I’ve been working on an unofficial LCARS-inspired theme toolkit for Niagara Launcher, and the MVP is now basically working end-to-end.

The idea is to make Android/Niagara feel more like a compact LCARS control panel instead of a normal app grid. Right now the project includes:

• An LCARS wallpaper generator with different layouts/device sizes
• An Android app-list helper that uses ADB to export the exact launcher components from your phone
• An LCARS icon generator that maps your apps into matching category-based icon styles
• A signed icon-pack APK builder so the icons can actually be installed and applied in Niagara Launcher
• A shared category-mapping system, so app/category guesses can improve over time
• Basic maintenance tooling, cleanup tools, docs, and an About/Credits page

The full loop now works:

Generate wallpaper → export Android app list → generate LCARS icons → build signed APK → install APK → apply in Niagara Launcher.

The project is still early and definitely an MVP, but the main flow is working. The thing I’m most happy about is that it is not just a static wallpaper anymore; it can actually generate a usable Niagara icon pack based on your real installed apps.

Part of the motivation is just that LCARS looks cool, but also I like the idea of interfaces that feel structured, legible, and tool-like instead of noisy or attention-trapping. Niagara already has that clean vertical control-panel feeling, so LCARS and Niagara ended up fitting together better than I expected.

GitHub:
https://github.com/Yearbook-enzyme/LCARS-Star-Trek-Niagara-Launcher-Theme

Live site:
https://yearbook-enzyme.github.io/LCARS-Star-Trek-Niagara-Launcher-Theme/index.html

Original post: https://lemmy.zip/post/63230442

Launcher: Slauncher

LCARS was made in Star Trek as an interface for a civilization that seems like it actually values coordination, clarity, and shared access to knowledge. That is a big part of why I like it so much. It is not just a cool sci-fi look to me. It feels like a vision of technology that is actually trying to help people interface with reality and with each other instead of just farming attention, trapping people in closed platforms, or burying everything under noise.

That is also a lot of why I care about federated social media. Federation shifts things away from giant closed silos and more toward open protocols, shared standards, and communities being able to govern themselves while still being connected to a wider network. To me that feels like one of the most real paths forward, even within capitalism. You do not have to wait for the whole system to magically transform overnight for better structures to start existing. You can build things right now that are more open, more portable, more humane, and more resilient than what most mainstream platforms push people into.

I think that matters because closed systems naturally tend toward lock-in. They want your identity, your audience, your data, your social graph, all tied to one company and one interface. Federation pushes back on that. It makes competition healthier because the value starts coming more from what a platform or community actually offers, not just from how well it can trap people. It gives people and communities more agency, which I think is badly needed.

So this LCARS Niagara theme is partly just because I like the aesthetic, but it is also kind of philosophical. It reflects a view of the future that feels more connected, more legible, and more open. Not less human, not sterile, not flattened into algorithmic sludge, but more empowering. I do not think the answer is sitting around waiting for some total anti-capitalist rupture before anything gets better. I think a lot of progress comes from building systems that already embody better values inside the world we actually live in. Open protocols, shared infrastructure, portability, cooperation, all of that feels like the right direction.

Just got a new Samsung S25 recently and I'm absolutely astonished just how good, customisable, and polished OneUI 8 is. Can't wait for the 8.5 update

Minimal greeny themes

A minimal greeny theme with stock Crdroid launcher With cherrypicked widgets(or apps)

Wallpaper source : I don't know. I found it somewhere.
Lawncher : lawnchair 14. Icon : lawnicon ,material you dynamic icon pack.
Search bar : Wikipedia. Widgets: breezy weather , fossify calendar.

Been tweaking this for a couple months

Widgets: combo of KWGT and group icons from pixel

Icons: Icon Pack Studio

These are the folders inside Games, by the way

Icon pack is Arcticons, Launcher is NeoLauncher

Every few hours my wallpaper changes automatically and Niagara launcher adapts the icon colours to it. Today this beauty welcomed me.

Using Mere Launcher and Forest Live Wallpaper.

The wallpaper :

the cat picture changes every minutes !

I would like for app search to start right as I enter the app drawer and I want the app to start as enough chars are typed to match the app without additional clicks. I’m aware of 0launcher, kiss, and others launchers doing this (I believe I tried all launchers vailable on f-droid) but I want to stay with trebuchet style drawer. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance

Custom klwp creation.

Featuring Arcticons You and a wallpaper from Backdrops

Super old minimalist setup with KLWP on a Nexus 5. One of the best phones I’ve ever used and it still powers on. Too bad almost all the apps have moved way beyond what it was made to do.

I never really thought about customizing but after seeing all these awesome screens I might give it a shot.

What's a good place to start?

Niagra Launcher, Lux icons