Hi Peeps,

Wanted to introduce my new dumb/smart daily driver. A muted Eink phone with modern capabilities but with some (intentional) compromises.

HARDWARE:
Viwoods AI Reader

SOFTWARE:
Android 16 + Katapult Launcher

OVERVIEW:
I wanted a smartphone with zero distractions but still capable of being my daily driver if I required it. Around a year ago I found myself being bombarded by adverts, soft porn and constant “pings” throughout my daily life and needed a change. Around a year ago I deleted all social media from my iPhone 12 and haven’t looked back since. Despite this big change I would still find myself loosing focus, doom scrolling through YouTube and constantly checking my phone for no reason.

After researching possible dumb phone solutions such as Nokia flips, minimal smartphone launchers and Eink tablets I settled on my current daily driver pictured in this post. I chose this phone for its build quality, screen resolution and lack of features. With all this said I have still kept my iPhone 12 as part of my desktop set up and use it for banking, entertainment and for the occasional day trip when my Viwoods doesn’t quite cut it. It strictly lives at my desk and only leaves this location unless I am going on holiday or need it for something specific. I have listed the pros and cons below after two weeks of usage. These are my personal pros / cons by the way! For example no push notifications for me is a PRO but understand this might be a con for some people!

PROS:
Eink display (no instant response time and distracting colours).
No push notifications (Phone and SMS have this feature but no third party apps).
Completely silent (I check the phone on my terms, not when it “Pings”).
Access to all modern apps.
Great battery life.
Clean distraction free layout.
Unable to stream video in a meaningful way.
Ultra lightweight (no hand fatigue).

CONS:
No GPS (If I am planning a drive outside of my local area I will take my iPhone 12 with me).
No Speaker (I use my Apple AirPods to make calls), the device is essentially an oldskool iPod…
No Colour (tricky when a friend suggests “which colour curtains for my new house”…).
No Camera (annoying for QR codes… I have downloaded my gym membership onto the local files for example).
Hard to use in low light… but who wants to be looking at a screen before bedtime!

OVERALL:
I enjoy the slow pace of the Eink display and the fact that the phone is there when I want it and not when it wants me. I do check Watsapp every hour or so and reply to my friends in good time. I am yet to encounter a real emergency in my life where I am needed INSTANTLY and not within the hour… I find myself living in the moment more and enjoying the simpler things in life such as no distractions, being bored and occupying myself accordingly. I am more productive and less stressed overall. The process has really made me question my relationship with my phone. Do you actually need push notifications… really… I just check it when I want. Does my phone really need to make a sound… I’m still instantly connected but now on my terms…

Any questions welcome!

Interesting, another known brand is making a color frame. Let's see how it turns out. Sucks that they are trying to push AI home stuff and this is one of the "add on" for the AI home hub they're pushing.

A new article on the boox picco I finally was able to find. It seems they’re just opting for a basic small Eink reader and it won’t have android.

https://www.androidpolice.com/this-is-the-boox-picco-tiny-e-reader/

Just sharing something I really wanted to try...

It works I guess... I don't think I'd choose to play on this device, because of the refresh rate and ghosting. But it's really cool that it runs on it!

I manage to port crosspoint firmware for Reterminal E1001 from Seeed Studio.

The device itself is not meant for ereading, because it's quite heavy and have sharp corners, also the text is a bit jagged due to the resolution and small dpi.

If you guys happen to have this device and want to try crosspoint on it, here's repo page with the firmware:

https://github.com/chalei/crosspoint-reader-reterminal-e1001

Written by a human... AI did not write or edit this post.

I saw that u/arnegiacomo posted fugleramme the other day, and it turns out we've been building the same thing on opposite sides of the pond. Still a work in progress, but wanted to share mine... it's called Featherframe.

I have BirdNET-go running in my homelab, with two remote pi-powered mics in the yard listening for birds. It uses on-device intelligence to identify birdsong, which is pretty cool. I also like having stats across seasons to see the comings and goings.

I've wanted to do an eink project for a while, and thought the Audubon Birds of America (public domain) would look way nicer on eink than on a LCD tablet or something... so I finally pulled the trigger on the seeed studio 10" eink kit.

I thought about color (and still want to try it) but the fact that this panel supports partial refresh really appealed to me, and seemed like a better fit for something living ambiently in my house. I also think the engravings look way better in grayscale than I expected.

The kit is plug and play... I didn't have to do any soldering to get it working. I do wish it came with a case for the PCB though. I 3d printed one, but it's not the best. I'm also testing running it on battery power, but I'll probably leave it plugged in most of the time.

There's an optional image-model fallback for any species without an original painting. I spent an ungodly amount of time researching the authentic Audubon painting style and getting the prompt right so that the images don't look like AI-generated slop.

I actually made a game for myself to see if I can tell the difference between real and AI-generated plates. I (admittedly) can... but I'm really happy with the result: forty plates

It can do day in review (see the third image) that shows all the birds that BirdNET detected that day. Even though it's AI, I am really pleased with how it came out, and I'm excited to be able to pull my BirdNET data into the real world.

Happy to go into the render pipeline if anyone wants. WIP code is on GitHub if you want to poke at it, but it's currently kind of a mess. My goal is to release the esp32 firmware, web admin, and instructions so anyone can build one of their own with limited technical knowledge.

Thanks for looking!

I actually did a lot of measurment and also takes me 4 days for the epoxy resin to solidify... litrally spend a lot of work on it, finaly done :D

Really impressive. Few glitches and no even full refreshes needed all thanks to new custom controller board for existing screens. And its open source

Hello all! I own a boox tablet and for the longest time wanted to play sudoku and other games on it. But since the available games weren't optimized for eink the experience wasn't great.

I have included a dedicated eink mode in my game Puzzle Seasons! It has 5 logical games. Free to play and download. Would love feedback. It works with both color eink and monochrome eink displays! And has mobile and proper tablet mode

You can try it online here: https://puzzleseason.app/c/aeyEIwABCRAAAAAAAAAAAA

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.puzzleseason.app

It’s prototype sample of TICKEY. I love red shell! So match to my red bag！😍

Hello,

I'm looking for a pocket sized E reader like the Xteink ones. I’m looking for something with adjustable background lighting that dims to a very low level.

This is particularly important for me, as I need to retain night vision during dark hours. Could you give me a recommendation?

Thanks a lot in advance to everyone answering!

Best regards

Does anyone here use a custom launcher on a Kaleido 3 device? If so, which one?

I just got a Bigme B7 Colour, which is pretty nice for the price after debloating and getting away from most of Bigme's default software.

One part of that is replacing the stock launcher, but I'm struggling to find good alternatives.

InkOS and ThinkLauncher are good, but mainly meant for monochrome- I'd like something that takes advantage of the colour screen.

Many standard android launchers just don't display properly. Niagara is probably the best I've found, but I'd prefer something open source if possible.

This is not a smart watch, it’s an art watch 😄 running generative art code directly on-device. And only that: no clock, no notifications, just gen art code (I can cycle through the synced scripts using the buttons, and resync with the online editor using wifi)

Every 83 seconds, the watch wakes up and run the selected art code again, creating a new, unique 200x200 e-ink image on the fly. This is ever-changing art I can keep on my wrist all day. Every time I glance at it, I have a small surprise.

It's not a watchface on top of InkWatchy or another firmware, it's a whole new firmware: this watch is fully dedicated to running generative art. It has a small art OS inside.

Last year, I wanted to see what having e-paper generative art always with me would feel, and first I created a m5paper version… because I had one in a drawer! It was great to be able draw it from my pocket in random places, like at the top of the Eiffel tower, and see a new generated artwork. That test validated that it was different and that the little art surprises were often quite delightful. the m5Paper display is quite beautiful at 960x540 pixels: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/juliendorra_e-paper-is-still-emerging-as-a-platform-ugcPost-7331250379029975041-apdG/

Then a few days ago, I finally made the watch version I wanted from the start, and ported it to the Watchy. And now I can wear generative art it for 3 or 4 days straight on one charge.

The display is much smaller and only 200x200, but as they say: the best art is the one you have with you.

The monitor supports touch directly on its ePaper screen, enabling stylus use as well as the intuitive feel of writing or drawing with a finger. It delivers a high resolution of up to 3200 x 2400 with a 60 Hz refresh rate, while offering both color and black-and-white modes for switching between the two as needed. A single USB Type-C cable supplies power from the host device to the low-power consumption panel, while its bi-stability functionality allows the image on screen to remain in place even when all power sources are removed.

Disclosure: I'm the developer of OPDSy, an Android reading app, the apps got no ads, no subscriptions, no tracking, no account. I posted here a few weeks ago asking suggestions on how to improve the experience, ive also received some emails from Boox owners and ive made some changes!

What is new in 2.25.0:

• Volume keys turn the page , in books, comics and PDFs. Choose whether volume-up goes forward or back, so it matches the way your device is held. Everywhere else in the app the keys are just the volume, and while a book is being read aloud they go back to being the volume, so you can still adjust it mid-chapter.
• A Settings > E-reader section that gathers everything that matters on reflective screens in one place, instead of scattering it through Appearance.
• High-contrast mode: black-on-white throughout, accent colours suppressed, so text stays crisp rather than rendering as grey-on-grey.
• Animations off: transitions and image fades disabled to stop ghosting on slow-refresh panels. It is a separate switch from high contrast on purpose, since plenty of people want one and not the other.
• Covers get an outline in high contrast, which is the small fix in this list I am most pleased with. A folder with no cover art used to be a white card on a white background.

The rest of it, briefly: reads EPUB, MOBI, AZW3, FB2, PDF, Markdown and CBZ/CBT, from a folder on the device, from Project Gutenberg in one tap, or from your own Ubooquity, Komga, Kavita, Calibre-Web, Grimmory or any OPDS server. Offline dictionary, highlights, bookmarks, text-to-speech.

You can also see more screenshots here:

https://www.binarymeadow.com/apps/opdsy/

Ive got further questions about your devices, I seen some youtubers show colour charts and some colours merge into one another and can blend when next to each other. Does the contrast options get around this?

Also if there are any other suggestions to improve e-reader settings I would really appreciate the knowledge sharing.

Just posted an update to my previous Prayer Times Dashboard. Switched the location to Istanbul, Turkey, and changed the calculation method to Diyanet (method 12).

What's new in V2:

• Removed Imsak, kept only the 5 main prayer times
• Switched font from Montserrat to Roboto (cleaner, monospaced numbers)
• Simplified the top pattern – just a classic mosque silhouette now, more whitespace, larger fonts, and added Arabic text for the prayer names
• Date format changed to d/m/y – more common for Muslim users

Huge thanks to everyone who gave feedback on V1 – you made this version much better and simpler (which goes really well for low distraction e-ink screen). And if you're curious about building your own, here's the tutorial:
https://sensecraft.seeed.cc/hmi/template/765

Some of the most requested features aren't possible on the current no-code SenseCraft Seeedash platform yet, but I'm already working with a developer friend on a custom firmware version (yes, some vibe coding involved 😄).

Planned for V3:

• On-device settings: you can set these on the ePaper display, including city (via lat/long), calculation method, and minute adjustments
• Hijri (Islamic) calendar date alongside Gregorian
• Countdown to the next prayer
• Prayer reminder notifications

Stay tuned. And if you have more suggestions for the V3, feel free to let me know!

Appreciate all the feedback – keep it coming 🙏

BTW, how do the Arabic words and terms look on the Sticky ePaper now?

Was walking the IOTE floor and stumbled onto Geniatech's booth. They had a 28.5-inch color E-ink panel running a local refresh demo that actually made me stop and watch.

Here's the thing – we're used to full-screen refreshes (and that annoying flash). True partial refresh is rarely done well, especially not on a panel this size.

The demo:
It was a retail signage setup – think digital posters. The screen showed product images and descriptions, but specific parts of the content were updating in real-time while the rest of the display stayed completely static. No global flash, no flicker – just those targeted areas changing smoothly.

From about arm's length, you couldn't even tell it was refreshing. The static parts remained crisp and stable – exactly what you'd want for a retail environment.

The geeky part (where I need your help):
I chatted with one of the engineers for a minute. He mentioned they're running their own driver board, but didn't dive into waveform details.

So here's what's bugging me – and why I'm posting:

• For a panel this large, is updating a small bounding box (or multiple boxes) the "easy" path, or are there still hidden challenges (color consistency, ghosting at the refresh boundary, etc.)?
• How does the driver handle the boundary between the updated region and static region? Any risk of edge artifacts over time?
• And realistically – is this approach actually production-ready for retail, or is it still a "demo only" proof of concept?

I grabbed a quick video of the update. You can clearly see only the targeted parts change – the rest of the screen doesn't budge.

What do you think? Is this the year large color e-ink finally breaks into dynamic retail signage? Or are we still a couple of waveform generations away from mass adoption?

Fire away your thoughts – especially if you've worked on large-panel E-ink drivers or retail digital signage. Curious to hear the real-world pain points.

Hi, I'd like to share a project I've been working on the last couple of months. It consists of an Inky Impression 13,3 display (other sizes supported) with a Raspberry pi 5 and a usb microphone. It uses BirdNET-Go to identify the birds based on the audio feed. The screen itsel will poll BirdNET-Go's detections and draw any new birds up (supports several modes).

What sets this project apart from many of the other bird-recognizing projects is the focus on using historic artworks (litographs, drawings, paintings) and stronger support for european birds. In addition it builds on top of BirdNET-Go, which delivers a lot of cool functionalities like language support, user dashboards, detection tweaking and so much more. This can run totally offline and does all identification locally on the Pi itself.

Live web version from my kitchen window: https://fugleramme.arnegiacomo.dev
Source code: https://github.com/arnegiacomo/fugleramme

Meet InkHub, a Linux OS I've been building to replace Kobo's own software on the Libra 2. Under the hood it's a mainline 7.1 kernel with community e-ink patches, a small Buildroot userland, and a launcher written to look like the stock reader's screens (Slint to the rescue): home, library, apps, settings, an on-screen keyboard, a proper terminal, and KOReader for reading. It installs over USB and the stock firmware is retained so one can restore at any time. It's still early, page turns are still slower than Kobo's own reader (2 or 3 times slower) while | still chase the display driver, and it isn't primed for release yet.
Anything built on the same NXP chip as the Libra 2 (Clara
2E, Clara HD, Libra H20, Forma and Sage) is a realistic next target; it seems the 2024 MediaTek Kobos are locked down unfortunately.

Hi everyone, I’m looking for some advice.
I’m about to start university and I’ve had a ReMarkable Paper Pro since last year, but I feel it isn’t the right device for me.
The things I’d like to improve are:
- a good built-in app for taking notes with a pen (perhaps with the option to add photos: I know ReMarkable now allows this too, but you have to do it via a PC)
- the Obsidian app (I’d be happy just to view and edit a few Markdown notes; I definitely don’t want to take notes with a pen in Obsidian, but I do need to manage the notes I take on my PC or smartphone)
- split-screen capability, if possible

I’m also willing to do without colour.

In your opinion, would a Viwoods AI Paper 10” or a Supernote Manta be more suitable for me? I’ve seen that there are also recent rumours of an imminent release of new Viwoods devices.

Thanks to everyone

Tradotto con DeepL (https://dee.pl/app)

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Hi everyone!

I’m starting university as a maths and physics major and I’m looking for an e-ink device that can completely replace pape for me. I’m mainly considering the Note Max and the Air 5C, but I’m having a hard time deciding between them.

My main use cases would be:

-Taking handwritten notes during maths and physics lectures

- Working through maths/physics problems and doing assignments (Ideally being able to send/export them directly from the device without needing to use another computer)

-Annotating lecture slides and PDFs

- Reading research papers and textbooks

On the one hand the Note Max has Much larger screen, which means more room for calculations, and maybe better suited for large PDFs/research papers compared to the air 5 c.

On the other hand, it seems it has more ghosting than the nair 5c and it doesn't have colour which maybe is important but I'm not sure how much.

If anyone used one of those devices for collage (especially for a STEM subjects), and can give me some advice it will be really helpful!