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.