November 30, 2025

Dynamic theming, performance optimizations, and dashboard improvements

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🎨 Desktop Launcher - Dynamic Theming System and Custom Backgrounds!

NEW FEATURE: Complete dynamic theme customization for your launcher!

Example Game with Purple Theme and Custom Background

Available Themes in the Dashboard

What's New:

• Theme Manager - New dynamic theming system with color presets

• Custom Colors - Choose theme colors for panels, buttons, and UI elements

• Custom Backgrounds - Set custom background images and opacity

• Glass Panel Themes - Configurable glass effects with dynamic opacity

• Preset Support - Pre-configured color schemes for quick theming

• Live Updates - Theme changes apply instantly without restart

Appearance Options:

• Panel background colors and transparency

• Button hover effects and backgrounds

• Glass blur effects and opacity

• Solid backgrounds for better readability

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🖼️ Desktop Launcher - Custom Backgrounds, Overlay and Transparency

NEW FEATURE: Set custom backgrounds for your launcher with per-app customization!

Background Image for the Launcher

Custom background for the app

What's New:

• Default Launcher Background - Set a default background image for the entire launcher

• Per-App Custom Backgrounds - Override the default background for specific games/apps

• Background Opacity Control - Adjust background transparency (Subtle, Default, Medium, Strong)

  • Subtle (1%)

  • Default (15%)

  • Medium (30%)

  • Strong (50%)

• Overlay Darkness Control - Control background darkness with preset levels:

  • None (0%)

  • Light (30%)

  • Default (50%)

  • Dark (70%)

  • Very Dark (90%)

• Live Preview - See changes in real-time before applying to your launcher

• Recommended Specs - JPG or PNG format, 1920×1080, 5MB max

• Subtle Opacity Display - Backgrounds display with subtle opacity for better UI readability

Perfect For:

• Brand customization with your studio logo or artwork

• Game-specific backgrounds that match each title's theme

• Creating a unique launcher experience for your users

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⚡ Desktop Launcher - Performance Optimizations

Major Performance Improvements! Smoother animations and better resource management.

Performance Enhancements:

• Performance Mode - New mode that optimizes launcher during gameplay

• Image Caching - Improved preloading and caching system reduces flicker

• GIF Optimization - Enhanced GIF rendering with XamlAnimatedGif library

• Async Loading - Background images and icons load asynchronously

• Window Drag - Async DragMove implementation for smoother window movement

• Faster Animations - Reduced animation durations across all UI elements

• Thread Safety - Better thread management for image operations

Visual Improvements:

• Reduced Effects - Optimized blur and shadow effects for better performance

• Hover Effects - Enhanced hover darkening effects for news and game covers

• Resource Management - Better memory usage with improved image loading

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🌍 Desktop Launcher - Environment Management & Environments with Access Codes

Better Environment Control! Aliases, enable/disable functionality, and beta access codes.

NEW: Private Betas

App Environments (Production has "Released" alias, Staging is Disabled, and New is a Hidden environment)

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Production Environment is show as "Released", Staging is disabled completely, and "New" is hidden until the user verify the code

What's New:

• Hidden Environments with Access Codes - Developers can now:

  • Hide Environments - Mark environments as hidden from regular users

  • Set Access Codes - Add a code that only authorized users can enter

  • User Control - Users can unlock hidden environments by entering the access code in the launcher

  • Perfect for Beta & Testing - Control when and who gets access to staging, beta, or testing environments

• Environment Aliases - Display friendly names for environments

• Enable/Disable - Toggle environments on/off without removing them

• Better Selection - Improved environment selection interface

• Library Control - Renamed "All Games" to "Library" for clarity

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🎨 Dashboard - Dynamic Theming & Environment Access

NEW FEATURE: Dashboard now supports dynamic theme customization and beta environment access!

Launcher Appearance Customization:

• Custom Backgrounds - Upload custom background images for your launcher

• Appearance Options - Configure visual settings directly from the dashboard

• Live Preview - See changes before deploying to users

• Easy Management - Update launcher appearance without rebuilding

Environment Management:

• Hidden Environments with Access Codes - Developers can now:

  • Hide Environments - Mark environments as hidden from regular users

  • Set Access Codes - Add a code that only authorized users can enter

  • User Control - Users can unlock hidden environments by entering the access code in their launcher

  • Perfect for Beta & Testing - Control when and who gets access to staging, beta, or testing environments

• Environment Aliases - Configure friendly display names for environments

• Environment Visibility - Toggle environment visibility directly from settings

• Assignment Warnings - Clear warnings when assigning apps to launchers

• Environment Editing - New dialog for editing environment settings with validation

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🎯 Desktop Launcher - UI/UX Improvements

Smart UI Adaptation! Launcher interface now adapts based on launcher type and content.

Adaptive Interface:

• Single-App vs Multi-App Detection - Library panel and AllGamesControl automatically hide for Single-App launchers

• Smart Slideshow - Slideshow player controls hide automatically when only one news item exists

• Smart Executable Dropdown - Secondary executable dropdown only shows when in play status and secondary executable is enabled, hidden in all other states

• Dynamic Layout - UI elements adjust automatically for a cleaner, context-appropriate experience

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🔧 Technical Improvements & Bug Fixes

Code Quality:

• Code Refactoring - Cleaner codebase with better organization

• Dynamic Resources - Enhanced ComboBox UI with theme-based styling

• Library Updates - Updated to XamlAnimatedGif for better GIF support

• Image Loading - Refactored to use async/await and HttpClient

• UI Controls - Improved SubNews control management

Bug Fixes:

• Launcher Icon Update - Fixed launcher icon in main window not updating correctly

• SubNews Layout - SubNews now adjusts position downward for consistency when announcements are hidden or panels adapt to launcher type

• Image Flicker - Fixed flicker issues in background and favorite game icons

• Logo Blur - Renamed Icon_Blur to Logo_Blur for consistency

• Glass Backgrounds - Added GlassBackgroundSolid brush for opaque UI elements

• Thread Safety - Fixed race conditions in image cache operations

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Update Now! Download the latest desktop launcher to experience all these improvements and features.