Short: WHDLoad game launcher (no MUI needed) Author: PAL-N Studios Uploader: josemanera gmail com (PAL-N Studios) Type: game/misc Version: 33.336 Requires: 68000+, OS 2.04+, 1 MB Chip + 8 MB Fast, WHDLoad Architecture: m68k-amigaos >= 2.04 Distribution: Aminet PocketLauncher ============== A WHDLoad game launcher for AmigaOS 2.04+. It scans your disks, catalogs the slaves, and you launch them from a list with cover images. Ideal for large collections (tested with 3000+ games). Assumes you already use WHDLoad. Runs on any 68000 or better - from a plain 68000 (A500+, A600, or an A500 with a 2.04+ ROM) up to the fastest 040/060. The binary is built for the 68000 with the full 2.04+ API, so there is no separate "020" build to pick: the same file runs everywhere, and faster CPUs run it faster. The best part: no libraries needed ---------------------------------- * One single file (about 1 MB) that carries everything inside: the HTTPS module for your CPU and the phone page. Copy it and it runs - nothing to install. * No MUI needed (iGame requires it), no datatypes, no guigfx, no AmiSSL: HTTPS is built in (BearSSL, in a module PocketLauncher loads only when it goes online). * Plain 68000 compatible - no 020+ required. How much memory --------------- Minimum: a 68000 with 1 MB Chip + 8 MB Fast, in LOW-RAM mode (the list is read from disk on each search, no network, no covers). Recommended: 12 MB+ of Fast RAM for FAST mode (whole list in memory, instant search, covers, Remote Launcher, updates). Measured on an A500+/A600 68000 with 1 MB Chip + 8 MB Fast, KS 2.04, 2.05 and 3.1, with 5658 games, in LOW-RAM: PocketLauncher takes about 1 MB, starts at once, searches the whole list (about one minute per search on a stock 7 MHz 68000; faster CPUs: much less), launches the game and comes back, and leaves the game ~950 KB of Chip and ~5.6 MB of Fast while it waits in the background (all Chip RAM stays free for the game: PocketLauncher uses Fast RAM only). Below the minimum it tells you once what it needs and what your Amiga has, and switches to LOW-RAM; with 1 MB Chip only or 1 MB + 512 KB it does not fit at all and AmigaOS says so (no crash). Features -------- * Smart auto-cataloging: reads the name embedded in the slave and the igame.data (title, genre, year, players, chipset, arguments), and tells games from demos on its own. * Multiple sources at once (up to 16 folders/volumes), detects mounted volumes and drops duplicates. * Incremental Update Index: adds new slaves without re-scanning everything. * Integrity check: finds slaves that are missing (deleted or moved) and cleans them from the database, but keeps the ones on an unmounted volume, so you don't lose your DB if you unplug a CF. * Low-RAM mode and an optimized fast-RAM mode. * Native IFF cover images, no datatypes. Laced, progressive (hires) and RTG. Multi-IFF: view every .iff in the game's folder, not just one. Two scaling modes: fill and sharp (pixel-perfect). * Built-in tooltype editor - edit the .info from the app without opening IconEdit. * Run at startup and optional fullscreen. * Sortable table (title, platform, genre, year, players). Filter by three combinable criteria: language, platform (OCS/ECS, AGA, CD32, CDTV) and type (games, demos, mags, cracktros, apps), plus a title search. Iconify to an AppIcon with global hotkeys. * Favourites: mark games from the menu, show only your favourites with one checkbox. Stored by drawer name, so they survive re-indexing and even moving the collection to another volume. * Filters are remembered between sessions (can be turned off). * Resizable window, minimum 640x200 (NTSC hires) with topaz 8 (larger with a bigger screen font). All the extra width goes to the title column. Position and size are remembered between sessions (ENVARC:CLI_LAUNCHER/window.cfg), also across a fullscreen toggle or iconify; if the screen changed (other resolution, RTG or native) the window is moved/shrunk so it is always fully visible. * Font sensitive: the window, the list, the menus and every gadget follow the Screen text font of Font prefs (topaz, helvetica, times, XEN...). If the window would not fit on your screen with that font, PocketLauncher uses topaz 8 (standard behaviour). * Speaks your language: locale.library (OS 2.1+) picks it from your Locale prefs (most of the interface; a few composed messages are still in English). Built into the program (no files to install): Deutsch, Espanol, Francais, Italiano, Portugues, Nederlands, Svenska, Dansk, Norsk and Suomi. For a language it does not have, it uses your next preferred language in Locale prefs, or English (always English on OS 2.04, which has no locale.library). A catalog in LOCALE:Catalogs// wins over the built-in text, in any language and character set (see Catalogs/ in the archive). * Rename any game to whatever you like, and restore the original name at any time. Renamed entries are marked in the list and the bottom line shows what they were called. The original is never lost - it stays in the database - and renaming survives re-indexing without duplicating the entry. * Public-domain packs that use the generic WHDLoad slaves are handled: those slaves name the environment they need, not the game, so the list used to show ten identical "Generic KickStarter 34.005" rows. The drawer name is used instead. An igame.data title always wins. * Extra cover folders: point it at an image pack and the covers are added to every game, on top of whatever is next to the slave. Nothing is copied - it uses the images where they are. Languages and catalogs ---------------------- The translations travel inside the PocketLauncher file, like the HTTPS modules: only the language you use is read, when the program starts. Polish and Czech are not built in: their letters need Latin-2 fonts. A catalog for them works: its text is shown byte for byte, so with a Latin-2 font in your system it reads right. The Catalogs/ drawer of the archive has PocketLauncher.cd and one .ct per language. Corrections by native speakers are welcome: edit the .ct, compile it with CatComp or FlexCat (or any catalog compiler) and put the .catalog in LOCALE:Catalogs// (or Catalogs// next to the program) - it wins over the built-in translation. Send your .ct to the author to have it built in. With a translation active, numbers (5.658 games) use the thousands separator of your Locale prefs; in English they stay as before (5658). The date in About always follows your Locale prefs. Install ------- Unpack the LHA and run PocketLauncher. That's it - no assigns, no libraries, no MUI. The archive has: PocketLauncher the program (one file for 68000..68060) PocketLauncher.info its icon PocketLauncher.readme this text Catalogs/ PocketLauncher.cd and a .ct per language, for translators (the program does not need them) The HTTPS modules (68000/010 and 68020+) and the phone page of Remote Launcher travel INSIDE the program file. PocketLauncher picks the module for its CPU by itself, checks its SHA-256 before loading it, and only loads it when it goes online (no network = no RAM spent on it). If something is damaged, HTTPS is just off (it falls back to the plain mirror) and Check for updates brings it back. Old separate PocketLauncher.tls/.tls020/.www files can be deleted. Preferences -> "Use HTTPS (beta)" is OFF by default (since 33.331): plain mirror only, everything signed, just as safe. On a 68020+ you can switch it on as a fallback; a 68000/010 never uses HTTPS (~2 min per connection). Network and games: before each game PocketLauncher takes the TCP/IP stack down (Roadshow, Miami, AmiTCP, Genesis; ARexx without RexxMast) and brings it back after it, repairing it once if it does not come back. Networks on the parallel port (plipbox) or PCMCIA are taken down before each game and brought back after it; this is needed for them to work after WHDLoad. With Roadshow and a single interface in DEVS:NetInterfaces (Roadshow 1.13+ C:GetNetStatus) only the interface is taken offline and back online: the stack stays loaded during the game (no shutdown that can hang). With less than 3 MB free, or an older GetNetStatus, the whole stack is shut down as before; to always shut it down put C:NetShutdown TIMEOUT=10 QUIET as the stop command in Preferences -> Network while playing. To leave the network alone add the tooltype NETWORKDURINGGAMES=YES to PocketLauncher's icon. Write debug log (Preferences) is on by default: max 512 KB on disk in PocketLauncher.data/ (the oldest part is dropped); switch it off in Preferences. Where it keeps its files: PocketLauncher.data/ next to the program (a drawer with no icon, so Workbench does not show it): the game list, the covers index, favourites, aliases and the other lists. One per copy of the program; keep it when you move or update PocketLauncher (auto-update leaves it alone). ENVARC:CLI_LAUNCHER/ only the preferences (a few dozen bytes). Older versions kept everything in ENVARC:, and AmigaOS copies ENVARC: to RAM at every boot - with 5600 games that was ~1.5 MB of RAM lost even with PocketLauncher closed. The first start of this version moves the files to PocketLauncher.data on its own (copied, checked, and only then deleted from ENVARC:, so a crash or power cut in the middle loses nothing) and frees that RAM at once. If the program's drawer cannot be written (CD, write-protected disk, started from RAM:, disk full) the files stay in ENVARC: as before and you are told once. Going back to an older version ------------------------------ 33.326 and older look for the game list and the lists in ENVARC:CLI_LAUNCHER/, and 33.327 moved them to PocketLauncher.data/. To go back, copy the files of PocketLauncher.data/ to ENVARC:CLI_LAUNCHER/ before starting the old version. From a Shell in the drawer of PocketLauncher: Copy PocketLauncher.data/#? ENVARC:CLI_LAUNCHER/ (or just let the old version index your games again). The PocketLauncher.bak left by the auto-update is the previous program. Privacy: anonymous stats ------------------------ Since 33.327, the update check and the covers list carry a short line of anonymous stats, so the author can see how many Amigas run PocketLauncher and on what hardware. No extra connection is made: it rides on requests PocketLauncher already makes, and only when you use them (auto-update is OFF out of the box; covers download is manual). Nothing at all is sent in LOW-RAM mode or without network. Exactly what is sent (example): /pl/update/manifest.txt?i=3f9c0a71d2e84b06&v=33327&e=c&c=30&f=1 &g=2&k=40.68&w=40.42&m=8.8&n=57&t=1-4.307&l=esp&u=101 i random install id (16 hex digits), made up on first start; not derived from anything about you or your machine v PocketLauncher version e event: first run / update check / just updated / covers list c CPU (68000..68060) f FPU yes/no g OCS / ECS / AGA k Kickstart version w Workbench version (if in memory) m chip RAM (in 256 KB units) . fast RAM (MB), totals n number of games, rounded to hundreds t TCP/IP stack and version l Locale language (first 3 letters) u uses Remote Launcher / covers / auto-update (three 0/1 flags) Screen and health (so crashes seen only on real machines can be found and fixed), e.g. &d=640x256x4PL&z=640x200w&h=8.8&s=63.55.4&x=l0: d public screen width x height x depth, P/N/O/R = PAL / NTSC / other native / RTG, L = interlaced z PocketLauncher window size, w = window / f = full screen h height of the system font . of the screen font s seconds: start until ready . loading the list . sorting (once per session) x the PREVIOUS session ended badly (guru, reset, power cut, or a program error): what PocketLauncher was doing (one letter: l loading the list, s sorting, k covers index, i indexing, d downloading covers, u update, g a game was running, w idle...) and the error number if there was one (0 = none known) y how many such sessions, if more than one o "out of memory" moments (what it was doing + how many) To notice a bad ending, PocketLauncher keeps a 14-byte file, PocketLauncher.data/session.cfg, rewritten only when it starts a different kind of work (not while idle) and deleted on a normal exit; pending reports wait in ENVARC:CLI_LAUNCHER/health.cfg. With stats off neither file is written. Nothing else: no names, no paths, no game titles, no files. The server works out the COUNTRY from the IP address with an offline database and does NOT store the IP (not in its data, not in logs). The first time it would send them, PocketLauncher tells you and asks ("Send stats" / "No thanks"). Turn it off any time: Preferences -> "Send anonymous stats and crash info". Off means nothing is added to any request. The id and the setting live in ENVARC:CLI_LAUNCHER/stats.cfg (delete it to get a new id). Changelog --------- v33.336 (2026-10-23) * Font sensitive: the whole interface follows the screen font of Font prefs; topaz 8 when the window would not fit the screen. With a proportional font, names wider than their column are cut at the column edge, menu separators no longer widen the menus, and no menu is wider than the screen. * Translated to 10 languages (locale.library, Locale prefs), built into the single program file, including the progress shown in the title bar. External catalogs override them. * $VER: PocketLauncher 33.336 (23-Oct-26), readable by C:Version, also with FULL: the date shows right on OS 3.0, 3.1, 3.9, 3.1.4 and 3.2 (the C:Version of 3.0/3.1 gets dates after 1999 wrong in the dd.mm.yy form, so the AmigaDOS dd-Mmm-yy form is used). * The window position and size are remembered between sessions and always kept inside the current screen. * Search: accented letters can be typed (ü, ñ, é from German, Spanish or French keymaps) and their case is ignored (über finds Über). * Remote Launcher sturdier with Roadshow: with a single interface only the interface goes offline during the game (the stack stays loaded, no shutdown left pending by a client such as smbfs); the whole stack is still shut down with less than 3 MB free or with an older C:GetNetStatus. Network watchers (NetWatch.rexx, GauchoNET Tools) are told not to reconnect while a game runs. * The About window shows the real version (it said "1.0 alpha"). * Animated covers are paused for now: Pocket Launcher no longer suggests them when you switch covers on, and the covers help and Cover folders window only talk about covers. * Bonus! surprises: the requirement is a 68020 or better (they never needed 2 MB of chip RAM). * No more crash when LIBS: lacks commodities.library or asl.library (minimal boot disks): hotkeys or the file requester are just not available, and you are told so. * If the window cannot open (Chip RAM exhausted) a message says so instead of quitting silently. * Picking the option a filter already had no longer leaves the list empty. * A status line message showed a stray "wdirty_24 := True;" when one of the two surprises failed to download. v33.335 (2026-10-11) * Small fixes in the surprise messages. v33.334 (2026-10-10) * About window: the "Testing by" and "Made in" lines were pushed to the right over the QR code (a hidden line left over from the debug log). Back in place. * New "Bonus!" menu (last in the bar): "Play the BONUS!" (enabled when the bonus is downloaded, 68020+) and "Download / repair surprises...", which gets whatever is missing or incomplete with progress and Stop/ESC. The Bonus and "Only Amiga..." buttons are gone. v33.333 (2026-10-10) * Covers on a classic FFS/OFS disk (names up to 30 characters): the 363 games whose cover name is longer (WonderboyInMonsterlandSE_SCR0 .iff) were skipped and downloaded again on every "For my games". Now they are written with a short name (first 16 letters + ~ + 4 hex) and found again by that name. PFS3, SFS and long-name FFS keep the full names as before. v33.332 (2026-10-10) * About window fixed: the debug log line no longer overlaps the rest. v33.331 (2026-10-10) * ARexx without RexxMast: Miami (MIAMI.1), AmiTCP and Genesis get their OFFLINE/ONLINE/ISONLINE straight from PL (rexxsyslib), so it works even when RexxMast is not running. An ARexx host that does not answer never blocks PL (time limit, ESC). * The network is now ALWAYS taken down before a game and brought back after it (no option any more). Exceptions: the UAE emulator network, a WHDLoad ExecuteStartup that already does it, LOW-RAM mode and no stack running. For rare setups put the tooltype NETWORKDURINGGAMES=YES in PocketLauncher's icon to leave it alone. Preferences > "Network commands..." shows and edits the commands (empty = built-in; Miami over a modem/PPP dials again). * Networks on the parallel port (plipbox) or PCMCIA are taken down before each game and brought back after it; this is needed for them to work after WHDLoad. With Roadshow and plipbox, add downgoesoffline=yes to its DEVS:NetInterfaces file (PL tells you). * After a game PL waits up to 60 s for the network (all stacks). If it is not back, PL repairs it once (Miami OFFLINE+ONLINE, Roadshow ConfigureNetInterface or NetShutdown+start). If there is still no IP, Remote Launcher waits and comes back by itself as soon as the Amiga has an IP address ("MiamiDX is offline after the game: put it online, Remote comes back by itself"). The status line no longer keeps "running" or a % after the game. * Remote Launcher always comes back: after every start, every game and every network change PL connects to itself to check that the phone can really reach it. If not, it closes and reopens it by itself (2, 5, 10, 30, 60 s, then every minute) with the same address and token; the status line says "Remote: waiting for the network", "Remote: restarting (try N)" or "Remote: ready". It also comes back while PL is iconified. If MiamiDX does not answer (a window of its own may be waiting on the screen) PL does not touch the network and says so. * Download covers retries a pack twice (after 5 and 15 s) when the server does not answer, and after three packs in a row it pauses: "Paused: the server does not answer. Download again resumes here." * No IP = no network: nothing automatic (update check, log, stats) connects, and the manual ones say "No network: the Amiga has no IP address (is your TCP/IP stack online?)". Automatic tasks never ask the DNS (a stuck stack could freeze PL there). * Use HTTPS (beta) is now OFF by default, and switched off once for everybody with this version (switch it on again in Preferences if you want it). Everything goes plain to the download server and is checked by its signature. If the server does not answer: "The download server does not answer. Try again later." (Download covers resumes where it stopped). * Write debug log is now on by default (max 512 KB on disk, the oldest part is dropped); switch it off in Preferences. It also notes the network drivers loaded (plipbox, X-Surf, PCMCIA...) and the real value of the stats setting. v33.330 (2026-10-07) * Games now get the tooltypes of their icon (PAL, NTSC, Custom1=..., QuitKey=$59...), like a double-click from Workbench. The icon is .info or the icon in the drawer whose SLAVE= points to the slave. Workbench-only tooltypes and the ones switched off with ( ) are skipped; $hex values are passed in decimal as WHDLoad wants. * Works with every WHDLoad from 7.0 to 20.0: PL reads its version and only passes options that version knows (checked against the real argument templates of each version). NoReq (16.1+) so a missing slave never hangs, NoNetwork (18.1+). Clear messages for each WHDLoad result (needs newer WHDLoad/68020/AGA/chip RAM, Data folder missing, cancelled...). If WHDLoad still refuses the line, PL runs the game once more the plain way and says so. * Network while playing (Preferences): with a TCP/IP stack running, PL takes it down before the game and brings it back after it, so WHDLoad and the network card do not fight. Roadshow, AmiTCP, Genesis and Miami are detected without touching them; commands are ready and editable. PL checks that the network really went down and came back (with % and ESC), never starts a stopped stack, and leaves it alone if your WHDLoad-Startup already does it. Off in LOW-RAM. * After the game PL waits for the network (up to 60 s for DHCP). If it does not come back, Remote Launcher goes off and says why. * Download covers never stops halfway to ask something: if the fast server fails it goes on through the secure one (or stops so that Download again resumes). Stop/ESC work from any PL window. Every network wait has a time limit. Covers are switched on by themselves after a download (not in LOW-RAM, not if you switched them off). * Fixed a socket leak that, without internet, slowly filled the network table and made Remote Launcher stop answering. * Write debug log (Preferences, off by default): writes everything PL does to PocketLauncher.data/debug.log, line by line, so it survives a crash. Never writes the Remote token. With anonymous stats on as well, the log of the last session is sent to help fixing bugs; Send log sends it now. * Phone page: asks the Amiga less often while a game runs and says if the Amiga's network did not come back; link to download all covers for your PC (PNG) and for the Amiga (TinyLauncher and iGame). * Make your own covers from any picture: Covers > Cover folders > "Make your own..." shows macumbaeditor.com/iffmaker with a QR code. * Tooltypes editor no longer breaks NewIcons images or long lines. * Rename window comes with the current name filled in again. v33.329 (2026-10-06) * Download covers window reorganised so it explains itself: "Covers for my games..." (only the games in your list that have no cover - recommended), "Pick games..." (choose games one by one from the server list) and "Download everything..." (the whole set, up to 480 MB: it asks OCS/ECS, AGA+CD32 or all, or Packs... to pick packs by hand). Choose folder, Download again, Delete downloaded, Download surprise, Stop and Close below. * Download surprise gets BOTH surprises. If one is already there it only fetches the other. The final message says what is ready or what is missing. * The bonus offered after downloading covers also fetches whichever of the two is missing (Bonus button first). * "This Amiga..." shows the bonus state: ready, not downloaded or needs a 68020. v33.328 (2026-10-06) * New "Bonus" button next to "Remote": once the surprise is downloaded (Covers > Download covers... > Download surprise) it plays it. Pocket Launcher steps out to give it all the RAM and comes back on the same game. 68020+ and 2 MB of chip RAM; the button stays off on a 68000/010. It uses no network. * Preferences -> "Use HTTPS (68020+)": off = plain signed mirror only (faster on slow CPUs). Always off on a 68000. * Pocket Launcher can now travel as ONE file: the secure-connection modules and the Remote page ride inside the program. The update tidies away the separate .tls/.tls020/.www files it no longer needs. * The bonus download is no longer silent: if it is skipped (not enough space, read-only folder, download failed, ESC) the status line says why, and Download surprise ends with "Bonus ready: press the Bonus button" or the reason it did not finish. * Started from another drawer (a new archive unpacked somewhere else)? Pocket Launcher finds the game list of your previous copy and offers to copy it ("Copy" / "Index again") instead of re-indexing. v33.327 (2026-10-06) * Remote Launcher (button "Remote", menu Amiga+N; was Phone/Mobile catalog): scan the QR with your phone, browse and search your games, tap one and it starts on the Amiga. The page is a separate file (PocketLauncher.www, 25 KB) so it costs no RAM in the program. Each game shows its box art, gameplay screenshots and, for ~1500 games, a 10-second gameplay video - all straight from the internet to the phone, nothing travels over the Amiga's network. A short readable access code in the address (e.g. brave-otter-42) keeps other people on the Wi-Fi out; too many wrong tries are refused for a while. The page works offline from the phone's cache, shows a live connection light and keeps working while the Amiga downloads covers. Remote can stay on with the window iconified. * Covers one game at a time: Download covers... > "For my games" fetches only the covers of the games YOU have that show no image (light or full set), "Browse" lets you pick by name, "Packs" picks whole packs by hand. A game with no image tells you when the server has a cover for it ("Cover online", worked out from the cover index without going online); Covers > Download cover for this game (Amiga+E) is on only then. Each image says whether it is yours or downloaded, and your own covers are never replaced or deleted. * Covers download: the list arrives in about a second, a progress bar per pack and for the whole set, Stop or ESC stops even in the middle of a pack (it resumes later), unpacking is several times faster, and a folder without enough space warns you right away. * A surprise (68020 and up): Download covers... > "Download surprise" (named "Download easter egg" in this version). PocketLauncher quits completely while one plays (all your RAM is for it) and comes back on its own afterwards. They come in the same signed list as the covers, checked byte by byte. * HTTPS moved out of the program into two modules next to it (PocketLauncher.tls for 68000, .tls020 for 020+, picked by CPU and checked by SHA-256): ~75 KB less in the program, nothing loaded without network. Faster reconnects (session resumption), ESC works during the handshake, every network wait has a time limit. Updates bring the modules and the phone page too, each one signed. * LOW-RAM mode means NO network at all: no Remote Launcher, no covers download, no updates, no HTTPS module, bsdsocket.library is not even opened. Asking for one of them tells you why and how to switch to FAST. * Minimum stated and measured: 1 MB Chip + 8 MB Fast (LOW-RAM); 12 MB Fast recommended for FAST mode. Below the minimum PocketLauncher says what it needs once and switches to LOW-RAM, or quits cleanly if even that does not fit. ~350 KB less RAM taken at all times on a plain 68000 (buffers are taken only while in use). * Kickstart 2.04/2.05 supported and tested (A500+, A600), as well as 3.x. * The game list, covers index and lists moved out of ENVARC: into PocketLauncher.data next to the program: AmigaOS no longer copies them to RAM at every boot (~1.5 MB back with 5600 games). Moved automatically and safely on the first start; see Install. * Out of memory never resets the Amiga any more: PocketLauncher says what it could not do and keeps running. No memory leaks: the free memory is the same after quitting, and stays stable after many launches. Ctrl-C quits cleanly. * Idle CPU use down to ~0.6% (it waits for the system instead of polling), so it does not slow other programs or the game loader. The joystick moves the list only while its window is active. * Faster start on a 68000 (5658 games: ~100 s the first time, ~61 s after) and LOW-RAM search twice as fast (5658 games on a 7 MHz 68000: from ~107 s to ~56 s). * Anonymous stats and crash info with the update check and the covers list (random id, version, CPU, chipset, Kickstart, RAM, game count, language, screen mode, load times, and whether the previous session crashed and in what step). No extra connection, no IP stored, nothing in LOW-RAM. Asked once; switch in Preferences. Exactly what is sent: see "Privacy: anonymous stats". * Update download shows its progress in KB; the cover viewer's < N/M > row no longer covers the bottom of the image, and each cover is decoded once instead of twice. v33.326 (2026-10-03) * "Phone" button (top right): it lights up when the Amiga has a network, and opens the QR code and the address of the mobile catalog in one press. * Mobile catalog: a real progress bar while the game list arrives, games show up as they load, and the phone keeps the list and the page: the next visit opens almost instantly. Box art loads from the internet as you scroll. Works on any phone, tablet or desktop size, upright or sideways. v33.325 (2026-10-03) * Mobile catalog (menu, Amiga+N): Pocket Launcher serves your game list to your phone on the local network. Scan the QR code, search instantly, tap a game and it starts on the Amiga. Box art comes straight from the internet to the phone - no images travel over the Amiga's network. The network is fully released while a game runs (WHDLoad is untouched) and comes back by itself afterwards; the phone reconnects on its own. Optional "Start with Pocket Launcher". * Covers download: never replaces or deletes covers of your own, resumes safely after a reset, checks write protection and free space per disk block size, works on RAM:, shows progress and can be stopped while deleting. * Updates: the window stays busy while installing, the same version is never installed twice in one session (keeps the .bak), a renamed program file is detected, the fallback server is used on any server error, and the restart waits for the old copy to quit. v33.324 (2026-10-03) * Updates now come over HTTPS (macumbaeditor.com) with TLS built into the program - no AmiSSL needed - and every update is SIGNED: Pocket Launcher checks the signature before offering it and the SHA-256 of the file after downloading it. Older mirrors keep working as a fallback. * Download covers... (menu, Amiga+D): fetches a ready-made set of covers (TinyLauncher + iGame) for OCS/ECS, AGA/CD32 or all games to a folder you choose. It checks the free space first, resumes where it stopped, and "Download again" and "Delete downloaded" only ever touch the files it wrote: covers of your own are never replaced or deleted. The list of covers is signed too. * Network is released before launching a game, so WHDLoad runs exactly as before. * Windows fit on NTSC screens again; fixed duplicated menu keys (Amiga+L marks as App, Amiga+T edits tooltypes again); clearer messages; Preferences "Check for updates" keeps your changes. v33.317 (2026-08-28) * Online auto-update: "Check for updates" talks to a small manifest server and offers to download and install a new release in place. Uses a fixed IP internally (not a hostname) so a slow/broken DNS lookup can never hang the check; worst case is a bounded ~20s wait, never stuck forever. * Animated covers: play, pause and stop a game's animated cover with looping sound, right from the list. A public web tool (macumbaeditor.com/coveranim) turns any video or image into a cover PocketLauncher can use - the in-app help now leads with the QR code and link. * Covers and animations can now also live loose in the game's own folder under any filename you like, not just in a separate Covers folder with an exact name. The separate-folder convention supports two naming schemes: TinyLauncher-style (_SCR0.._SCR7) and AGS2-style (matched through the pack's own .run script). * The optional sound that goes with an animated cover is now named "_SND.iff" instead of a bare ".iff", so it can never be confused with a still cover image that happens to share the same name. * Cover picker menu on the image: choose which of several images is the preferred one, hide ones you don't want to see, or reset those choices - all per game. * Removed the "True colours (own pens)" option. It could tint a cover green on machines low on free screen pens; the safe existing-nearest-colour path is now used unconditionally. * Preferences window reorganised, with a real bug fix behind it: two different parts of the program could both write a file named "covers.cfg", and whichever wrote last silently erased the other's settings - occasionally losing a user's configured Covers folders. They now use distinct filenames. * Fixed image-navigation controls (the < > arrows and the N/M count) getting visually stuck on screen when switching from a game with several images to one with a single fixed cover. * Fixed the play/pause/prev/next row sitting on top of the cover image itself in the default window size with widescreen material - it now reserves its own space above and below the picture. * Covers and Animations help merged into one window with a "Switch page" button, rewritten to be more example-driven and to spell out clearly what is optional (both audio and the image itself). v33.310 (2026-08-16) * Cover image packs: three naming conventions are now recognised. Packs that ship a `.run` script next to each image (the ones where the image is named after the human title and looks nothing like the slave) are read by following the path the script itself uses to launch the game - 99.1% exact matches measured against a real 29,326-file pack. Plus the classic _SCRn.iff and -N.iff / .iff. All of them searched recursively. * Covers are indexed once instead of probed on every row change. A game with no cover used to cost up to 80 disk lookups per keypress and now costs none. Re-indexing your games no longer re-walks the cover folders. * The cover box now takes the shape of the image instead of a fixed aspect, so the black bars are gone. In PAL a landscape cover filled 40% of the box; it now fills it completely. Never stretched, never cropped. * Favourites, with a filter checkbox and menu items to add/remove. * The window can be resized - partially. The minimum is 640x200 so it still fits an NTSC screen, and everything above that goes to the title column. This is a step towards proper RTG support, not the finished thing: untested on real RTG, the dragged size is lost on a fullscreen toggle, and the font is still 8-pixel topaz. * Rename games, with the original always recoverable. Survives re-indexing. * Generic WHDLoad slaves (Generic KickStarter, Workbench 1.3, Intro, Disk1...) no longer fill the list with identical rows - the drawer name is used. iGame titles still take priority. * Fixed a crash on large collections: past 16,384 games in Low-RAM mode the program died with a runtime error. A 16-bit counter that wrapped around. * The next release will add online auto-update. THIS ONE DOES NOT HAVE IT. * Language/platform/type filters are remembered between sessions. * Image navigation: < > arrows plus an N/M counter, keyboard arrows page through the images too, and the box tells you when it is loading instead of just going grey. * About shows the installed WHDLoad version - handy when a game refuses to start because the slave wants a newer one. * Almost 400 KB less memory. A buffer was being reserved for a list this window does not have and never used. On a 2 MB machine that roughly doubles how many games fit. * Long scans can be aborted, show which folder they are on, and mark the window busy while they work. * A large batch of message and dialog fixes: several named buttons that no longer exist, and several described internals instead of saying what happened and what you can do about it. v33.288 (2026-08-09) * Now runs on a bare 68000, not just 68020+. Earlier releases shipped a 68020 binary that crashed on a plain 68000 (A500/A600, 68EC000 accelerators). The launcher is now compiled for the 68000 with the full AmigaOS 2.0+ API - one binary for every machine, and faster CPUs are not slowed down. Confirmed booting on real 68000 hardware. * The boot/system volume (usually "System") now shows up in the detected-volumes list under Sources. A display filter was hiding it, so you could index it by typing the path but never saw it offered - fixed. * The "DB x.xx mb" status label no longer flickers while the window sits idle. It was being repainted on every timer tick even when the value hadn't changed; it now repaints only when the number actually changes. v33.286 (2026-07-31) * RTG fix: on a graphics-card / RTG Workbench (Picasso96, CyberGraphX - e.g. a 1920x1080 desktop) the launcher wrongly refused to start with "screen too low", even though the screen is plenty big. Those screens don't set the legacy ECS HIRES bit that the resolution check demanded. It now accepts any screen 640 wide or more regardless of that bit, and only requires the HIRES bit on narrow (<640) screens - so RTG desktops work and native LoRes is still correctly rejected. Native OCS/ECS/AGA modes are unaffected. v33.285 (2026-07-30) Memory-scaling pass so big collections index fully on real fast-RAM machines. * The game database is now held in a chunked pool (fixed 256-record blocks) instead of one growing array. The old single array needed an ever-larger contiguous block and walled indexing at ~3000 games / ~2 MB even on an 8 MB machine, because no single free block was big enough. The chunked pool uses fast RAM in small pieces, so all of it is usable - large collections now index to completion. * Header-count validation now guards both directions (a corrupt DB whose count byte reads as a large or negative value is rejected with a "rebuild via Sources > Index" message instead of loading garbage rows). * Auto low-RAM mode kicks in on the right thresholds (small fast-RAM or low total), and the optimized fast-RAM path is used when there's headroom. v33.284 (2026-07-21) Robustness pass from two independent audits, 14 verified fixes. * The "Please insert volume X" requester no longer pops at boot or when launching a game whose volume is dismounted (unplugged USB, ejected disk) - DOS requesters are now suppressed launcher-wide. * WHDLoad paths of 241-255 chars now launch (they used to truncate at 240, leaving the game unlaunchable). * Games on offline volumes are no longer pruned by "Check DB integrity" (preserved until the volume returns). * Fixed a crash on OS 2.0-3.0 when drawing thumbnails. * DB game-count validation against file size (prevents blank rows from a corrupt DB). 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