Splash and Now Playing

Splash Screens & Now Playing

Three transient overlays sit at the boundary between Kartend's idle state and an active launch:

1. Boot splash — short overlay during application startup.
2. Startup video — optional one-time intro video on launch.
3. Resume-focus splash — short overlay when the window regains focus after a launched item exits.

And one persistent overlay during a launched item's lifetime:

4. Now Playing overlay — covers the grid while a launched item is running, if runtime detection is on.

Where to find this — Settings Dialog → General tab → Splash Screens, Startup Video, Runtime Detection sections.

Boot splash

A short overlay shown while Kartend initializes — it covers the brief window between the executable starting and the first collection rendering. Used to mask Qt's "white flash" startup and to signal that the app is loading.

[General]
bootSplashEnabled=true

Default true. Disabled installs go straight to a black screen until the first paint, then to the grid.

The overlay shows:

• App name (Kartend)
• Version
• Optional logo
• A subtle progress indicator

It auto-dismisses when the first collection has rendered, typically within 200–500 ms.

There's no per-collection theming for the boot splash today (the overlay is global and runs before any collection is selected).

Customizing the splash text

The title and subtitle default to the app name and a built-in tagline. Override either to taste:

[General]
bootSplashTitle=Welcome to my cabinet
bootSplashSubtitle=Loading…

Key	Default	Note
bootSplashTitle	App display name	Used verbatim — no %1 substitution. To include the app name, type it.
bootSplashSubtitle	Built-in tagline	Empty string preserves the default.

Leave a key empty (or unset) to fall back to the default. The same font and colors apply regardless of the source.

Startup video

A one-time intro video played at launch — branded splash, distributor logo, retro-system bumper, etc. Plays full-screen with audio (unmuted).

[General]
startupVideoEnabled=false
startupVideoPath=~/themes/intro.mp4

Default disabled. When enabled, plays once on every launch.

Behavior	Detail
Plays once	Per-launch; does not loop
Skippable	Any keypress, mouse click, or gamepad input dismisses
Audio	Unmuted (uses system volume; not the previewVideoVolume slider)
Format support	Same Qt Multimedia / GStreamer codec list as Video Previews

The startup video is separate from any per-collection background video (backgroundVideo) — those are persistent looping wallpapers, this is a one-shot intro.

If startupVideoEnabled=true but startupVideoPath is empty or the file doesn't exist, Kartend logs a warning and skips silently.

Resume-focus splash

A short overlay shown when the Kartend window regains focus after a launched item closes (window manager re-focus event). Used to bridge the moment between "external app exits" and "Kartend window comes back" so the user sees a consistent surface.

[General]
resumeFocusSplashEnabled=true

Default true. Set to false for an instant return to the grid.

The overlay is brief (typically 200–600 ms) and skippable with any input. It also serves as a moment for the layout / video-preview pipeline to re-warm before the user starts navigating.

When runtime detection is enabled, the resume-focus splash is also the transition out of the Now Playing overlay when the launched process exits.

Customizing the splash text

[General]
resumeFocusSplashTitle=Back!
resumeFocusSplashSubtitle=Pick your next one.

Key	Default	Note
resumeFocusSplashTitle	Localized Welcome back	Used verbatim — no %1 substitution.
resumeFocusSplashSubtitle	Built-in default	Empty string preserves the default.

Both keys are localizable by the operator — they're not auto-translated, so type the text in whatever language your install uses.

Now Playing overlay

While a launched item is running and runtime detection is enabled, Kartend renders a Now Playing overlay over the items grid. The overlay shows what's running and optionally fades the grid behind it.

[General]
runtimeDetectionEnabled=false

Default false. Off = Kartend launches items detached and forgets them; the grid stays interactive while the launched app runs.

What runtime detection turns on

Effect	Detail
Now Playing overlay	Renders while child process is alive
Time-played tracking	launch_history.duration_seconds is populated, sidebar shows accurate play times
Attract mode suspension	Attract won't scroll behind a launched window
Process-aware quit	Kartend can detect crashed launches and surface error dialogs

What runtime detection costs

Cost	Detail
Kartend stays focused	The window is in the foreground while the launched app runs (may be behind the launched app's window if the launched app is fullscreen)
Process tracking	One QProcess per launch; a small amount of memory and a file descriptor pair
Cleanup needed	Crashed Kartend can leave orphaned processes (rare)

If your launchers always go fullscreen anyway and you don't return to Kartend until they exit, runtime detection is a clear win — you get accurate stats and the Now Playing overlay for "free." If you launch items as background tasks (e.g. xdg-open for a PDF you read in another window while continuing to browse Kartend), turn it off.

Now Playing overlay contents

Element	Detail
Item name	Centered, large
Item artwork	If available, large in the background
Status	"Running…" message; updates if the process emits any tracked output
Elapsed timer	Live counter
Progress indicator	Subtle pulse while alive

Escape does not close the overlay (it would lose the runtime detection link). The overlay closes when the child process exits — at which point the resume-focus splash takes over briefly before the grid returns.

Multiple simultaneous launches

Today Kartend tracks one launched item at a time. If you launch a second item while the first is still running, the first launch's runtime tracking is detached and only the second is tracked. Concurrent runtime tracking is on the wishlist.

When to enable each

Splash / overlay	Enable when
Boot splash	You want a polished startup transition (default — leave on).
Startup video	You want a branded intro / kiosk welcome.
Resume-focus splash	You want the same polished transition coming back from a launch (default — leave on).
Runtime detection	You want accurate time-played stats and the Now Playing overlay; your launchers usually go fullscreen.

Recipes

Branded kiosk

[General]
bootSplashEnabled=true
startupVideoEnabled=true
startupVideoPath=~/themes/kiosk-intro.mp4
resumeFocusSplashEnabled=true
runtimeDetectionEnabled=true
attractModeEnabled=true
attractModeIdleTimeoutSec=60
fullscreen=true
showMenuBar=false
showToolbar=false

Boot splash → intro video → grid → attract mode after 60 s of idle → Now Playing while running launched items → resume-focus splash on return.

Power-user, no transitions

[General]
bootSplashEnabled=false
startupVideoEnabled=false
resumeFocusSplashEnabled=false
runtimeDetectionEnabled=false

Cold start straight to the grid. Launches are detached; you can keep browsing while a launched item runs.

Stats-tracking but unobtrusive

[General]
bootSplashEnabled=true
resumeFocusSplashEnabled=true
runtimeDetectionEnabled=true
historyEnabled=true
historyMaxEntries=5000

Splashes for polish; runtime detection for accurate stats. The Now Playing overlay only shows for the duration of a launch (which is typically when you're not looking at Kartend anyway, since the launched app is in front).

Where to next

• Attract Mode — the idle-screensaver layer that composes with these overlays
• History & Statistics — what runtime detection enables in the data layer
• Themes & Appearance — for persistent background video (different from startup video)

For developers

• Boot splash: MainWindow paints the splash widget before the first collection load completes; bootSplashEnabled gates the path.
• Startup video: src/ui/widgets/overlays/startupvideooverlay.h (StartupVideoOverlay). Reuses the QMediaPlayer infrastructure; unmuted (QAudioOutput::setVolume(1.0)).
• Resume-focus splash: same widget path, triggered by QApplication::focusWindowChanged after a known-launched-item exit.
• Now Playing overlay: src/ui/widgets/overlays/nowplayingoverlay.h. Active while LaunchManager's tracked QProcess is alive.
• Attract suspension hook: AttractManager::setSuspended(true) is called by LaunchManager when runtime detection is on; setSuspended(false) on exit.
• Runtime detection mode change: requires LaunchManager to use non-detached QProcess::start() instead of QProcess::startDetached(). See LaunchManager::launchItem().
• Adding a new transient overlay (e.g. "loading collection" overlay): follow StartupVideoOverlay's widget pattern, anchor to MainWindow, drive lifetime from the relevant manager.