still matter in an increasingly digital world, and why opening a game can still be an experience.

With both Sony and GTA this week, it felt apt to get some thoughts down. I hope some here enjoy it :)

You might have noticed that over the past few weeks I've been sharing quite a few articles about F-Droid, open-source Android, and privacy-respecting apps. Part of that has been to highlight some genuinely great games and applications available through F-Droid, IzzyOnDroid and similar repositories, but also to tell the stories of the developers behind them. At the same time, I want to shine a light on the changes Google is making to Android that could make life significantly harder for independent developers and users who choose to install apps outside the Play Store.

https://keepandroidopen.org/

I've just published my latest developer interview, this time sitting down with PranshulGG, the creator of the open-source Android weather app WeatherMaster.

This is actually PranshulGG's first ever interview, and we talk about everything from how WeatherMaster came to be, why he chose to make it open source, the role of repositories like F-Droid and IzzyOnDroid, and his thoughts on Google's upcoming changes that could make life more difficult for independent Android developers and alternative app stores. If you're interested in open-source Android, privacy-respecting apps, or the future of software outside the Play Store, I hope you'll find it an interesting read :)

A little while ago I chatted to the developer behind GameSieve (the site/tool that changes and helps a ton with how you browse the GOG catalogue). I've seen u/Undeclared_Aubergine sharing a bunch here, and this week I've seen GameSieve recommended a lot, so I thought it might be a nice chance to share the interview we did together back in December :)

https://gamesieve.com/

We talked about how the project began, the technical challenges of indexing GOG's ever-growing library, why DRM-free game preservation matters, and where the project is heading next. And now we chat every so often on Mastodon where GameSieve has an account!

If you're liking the idea of a more powerful search tool for GOG, or you're just interested in preservation and community-built tools, I think you'll find it an interesting read. Then again maybe I am biased.

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing u/DocWolle (a user in here!), who is an Android developer and long-time contributor to the open-source community on F-Droid, with a ton of apps he builds and maintains. We chatted about his work, the challenges facing F-Droid, and why open Android ecosystems matter now more than ever.

We discussed the difficulties F-Droid has faced in recent years, the impact of Google's terrible new changing policies on alternative app distribution, the importance of privacy-respecting software, and DocWolle's own journey as a developer. I like to think of this as more than just a conversation about apps, it is also about user freedom, open platforms, and the people working hard to keep this kind of platform alive!

I hope you enjoy the interview, and I'd love to hear your thoughts :)