A downloadable launcher for Android

Plain Launcher is a minimalist Android launcher for emulation, made in Godot 4.

Source / latest updates available on Github

Features

  • Controller support as primary means of navigation. Touch control is fully supported as well.
  • Cover art for games, displaying instantly on scroll. No need to wait for covers to load... in theory.
  • Adding games is as easy as adding/removing your game files in the right place- no need to scan or import.
  • Add/remove favorites with the tap of a button
  • Hide/unhide anything with the tap of a button (You can always go to Settings->Visual->Show Hidden if you accidentally hide something you didn't want to)
  • Visual settings for palette selection, font selection, cover borders, drop shadows, and more!
  • Full support for launching Android applications (you could use this as your primary launcher on your phone, if you were so inclined, but it is intended for Android-based handhelds)
  • Per-system and per-game emulation configuration for setting cores or apps.
  • Support for launching Retroarch (multiple versions), PPSSPP, AetherSX2, Dolphin, and more coming soon!
  • Look up and download cover art easily from the menu!
  • Configure game storage paths on a per-system basis

Cover Art

  • You can search for cover art online from a game's options menu.
  • Cover art isn't just for games- you can add it to Android or System items as well!
  • Art needs to be a png file
  • Art should be named the same as the game file it is associated with, without the game file extension. For example, if I have the game file PlainLauncher/Games/GBA/Apotris (USA).gba, I would put the matching artwork in PlainLauncher/Imgs/GBA/Apotris (USA).png

Controller bindings

  • Confirm: Right face button for "N" style controls, bottom face button for "X" style controls.
  • Back: Bottom face button for "N" style controls, right face button for "X" style controls.
    • Pressing "Back" in the "Systems" menu takes you to Plain Launcher settings.
  • Options: "Y" button or hold Confirm and release
    • In the "Systems" menu, this will take you to options for that specific game system
    • In the games or android menu, this will take you to per-game options
  • Toggle favorite: Start
  • Cycle size: LB
  • Cycle cover art size: RB
  • Cycle cover border: L3
  • Cycle drop shadow: R3

Touch controls

  • Confirm: Tap anywhere
  • Back: Drag from right to left and release
  • Scroll once: Swipe up or down anywhere
  • Scroll multiple: Drag up or down and hold position
  • Options: Drag right and release

Credits

  • All fonts are from Google fonts, licensed under the Open Font License. See in-game licenses under Settings->Credits->Fonts
  • Duel color palette for the color picker was created by Arilyn on Lospec.
  • Included system images are from Evan Amos- check out the awesome Vanamo Online Game Museum
More information
StatusReleased
CategoryTool
PlatformsAndroid
Authorbokoyoss

Download

Download
Plain Launcher 75 MB

Install instructions

Instructions

  1. On first startup, indicate your confirm button placement when prompted. The can always be changed later in settings.
  2. Choose a storage location.
    1. Internal will make a PlainLauncher directory on the internal storage of your device, usually on the path /storage/emulated/0/PlainLauncher
    2. External will attempt to create a PlainLauncher directory on an external SD card, usually on the path /storage/<CARD ID>/PlainLauncher
    3. Storage selector will allow you to pick your own storage location. With different Android versions, this may not always work. Recommendation is to use Internal or External storage.
  3. Populate the storage made in (2) with your game files and cover art. Games go in PlainLauncher/Games/<SYSTEM> and art goes in PlainLauncher/Imgs/<SYSTEM>
  4. Configure your system emulators by pressing and holding confirm on a given system. Here you can choose Retroarch cores, emulation apps, and change extensions.
    1. You can also set additional game paths in a system's options menu.
  5. Configure game specific settings by holding confirm on a game.
  6. Make sure you have the emulator and core installed you want to use for that system- use Retroarch's core downloader if needed. You can launcher emulators directly by choosing "Emulators" on the main menu.

Development log

Comments

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TheGammaSqueeze18 days ago(+1)

This is fantastic! I really appreciate the feature where we can swap SD cards, and it'll pick up the ROMS right away.


I'll likely be including this in my android builds in the future. Thank you for your great work!

Reply
bokoyoss16 days ago

Wow- thanks! Assuming you're the same GammaSqueeze that makes GammaOS- you do great work! My RG505 battery seems to last forever once I started using it. I'd be honored if you included Plain Launcher in a build- there are still some kinks I need to work out around certain Android builds not playing nice with certain launch intents- I'm going to have a new build up on Github and itch soon once I'm able to do more testing.

Reply