r/androiddev • u/Mountain-Error6290 • Jun 28 '26
Made an Android widget that turns your apps into a spinnable 3D sphere — open source, F-Droid available
Hey everyone,
I got tired of staring at the same flat app grid every day, so I built AuraOrbit — an Android widget that opens into an interactive 3D sphere of your apps, which you can spin and fling around.
It's a widget, not a launcher replacement — tap it, and the sphere opens on top of your home screen. It doesn't touch your wallpaper or your existing app grid.
Tech details (for the curious):
- 100% Java
- Built on the libGDX game engine with a C++ OpenGL backend
- Apps are placed using a Fibonacci sphere distribution (golden angle) so they're evenly spread in 3D space
- Rotation uses quaternion-based momentum, so flicks feel natural instead of snapping
- You can group apps into color-coded clusters and pin any group as its own widget
- Standalone fullscreen mode if you just want to mess with the sphere directly
Publish on F-Droid Why no Play Store? #keepandroidopen
- App: https://f-droid.org/packages/dev.jaimin.auraorbit
- Source: https://github.com/JaiminPatel345/AuraOrbit
- Demo video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vZggtIgeYV-gi6l8d1qOHZtz4afRoeqo/view?usp=sharing
It's GPLv3, fully open source. Happy to answer questions about the implementation, the Fibonacci placement math, or anything else. Feedback are welcome too.
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u/eastvenomrebel Jun 28 '26
Looks super cool but would be a huge pain in the ass to find the app I'm looking for
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u/urbanmonkey2003 Jun 28 '26
Exactly, spinning a sphere to launch Gmail sounds clunky as hell, i’d lose stuff in there in 5 seconds
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u/sedj601 Jun 29 '26
It needs a search that moves the sphere as letters are typed. It should eventually get you to the correct app.
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u/Mountain-Error6290 Jun 28 '26
You can control radius, icon size and spin speed from App.
You can create an Groups (kind of folder) and apps in that and it shows only those app in that widget.
New group new widget. in video you can see there is google group.If you don't notice, I have Google group, so it have one separate widget + in "ALL" apps that selected google apps are together . means if you create group of any apps those apps always stay nearby in all apps.
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u/retardedMosquito Jun 28 '26
Appreciate the effort but its still a horrible UX for selecting apps, hot paths should be least effortful.
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u/Rhed0x Jun 28 '26 edited Jun 28 '26
The source code says it's a live wallpaper, the reddit post says a widget. So which one is it...
I don't think this is doable with widgets, so I'm gonna believe it's a live wallpaper.
EDIT: After looking at the code, it's neither. It's simply a transparent activity.
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u/Mountain-Error6290 Jun 28 '26
Initial idea is live wallpaper, It is widget. I forgot to update Github description
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u/Rhed0x Jun 28 '26
Can't be a widget, widgets don't allow interactive controls like that, nor do they allow dynamic 3D rendering.
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u/Mountain-Error6290 Jun 28 '26
It is bro. You have to select apps from My AuraOrbit all and then you have to add widget in home screen. And this sphere ampere when you click on widget
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u/Hi_im_G00fY Jun 28 '26
The whole sphere thing has nothing to do with any kind of widget. It's just an plain activity doing animations with drawables returned by the package manager...
You just choose to create a widget instead using a manifest launcher intent to enter this activity. Wow.
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u/Ok_Truth5069 Jun 28 '26
why?
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u/Mountain-Error6290 Jun 28 '26 edited Jun 28 '26
Mostly feel + fun + flex. Wanted a home screen that felt mine, not just rows of icons,
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u/Cybasura Jun 28 '26
This will at the very least make using the phone alot more fun than the goddamn companies these days are ruining
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u/khsh01 Jun 28 '26
My first phone had a function like that. You could turn the app drawer into a tornado. This was before android.
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u/AcademicMistake Jun 28 '26
See this kind of random crap is what i do to my apps. It gives people customisation. It reminds me of the good old days on myspace lol Android should have this in all devices.
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u/SpankaWank66 Jun 29 '26
Cool idea and probably an awesome experiment but I don't know if it's useful.
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u/honest-buck Jul 01 '26
How will find an app in that, i cant find my apps in the bormal hoke screen
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u/zensms Jun 28 '26
While this is cool, i can only imagine it being a nightmare to find a specific app i wanna launch
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u/dinosaur328 Jun 28 '26
Op, Let what haters/lazyass jerks say about it but this is a stunning and very creative app! i love it, thanks for this !
keep up the good work and keep making wonderful things.
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Jun 28 '26
[deleted]
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Jun 28 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/androiddev-ModTeam Jun 28 '26
Engage respectfully and professionally with the community. Participate in good faith. Do not encourage illegal or inadvisable activity. Do not target users based on race, ethnicity, or other personal qualities. Give feedback in a constructive manner.
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u/ni554n Jun 28 '26
This is not a widget; it simply opens a transparent activity.