Using Apps! - spruceUI/spruceOS GitHub Wiki

Here you will find all the apps that spruce currently contains, in alphabetical order. For apps that once appeared in spruce but have been retired, jump to Obsolete Apps.

menuswitchAdvanced Settings

SpruceAdvancedSettings

This App allows you to change how spruce is configured, what Apps are visible and toggle on/off Network services such as Syncthing, Wifi File Transfer and SSH.

There are four tabs: System, Network, Game Switcher, and Visible Apps.

Each contains options and toggles. Many of our old Apps now live only within the Advanced Settings App (Syncthing, WiFi File Transfer, Recents Switch etc).

This section will be updated more over the coming days.

scraper Boxart Scraper

Toggle this Apps visibility in the App menu using Advanced Settings.

Scrape box art for your games! Please note that not every system is currently supported, but most are!

You need to be connected to WiFi in order for this App to work.

Currently supported ROM folders: AMIGA, ATARI, ARCADE, ARDUBOY, CHAI, COLECO, COMMODORE, CPC, DC, DOOM, DOS, FAIRCHILD, FBNEO, FC, FDS, FIFTYTWOHUNDRED, GB, GBA, GBC, GG, INTELLIVISION, LYNX, MD, MS, MSU1, MSUMD, MSX, N64, NDS, NEOCD, NEOGEO, NGP, NGPC, ODYSSEY, PCE, PCECD, POKE, PS, PSP, QUAKE, SATELLAVIEW, SCUMMVM, SEGACD, SEGASGONE, SEVENTYEIGHTHUNDRED, SFC, SGB, SGFX, SUFAMI, SUPERVISION, THIRTYTWOX, TIC, VB, VECTREX, VIC20, VIDEOPAC, WOLF, WS, WSC, X68000, ZXS

bootlogo Boot Logo

Toggle this Apps visibility in the App menu using Advanced Settings.

Place your selected bootlogo.bmp file into the "BootLogo" folder: App/BootLogo/bootlogo.bmp. Then, run this app to change your current boot logo to your newly selected one.

The logos included have been tested and will not brick your A30. The app will recognize a logo that does not meet the strict requirements needed to keep the A30 firmware happy, and prohibit you from running the app and bricking your A30.

NOTE: Using this app with logos other than the ones provided should be safe, but do so only at your own risk!

Please use with EXTREME CAUTION if you are using your own custom made boot logo.

Thanks Shaun Inman for providing this app!

file File Management

Toggle this Apps visibility in the App menu using Advanced Settings.

This program (AKA Dingux Commander) can be used to navigate, view, edit, move, copy and delete files directly using the A30.

firmwareupdate Firmware Updater

This App will automatically appear in your Apps section if your A30 is using an old Firmware version. It will walk you though the process step by step and you will be off to the races! The Firmware version it installs fixes the WiFi functionality and is very important. Please update your Firmware!

icons8-data-transfer-70 GameSwitcher

This feature allows you to switch between games quickly and easily! Simply press and hold the Home button while in a game to open GameSwitcher. It is possible to switch this control in Advanced Settings so that tapping Home brings up GameSwitcher and holding Home brings up the In-Game Menu.

SpruceGameSwitcher

This section will be updated more over the coming days.

led LED Control

Toggle this functionality using Advanced Settings.

This App has three modes: LED - On, LED - Off and LED - On In Menu Only.

This controls the behavior of the LED, spruce comes standard with LED - OFF (thanks Cinethezs!).

gamelist Miyoo Gamelist

Toggle this Apps visibility in the App menu using Advanced Settings.

This will scan every console subfolder for the gamelist.xml file and will generate a miyoogamelist.xml.

It cleans up and shortens game names.

It cleans up game names removing ( )'s and [ ]'s from appearing.

random Random Game

Toggle this Apps visibility in the App menu using Advanced Settings.

There are actually two versions of this App on spruce. One is in the App menu and the other is in the X menu in the Game list. Their function is extremely simple.

For the App version simply press A on it and it will boot a random game directly.

For the X Menu version press X while you are in the Game List (like you are changing core or CPU speed) and select Random Game. This will bring you to a random spot in the list giving you the option to boot the game or not.

recents Recents

Toggle this functionality using Advanced Settings.

This is a switch that turns On/Off the Recents Tab on the main spruce menu.

retroarch Retroarch

Toggle this Apps visibility in the App menu using Advanced Settings.

This gives you access to Retroarch and lets you change settings etc. If you are not familiar with Retroarch you should not use this at all.

rtc Real-Time-Clock (RTC)

Toggle this Apps visibility in the App menu using Advanced Settings.

RTC is supported on the A30! Using this App will let you set the date and time. This is useful for certain games, including some versions of Pokemon.

icons8-micro-sd-70 Samba

Toggle this functionality using Advanced Settings

You will want to turn off the "Shutdown when idle..." options.

Windows:

  1. Connect your A30 to WiFi.
  2. In the network tab of the Advanced Settings App, turn on Samba, then press B to save your changes.
  3. On your computer, click on the search bar by your menu icon (usually bottom of your screen).
  4. Type in run and hit enter. A box will pop up.
  5. Type in \\ip.add.re.ss (replacing it with your A30’s IP address you found on the WiFi line of main settings or on the advanced settings network tab) and press enter.
  6. A login window may pop up; use user: root and password: tina. You can check a box to have your computer remember these credentials so you don’t have to log in next time.
  7. Now a window should appear that allows you to access your SD card contents.

Mac:

Here's the Mac equivalent:

  1. Connect your A30 to WiFi.
  2. In the network tab of the Advanced Settings App, turn on Samba, then press B to save your changes.
  3. On your Mac, click the Finder icon in your Dock.
  4. Press Cmd + K or go to the menu bar and select Go > Connect to Server.
  5. Type in smb://ip.add.re.ss (replacing it with your A30's IP address you found on the WiFi line of main settings or on the advanced settings network tab) and click Connect.
  6. A login window will pop up; use user: root and password: tina. You can check "Remember this password in my keychain" to avoid logging in next time.
  7. Now a Finder window should appear that allows you to access your SD card contents.

Linux:

  1. Connect your A30 to WiFi.
  2. In the network tab of the Advanced Settings App, turn on samba, then press B to save your changes.
  3. On your computer, open your File Manager (thunar, dolphin, nautilus, etc).
  4. In the address space type in smb://your_device_ip (replacing it with your A30’s IP address you found on the WiFi line of main settings or on the advanced settings network tab) and hit enter.
  5. A login window may pop up; use user: root and password: tina.
  6. You can check a box to have your computer remember these credentials so you don’t have to log in next time.
  7. Now a window should appear that allows you to access your SD card contents.

Note: On some Linux systems a additional package might be required, this is outside our scope but please be beware of this possibility.

SSH SSH

Toggle this functionality using Advanced Settings.

You will want to turn off the "Shutdown when idle..." options.

SSH (secure shell) gives a direct look into the Linux brain of your A30. This is mostly only useful for devs and tinkerers, but it’s there if you’d like to take advantage of it (thanks FragBait79!).

Setup Instructions (Windows):

  1. Install PuTTY on your computer:

  2. Connect your A30 to WiFi, and make note of its IP address. Then, run the SSH app on your A30 to enable the service.

  3. Launch PuTTY. Type your A30’s IP address into the box, and make sure SSH is checked.

  4. (Optional) You can save your IP for next time to make it quicker: just type “Black A30” or whatever in the “Saved Sessions” box and click Save.

  5. Click Open. A command line pops up, and you log in using username root and password tina. clackity hacker key noises “I’m in!”

Screenshot 2024-10-03 101301

syncthing Syncthing

Toggle this functionality using Advanced Settings.

Retro Game Corps has made an awesome guide for Syncthing! Find it here.

sftpgo WiFi File Transfer

Toggle this functionality using Advanced Settings.

You will want to turn off the "Shutdown when idle..." options.

This allows you to manage your files wirelessly. You can upload, download, move and delete files all using your internet browser or FTP client.

IMPORTANT: For stable WiFi, update your firmware first!

Browser

  1. Select WIFI FILE TRANSFER in the App menu. It should now say "WIFI FILE TRANSFER - ON".

  2. Go to your Settings menu and look at the WiFi tab, it will show an IP address.

  3. In your internet browser type your IP address from step 4 followed by ":8080" and press Enter.

It should look like this: XXX.XXX.X.X:8080 or XX.X.X.XXX:8080.

The username is "spruce" and the password is "happygaming"

In your browser, you will see a screen like this:

Screenshot 2024-08-27 164017

FTP Client

  1. Download and install your favorite FTP client. For example: FileZilla
  2. Connect to the IP address of your device on port 21. The username name and password is the same for both Browser and FTP (see above).

(Thanks Veckia and FragBait79!)

Obsolete Apps

If you’ve found yourself struggling with one of these apps: update your friggin’ spruce!

emufresh Emu Fresh

Obsolete as of v3.0.0

This scans your Roms folders for content and loads each system with games present into the Games menu.

Emu Fresh also refreshes your roms list at the same time!

After you add games or videos to your Miyoo A30 go to Apps and select Emu Fresh, that's it! Your games will now show, easy right?

expertappswitch Expert Apps Toggle

Obsolete as of v3.0.0

Shows or hides many of the more technically-oriented apps. It is off by default.

iconfresh Icon Fresh

Obsolete as of v2.3.0.

This sets the icons from the current theme as the default icons for any theme you choose. To use the App, first change the theme (Settings>Themes) to the one that has the icons you want, then run Icon Fresh. You can now change to any Theme and the new icons will still be applied.

pico8 PICO-8

Obsolete as of v3.0.0

PICO8 HAS BEEN MOVED TO THE Emu FOLDER. PLACE DAT/DYN FILES IN Emu/PICO8/bin/

Use this app to launch into Splore, Pico-8's native browser, downloader, and launcher for free games!

Please note that you must provide your own copy of Pico-8. Pico-8 games are all free, but you must first purchase the license to download the fantasy console itself.

retroexpert Retroarch Expert Mode

Obsolete as of v3.0.0

This toggles ON/OFF Retroarch Expert Mode (REM), removing Miyoo's in-game menu and making spruce more Retroarch-centric. It also adds additional default hotkeys.

NON-REM Hotkeys

  • RA Menu toggle: Menu
  • Fast Forward toggle: R2

That's it. Keep it simple, stupid!

REM Hotkeys (spruce v2.3.0 and later)

  • Hotkey enable: Menu button
  • RA Menu toggle: Menu+X
  • Quit RA: Hold Select 2 seconds (quick shutdown+resume)
  • Quit RA: Menu+Start
  • Fast Forward toggle: Menu+R2
  • Slow Motion toggle: Menu+L2
  • Load State: Menu+L1
  • Save State: Menu+R1
  • Next State Slot: Menu+Right
  • Prev Save Slot: Menu+Left
  • Take Screenshot: Menu+A
  • Show FPS: Menu+Y

Note: If you have wacky hotkeys that are not as listed above while using REM: update your friggin’ spruce!