DeskRipple v0.4.3 (beta)

DeskRipple v0.4.3 (beta)

An update to the v0.4.2 beta — you can now choose how open folders are themed (follow Windows, or lock them Dark or Light), plus a batch of fixes for light-mode legibility, hovering into Fan/Ring folders, dragging shortcuts out, and unplugging a second monitor. If DeskRipple is already installed, it updates itself in the background — there's nothing to do. New here? Grab DeskRipple-beta-Setup.exe below.

⚠️ This is a beta. Things may break or behave unexpectedly. Please report anything you hit (see Feedback below). A paid version is planned later, with a founder discount for beta testers.

⏳ Free beta — this build stops working after September 1, 2026. It keeps itself updated automatically (you can turn that off in the About dialog). By downloading you agree to the beta license (EULA).

🔧 What's new in 0.4.3

• Choose your panel theme. A new Panel theme setting lets you pick how open folders look: Match Windows (follow your system light/dark setting), Dark, or Light — independent of the rest of Windows. It's per-profile, next to the panel opacity slider.
• Light panels are readable now. When a panel is light, the shortcut labels, the hover highlight, and the empty-folder text were nearly invisible (light-on-light). They're now theme-aware and legible, and they restyle instantly if you flip Windows between light and dark while a folder is open.
• Smoother hovering into Fan and Ring folders. Moving your cursor slowly from a folder's icon out to its Fan arc or Ring no longer closes the folder in the gap between the icon and the ring.
• Your shortcut is safe if a drag-out is blocked. If antivirus or Windows' Controlled Folder Access blocks writing a shortcut back onto the desktop, DeskRipple now keeps it in the folder and tells you why — instead of removing it and losing it.
• Unplugging a monitor no longer breaks a folder. After disconnecting a second screen, a folder that had been moved off it could show a clipped icon or a squished / blank panel until you restarted the app. It now corrects itself automatically — no restart needed.

Everything else from the earlier betas — desktop folder docks, five expand styles, drag-and-drop, desktop-icon displacement, multi-monitor and mixed-DPI support, multiple profiles, automatic updates, and opt-in diagnostics — works as before.

📦 Install / update

• Already installed: nothing to do — DeskRipple checks this repo in the background and applies the update silently at an idle moment. A tray notification confirms it. (Prefer to update on your own schedule? The About dialog has an "Install updates automatically" toggle.)
• New install: download DeskRipple-beta-Setup.exe below and run it. It installs per-user (no admin prompt), adds a Start Menu entry, and launches.

🛡️ SmartScreen prompt on the installer. DeskRipple is code-signed (Microsoft Trusted Signing). Because it's a new app still building download reputation, Windows SmartScreen may show a prompt — if it does, click More info → Run anyway.

🔎 Can't find the tray icon? On Windows 11 it starts hidden in the ^ overflow chevron near the clock. Drag it onto the taskbar, then right-click → Open Manager.

System requirements: Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit. Full details. (The .nupkg, releases.beta.json, and meta.json assets are the updater's feed; DeskRipple-beta-Portable.zip is an unsupported convenience — the installer is the supported path.)

🐛 Feedback

Found a bug or have a suggestion? Report it here — no login required. The easiest path is right-click the tray icon → Send feedback (it pre-fills your version, OS, and DPI scale, which makes reports far easier to act on).

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🔒 Privacy: DeskRipple runs locally — no account, no login. Out of the box its only network traffic is the background update check against GitHub (no identifiers; can be turned off). Anonymous usage diagnostics are strictly opt-in and off by default — you choose on first run and can change it anytime in Settings. Privacy policy.

DeskRipple v0.4.2 (beta)

DeskRipple v0.4.2 (beta)

An update to the v0.4.1 beta — a visual and usability refresh: redesigned settings, a cleaner look for open folders, and expand styles that line up with your desktop grid, plus a batch of interaction fixes. If DeskRipple is already installed, it updates itself in the background — there's nothing to do. New here? Grab DeskRipple-beta-Setup.exe below.

⚠️ This is a beta. Things may break or behave unexpectedly. Please report anything you hit (see Feedback below). A paid version is planned later, with a founder discount for beta testers.

⏳ Free beta — this build stops working after September 1, 2026. It keeps itself updated automatically (you can turn that off in the About dialog). By downloading you agree to the beta license (EULA).

🔧 What's new in 0.4.2

• Redesigned settings. The Manager's settings screen was rebuilt with a cleaner, two-tier Windows 11 layout: a Hover/Click control at the top that only shows the options that matter for the mode you picked, on/off toggle switches instead of checkboxes, and sliders that read in plain seconds ("0.3 s", or "Instant") instead of raw numbers. Related options are grouped into collapsible cards.
• A fresh look for open folders. Expanded panels now use a Windows 11-native surface — a soft vertical gradient with a crisp 1px edge and slightly rounder corners — for a cleaner, more native feel.
• Expand styles line up with your desktop grid. The Fan now stays centered on the folder it opens from; the Grid, Column, and Row styles drop their shortcuts onto your actual desktop icon grid; and the Ring's band hugs its icons more tightly.
• The Ring grows to fit. Rings with more than about 7–8 shortcuts no longer overlap — the circle expands to make room — and adding, removing, or dragging items in and out no longer makes the ring jitter.
• Smoother hovering between folders. Moving your cursor straight from an open panel onto another folder's icon now opens that folder right away (before, you had to move off it and back).
• Live changes apply to open folders. Switching the expand style, or the hover/click mode, while a folder is open now cleanly closes and reopens it instead of leaving a half-updated layout.
• New folders land where you'd look for them. Creating a folder from the Manager now places it where your next desktop icon would go, instead of in the middle of the screen.
• Snappier rearranging. Dragging a shortcut to reorder it is now instant by default, and the animation timing scales with your chosen speed so small and large folders both ripple smoothly.
• Fixes & robustness. Fixed the Column and Row styles clipping the shortcut closest to the folder. Switching between profiles is more robust now — a crash-safe rebuild, with memory released after each switch.

Everything else from the earlier betas — desktop folder docks, five expand styles, drag-and-drop, desktop-icon displacement, multi-monitor and mixed-DPI support, multiple profiles, automatic updates, and opt-in diagnostics — works as before.

📦 Install / update

• Already installed: nothing to do — DeskRipple checks this repo in the background and applies the update silently at an idle moment. A tray notification confirms it. (Prefer to update on your own schedule? The About dialog has an "Install updates automatically" toggle.)
• New install: download DeskRipple-beta-Setup.exe below and run it. It installs per-user (no admin prompt), adds a Start Menu entry, and launches.

🛡️ SmartScreen prompt on the installer. DeskRipple is code-signed (Microsoft Trusted Signing). Because it's a new app still building download reputation, Windows SmartScreen may show a prompt — if it does, click More info → Run anyway.

🔎 Can't find the tray icon? On Windows 11 it starts hidden in the ^ overflow chevron near the clock. Drag it onto the taskbar, then right-click → Open Manager.

System requirements: Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit. Full details. (The .nupkg, releases.beta.json, and meta.json assets are the updater's feed; DeskRipple-beta-Portable.zip is an unsupported convenience — the installer is the supported path.)

🐛 Feedback

Found a bug or have a suggestion? Report it here — no login required. The easiest path is right-click the tray icon → Send feedback (it pre-fills your version, OS, and DPI scale, which makes reports far easier to act on).

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🔒 Privacy: DeskRipple runs locally — no account, no login. Out of the box its only network traffic is the background update check against GitHub (no identifiers; can be turned off). Anonymous usage diagnostics are strictly opt-in and off by default — you choose on first run and can change it anytime in Settings. Privacy policy.

DeskRipple v0.4.1 (beta)

DeskRipple v0.4.1 (beta)

An update to the v0.1.2 beta, focused on smoother drag-and-drop, nicer animations, and display-scaling fixes. If DeskRipple is already installed, it updates itself in the background — there's nothing to do. New here? Grab DeskRipple-beta-Setup.exe below.

⚠️ This is a beta. Things may break or behave unexpectedly. Please report anything you hit (see Feedback below). A paid version is planned later, with a founder discount for beta testers.

⏳ Free beta — this build stops working after September 1, 2026. It keeps itself updated automatically (you can turn that off in Settings → Updates). By downloading you agree to the beta license (EULA).

🔧 What's new in 0.4.1

• Reordering inside a folder now previews itself as you drag. When you drag a shortcut to a new spot, the other icons slide out of the way in real time so you can see exactly where it'll land before you let go. Dropping in a new shortcut from the desktop gets the same live preview.
• Smoother open and close. The expand animation now plays the very first time you open a folder (not just on later opens), and the easing, stagger timing, and icon caching were reworked so panels open and collapse more fluidly.
• Better behavior when you resize desktop icons. Changing your desktop icon size with Ctrl + Scroll (or the View menu), especially at the largest and smallest extremes, no longer mis-sizes the folder icons — DeskRipple keeps the last good size instead of jumping. Also fixed a z-order glitch with stay-open panels.
• Restyled tray menu. The right-click menu on the tray icon now matches the app's dark folder menus — same palette, font, and rounded hover highlight.
• Founder-discount sign-up, in the app. Beta testers can now join the founder-discount list right from DeskRipple, so you're first in line for the discounted paid version when it ships.
• Polish. New installs get a slightly richer "Getting Started" example folder (File Explorer, Downloads, Calculator, and a tips link), and the app now describes itself as supporting Windows 10 and 11.

Everything from the earlier betas — desktop folder docks, five expand styles, drag-and-drop, desktop-icon displacement, acrylic panels, multi-monitor/mixed-DPI, multi-profile, and opt-in diagnostics — is unchanged.

📦 Install / update

• Already installed: nothing to do — DeskRipple checks this repo in the background and applies the update silently at an idle moment. A tray notification confirms it. (Or force it now from Settings → Updates.)
• New install: download DeskRipple-beta-Setup.exe below and run it. It installs per-user (no admin prompt), adds a Start Menu entry, and launches.

🛡️ SmartScreen prompt on the installer. DeskRipple is code-signed (Microsoft Trusted Signing). Because it's a new app still building download reputation, Windows SmartScreen may show a prompt — if it does, click More info → Run anyway.

🔎 Can't find the tray icon? On Windows 11 it starts hidden in the ^ overflow chevron near the clock. Drag it onto the taskbar, then right-click → Open Manager.

System requirements: Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit. Full details. (The .nupkg, releases.beta.json, and meta.json assets are the updater's feed; DeskRipple-beta-Portable.zip is an unsupported convenience — the installer is the supported path.)

🐛 Feedback

Found a bug or have a suggestion? Report it here — no login required. The easiest path is right-click the tray icon → Send feedback (it pre-fills your version, OS, and DPI scale, which makes reports far easier to act on).

---

🔒 Privacy: DeskRipple runs locally — no account, no login. Out of the box its only network traffic is the background update check against GitHub (no identifiers; can be turned off). Anonymous usage diagnostics are strictly opt-in and off by default — you choose on first run and can change it anytime in Settings. Privacy policy.

DeskRipple v0.1.2 (beta)

DeskRipple v0.1.2 (beta)

An update to the v0.1.1 beta focused on reliability and a friendlier first run. If DeskRipple is already installed, it updates itself in the background — there's nothing to do. New here? Grab DeskRipple-beta-Setup.exe below.

⚠️ This is a beta. Things may break or behave unexpectedly. Please report anything you hit (see Feedback below). A paid version is planned later, with a founder discount for beta testers.

⏳ Free beta — this build stops working after September 1, 2026. It keeps itself updated automatically (you can turn that off in Settings → Updates). By downloading you agree to the beta license (EULA).

🔧 What's new in 0.1.2

• Your folders stay put. Fixed several edge cases where a relaunch could come up with an empty profile, no folders, or a wedged state — for example after a quick exit-and-restart, when a momentary file lock interrupted a settings load, or when a stale single-instance lock was left behind. DeskRipple now recovers your real setup from disk instead of falling back to empty defaults.
• A friendlier first run. Brand-new installs now start with a small, fully-deletable "Getting Started" example folder so you land on a live, openable example instead of a blank desktop. Delete it whenever you like — it never comes back.
• The Grid layout now animates. Opening a folder in the Grid style flies its icons out of the folder to their slots, and flows them back in on close. Also fixed a brief flash that could appear when re-opening a panel quickly.
• Tidier folder placement. Folders you create from the Manager now snap to a free spot on the desktop grid instead of stacking or landing at a fixed offset.
• Polish & fixes. Drag-out now displaces the native desktop icon underneath it more reliably, the Fan layout and live panel-opacity were tightened up, the right-click Properties item now opens the real shell property sheet, and the expanded panel collapses immediately when you open Settings.

Everything from v0.1.0/v0.1.1 — desktop folder docks, five expand styles, drag-and-drop, desktop-icon displacement, acrylic panels, multi-monitor/mixed-DPI, multi-profile, opt-in diagnostics — is unchanged.

📦 Install / update

• Already installed: nothing to do — DeskRipple checks this repo in the background and applies the update silently at an idle moment. A tray notification confirms it. (Or force it now from Settings → Updates.)
• New install: download DeskRipple-beta-Setup.exe below and run it. It installs per-user (no admin prompt), adds a Start Menu entry, and launches.

🛡️ SmartScreen prompt on the installer. DeskRipple is code-signed (Microsoft Trusted Signing). Because it's a new app still building download reputation, Windows SmartScreen may show a prompt — if it does, click More info → Run anyway.

🔎 Can't find the tray icon? On Windows 11 it starts hidden in the ^ overflow chevron near the clock. Drag it onto the taskbar, then right-click → Open Manager.

System requirements are unchanged: Windows 11, 64-bit. Full details. (The .nupkg, releases.beta.json, and meta.json assets are the updater's feed; DeskRipple-beta-Portable.zip is an unsupported convenience — the installer is the supported path.)

🐛 Feedback

Found a bug or have a suggestion? Report it here — no login required. The easiest path is right-click the tray icon → Send feedback (it pre-fills your version, OS, and DPI scale, which makes reports far easier to act on).

---

🔒 Privacy: DeskRipple runs locally — no account, no login. Out of the box its only network traffic is the background update check against GitHub (no identifiers; can be turned off). Anonymous usage diagnostics are strictly opt-in and off by default — you choose on first run and can change it anytime in Settings. Privacy policy.

DeskRipple v0.1.1 (beta)

DeskRipple v0.1.1 (beta)

A small maintenance update to the v0.1.0 beta. If DeskRipple is already installed, it updates itself in the background — there's nothing to do. New here? Grab DeskRipple-beta-Setup.exe below.

⚠️ This is a beta. Things may break or behave unexpectedly. Please report anything you hit (see Feedback below). A paid version is planned later, with a founder discount for beta testers.

⏳ Free beta — this build stops working after September 1, 2026. It keeps itself updated automatically (you can turn that off in Settings → Updates). By downloading you agree to the beta license (EULA).

🔧 What's new in 0.1.1

• Steadier profiles — hardened the profile-migration path against edge-case data loss and made profile deletion safer (you can no longer delete the active or last profile, and the migration won't silently drop folders on an unusual config).
• Security hardening — the developer-only update-source override is now disabled in release builds, so a shipped install can't be pointed at a different update feed.
• Opt-in usage diagnostics are now active — if (and only if) you turned on anonymous diagnostics on first run or in Settings, the app can now send its once-a-day anonymous summary. It remains off by default and sends nothing unless you opted in. See the privacy note below.

Everything from v0.1.0 — desktop folder docks, five expand styles, drag-and-drop, desktop-icon displacement, acrylic panels, multi-monitor/mixed-DPI — is unchanged.

📦 Install / update

• Already installed: nothing to do — DeskRipple checks this repo in the background and applies the update silently at an idle moment. A tray notification confirms it. (Or force it now from Settings → Updates.)
• New install: download DeskRipple-beta-Setup.exe below and run it. It installs per-user (no admin prompt), adds a Start Menu entry, and launches.

🛡️ SmartScreen prompt on the installer. DeskRipple is code-signed (Microsoft Trusted Signing). Because it's a new app still building download reputation, Windows SmartScreen may show a prompt — if it does, click More info → Run anyway.

🔎 Can't find the tray icon? On Windows 11 it starts hidden in the ^ overflow chevron near the clock. Drag it onto the taskbar, then right-click → Open Manager.

System requirements are unchanged: Windows 11, 64-bit. Full details. (The .nupkg, releases.beta.json, and meta.json assets are the updater's feed; DeskRipple-beta-Portable.zip is an unsupported convenience — the installer is the supported path.)

🐛 Feedback

Found a bug or have a suggestion? Report it here — no login required. The easiest path is right-click the tray icon → Send feedback (it pre-fills your version, OS, and DPI scale, which makes reports far easier to act on).

---

🔒 Privacy: DeskRipple runs locally — no account, no login. Out of the box its only network traffic is the background update check against GitHub (no identifiers; can be turned off). Anonymous usage diagnostics are strictly opt-in and off by default — you choose on first run and can change it anytime in Settings. Privacy policy.

DeskRipple v0.1.0 (beta)

DeskRipple v0.1.0 (beta)

DeskRipple puts your folders right on the desktop — pinned behind your windows like native icons — and expands them into shortcut grids on hover or click. Turn desktop clutter into tidy, on-desktop docks.

⚠️ This is a beta. Things may break or behave unexpectedly. Please report anything you hit (see Feedback below). A paid version is planned later, with a founder discount for beta testers.

⏳ Free beta — this build stops working after September 1, 2026. It keeps itself updated automatically (you can turn that off in Settings → Updates). By downloading you agree to the beta license (EULA).

✨ What it does

• Desktop folder docks — folder icons sit on the desktop behind your windows; hover or click to expand them into a shortcut grid.
• Five expand styles — Grid, Fan, Column, Row, and Ring (full 360°).
• Drag & drop anything — drop .lnk shortcuts, .url links, files, or UWP/Store apps straight into a folder. Shortcuts dragged in from the desktop are moved into a tidy archive by default (decluttering is the point) — removing one puts the original right back on your desktop, and a Copy mode in Settings → Behavior keeps originals in place instead.
• Native icons move aside — drop a DeskRipple folder onto an occupied desktop cell and the native icon politely shifts to the nearest free spot.
• Acrylic blur panels with smooth open/close animations.
• Multi-monitor & mixed-DPI support (Per-Monitor V2), plus optional start-with-Windows at logon.

💻 System requirements

Windows 11, 64-bit (x64). The .NET 8 runtime, WPF, and the VC++ runtime all ship inside the download — there's nothing else to install.

👉 Full details: SYSTEM_REQUIREMENTS.md — please check compatibility before downloading (no 32-bit build, no native ARM64, Windows 10 unofficial).

📦 Install

1. Download DeskRipple-beta-Setup.exe from the Assets below.
2. Run it. DeskRipple installs per-user (no admin prompt), adds a Start Menu entry, and launches automatically.

🛡️ SmartScreen prompt on the installer. DeskRipple is code-signed (Microsoft Trusted Signing). Because it's a brand-new app, Windows SmartScreen may still show a prompt when you run Setup.exe until the download builds reputation — if it does, click More info → Run anyway. The warning fades as more people download it.

🔎 Can't find the tray icon? On Windows 11 it starts hidden in the ^ overflow chevron near the clock. Drag it onto the visible taskbar strip, then right-click it → Open Manager to add folders.

DeskRipple installs to %LocalAppData%\DeskRipple\ and keeps its data (config, icon cache, logs, its own copies of dropped shortcuts, and any desktop originals it has archived) under %APPDATA%\DeskRipple\. It needs no admin rights and no account.

🔄 Updates

Updates are automatic: DeskRipple checks this repo's releases in the background, downloads new builds as small deltas, and applies them silently at an idle moment — a tray notification confirms each update. Turn this off anytime in Settings → Updates.

(The other assets on this release — .nupkg, releases.beta.json, meta.json — are the updater's feed. The DeskRipple-beta-Portable.zip exists but the installer is the supported path.)

🗑️ Uninstall

Settings → Apps → Installed apps → DeskRipple → Uninstall.

This exits a running DeskRipple, puts any archived desktop shortcuts back on your desktop, then removes the DeskRipple AutoStart scheduled task, any legacy Run-key entry, the %APPDATA%\DeskRipple\ data folder, and the installed program files. Nothing else is left behind.

🐛 Feedback

Found a bug or have a suggestion? Report it here — no login required.

The easiest path is right-click the tray icon → Send feedback (or use the button in the Manager footer / About panel). The in-app links pre-fill your version, OS, and DPI scale automatically, which makes reports far easier to act on. Misalignment at an unusual DPI scale is exactly the kind of thing worth reporting.

⚠️ Known issues & notes

• First-launch SmartScreen prompt — DeskRipple is code-signed (Microsoft Trusted Signing), but a brand-new app may still get a SmartScreen prompt until its download reputation builds; it fades as more people download it (see Install above).
• No native ARM64 — runs under x64 emulation on Windows on ARM, but blur and startup are slower.
• Windows 10 is unofficial — most features work on 10 22H2, but desktop icon displacement and the acrylic backdrop are tuned and tested for Windows 11.

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🔒 Privacy: DeskRipple runs locally — no account, no tracking — and stores everything under %APPDATA%\DeskRipple\. Its only network traffic is the update check against GitHub (no identifiers; can be turned off). Privacy policy.