grayscale Archives

AppWizard

November 30, 2025

Playing Minecraft on a receipt printer: YouTuber reaches the Ender Dragon and goes viral

A YouTuber transformed Minecraft into a physical gaming experience by using a custom-built application that renders the game in grayscale and sends screenshots to a printer at a frame rate of 0.5 to 1 frame per second. To manage the printed material, the YouTuber created a paper roller from K'NEX pieces. Players experience a two-second delay, and visuals are simplified to rough outlines, with inventory often appearing as a solid black blur. The YouTuber, known as Smill, successfully reached the Ender Dragon with guidance from speedrunners Johnny A. and Fulham. The project has received mixed reactions from the gaming community, with some praising its inventiveness and others questioning the authenticity of the gameplay experience.

AppWizard

July 9, 2025

Unlock Your Android 10 Secret Apps Only Power Users Know

1. The Yin-Yang Minimalistic Launcher features a grayscale interface to minimize visual clutter and includes phone usage statistics. 2. The Transfer App enables seamless file sharing over Wi-Fi without needing an internet connection or user account. 3. The Everything Widget offers over 125 customizable widgets for home screen personalization. 4. The Bluetooth Camera Shutter app allows remote photo capturing with a range of up to 30 meters and supports burst mode. 5. The Noid File Manager automatically categorizes files and includes smart filters for efficient file management. 6. Choy Wall provides over 600 handcrafted 4K wallpapers with multiple color variants for device personalization. 7. The Glit Photo Editor allows users to create retro-inspired images with features like light leaks and vintage filters. 8. The Flip Clock app combines retro aesthetics with practical features, including a Pomodoro timer and world clock.

AppWizard

April 18, 2025

Google is preparing to make Android Settings a bit more colorful

Google is set to transform its Settings homepage in the upcoming Android 16 beta, introducing colorful icons encased in circles, replacing the current gray icons. This redesign aims to enhance the expressiveness of the Settings app and is expected to align with a new Material Design theme at the Google I/O developer conference. The colorful icons may not appear in the initial stable release of Android 16 but could be introduced in a future quarterly update or in Android 17 next year. The 'Digital Wellbeing & parental controls' entry will retain its gray icon due to its origin from a separate app. Feedback from users will influence the final design.

BetaBeacon

November 2, 2024

This Android feature quietly improved my daily routine

Grayscale makes the phone screen less visually appealing and reduces temptation to scroll endlessly before bed.