FlipClock

Minimal desktop flip clock widget built with Go and Fyne v2.

Features

• Hour and minute flip cards with animation (300ms, ease-in-out, two phases)
• Responsive layout that adapts to the window size
• Fullscreen mode (F / F11 keys)
• Multi-monitor support - Screensaver mode covers all connected displays
• System tray with menu (Show / Fullscreen / Quit)
• Closing the window minimizes to tray (app keeps running)
• Bebas Neue font embedded in the binary (zero external file dependencies)
• Dark mode theme with minimalist palette
• 24-hour format

Multi-Monitor Support

FlipClock automatically detects and covers all connected monitors when running in screensaver mode.

Usage

# Launch screensaver on all monitors
./flipclock --screensaver

Behavior

• Automatic detection: FlipClock queries your system for connected monitors at startup
• Synchronized time: All windows display the same time, updated every second
• Unified exit: Pressing any key closes all screensaver windows instantly

Platform Support

Platform	Status	Notes
Linux X11	✅ Full support	All monitors detected, correct positioning
Linux Wayland	⚠️ Partial	Monitors detected, but compositor controls window positioning
Windows	✅ Full support	All monitors supported
macOS	✅ Expected to work	(Not tested - community feedback welcome)

Known Limitations

• Wayland positioning: Window positions are controlled by the compositor, not the application. Windows will appear fullscreen but may not be in the expected monitor order.
• Hot-plug: Monitors must be connected before starting screensaver. Hot-plugging monitors during execution is not supported.
• Preview mode: Windows screensaver preview mode (small window in settings dialog) is not supported due to Fyne framework limitations.

Troubleshooting

Issue: Only one window appears on multi-monitor setup

Solution: Check console output for error messages. GLFW monitor detection may fail in headless environments or if OpenGL drivers are not properly installed. Try:

DISPLAY=:0 ./flipclock --screensaver

Issue: Windows appear on wrong monitors (Wayland only)

Expected behavior: Wayland protocol doesn't allow applications to position windows. Use X11 for precise monitor control if needed.

Issue: Screensaver doesn't exit on input

Solution: Press any key directly. Mouse movement detection is not supported in Fyne v2.5.

Stack

Component	Technology
Language	Go 1.22+
GUI	Fyne v2.5.1
Font	Bebas Neue (OFL)
System Tray	fyne.io/systray
Rendering	OpenGL (via go-gl)

Download

Pre-built binaries are available on the Releases page.

Platform	Architecture	File
Linux (.deb)	x86_64	flipclock_X.X.X-1_amd64.deb
Linux (.deb)	ARM64	flipclock_X.X.X-1_arm64.deb
Linux (.zip)	x86_64	FlipClock-X.X.X-linux-amd64.zip
Linux (.zip)	ARM64	FlipClock-X.X.X-linux-arm64.zip
Windows (.zip)	x64	FlipClock-X.X.X-windows-amd64.zip

Installation

Debian/Ubuntu (.deb)

# Download the .deb package from the releases page, then:
sudo dpkg -i flipclock_X.X.X-1_amd64.deb

# If there are missing dependencies:
sudo apt-get install -f

Linux (zip with Makefile)

# Download and extract the .zip from the releases page, then:
unzip FlipClock-X.X.X-linux-amd64.zip
sudo make install

To uninstall:

sudo make uninstall

Windows

1. Download FlipClock-X.X.X-windows-amd64.zip from the releases page
2. Extract the zip file
3. Run FlipClock.exe

Build from source

Requires Go 1.22+ and a C/C++ compiler with OpenGL libraries:

# Linux (Debian/Ubuntu)
sudo apt install gcc libgl1-mesa-dev xorg-dev

# macOS
xcode-select --install

# Windows: install TDM-GCC or MSYS2

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/nandomoreirame/flipclock-app.git
cd flipclock-app

# Download dependencies
go mod tidy

# Run directly
go run .

# Build optimized binary
go build -ldflags "-s -w" -o flipclock .

# Windows (no console window)
go build -ldflags "-s -w -H windowsgui" -o flipclock.exe .

Keyboard shortcuts

Key	Action
Esc	Exit fullscreen, or minimize to tray
Q	Minimize to tray
F or F11	Toggle fullscreen

System Tray menu

Item	Action
Show	Display and focus the window
Fullscreen	Toggle fullscreen
Quit	Close the application

Tray on Linux (GNOME)

Vanilla GNOME does not display tray icons natively. Install the AppIndicator extension:

sudo apt install gnome-shell-extension-appindicator
# Restart the session or GNOME Shell

KDE, XFCE, macOS and Windows work out-of-the-box.

Project structure

flipclock-app/
├── main.go                      # Application (widgets, layout, tray, loop)
├── font.go                      # Embedded font via go:embed
├── bundled.go                   # Embedded icon via fyne bundle
├── fonts/
│   └── BebasNeue-Regular.ttf    # Display font (61KB, OFL license)
├── images/
│   ├── flipclock.png            # App icon (256x256)
│   ├── flipclock@2x.png         # Retina icon (512x512)
│   └── flipclock.svg            # Vector icon
├── install.sh                   # Automatic installer (Linux/macOS/Windows)
├── flipclock.desktop            # Desktop entry for Linux
├── FyneApp.toml                 # App metadata for fyne package
├── go.mod                       # Go module definition
├── go.sum                       # Dependency checksums
├── CLAUDE.md                    # Claude Code instructions
└── README.md                    # This file

main.go sections

Section	Lines	Description
Colors	16-26	Dark mode palette (#000, #1A1A1A, #FFF, #555)
flipTheme	28-57	Custom Fyne theme (colors + BebasNeue font)
FlipCard	59-200	Custom widget with renderer and flip animation
clockLayout	202-265	Responsive layout with 5:6 card aspect ratio
Clock	267-290	Clock state + Update() method + pad2 helper
main()	292-402	App setup, tray, shortcuts, 1-second ticker loop

Flip animation

The animation uses fyne.NewAnimation() with a 300ms duration and ease-in-out curve, split into two phases:

1. Phase 1 (0-50%): The top flap shrinks from the top toward the central hinge, revealing the new digit above
2. Phase 2 (50-100%): The bottom flap shrinks from the bottom toward the hinge, revealing the new digit below

The flaps use the same color as the card (#1A1A1A), simulating the mechanical effect of a real flip clock.

Install from source

You can also install directly from source using the automatic script:

./install.sh

The script detects the OS (Linux, macOS, Windows), installs required dependencies, compiles the optimized binary, and registers the app in the system launcher. Run ./install.sh --uninstall to remove.

Roadmap

• Flip animation (two-phase, 300ms ease-in-out)
• Responsive layout (proportional to window size)
• Fullscreen (F/F11 + tray menu)
• Embedded custom font (Bebas Neue)
• Custom icon for app, window, and tray
• 12h/24h toggle (via tray menu)
• Always-on-top
• Light theme
• Persistent settings (JSON)

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a branch for your feature (git checkout -b feature/my-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m "feat: feature description")
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/my-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

Conventions

• Commits follow Conventional Commits
• Code, variables, and comments in English
• Tests with go test ./...

Credits

• Font: Bebas Neue by Ryoichi Tsunekawa (SIL Open Font License)
• GUI: Fyne toolkit for Go

License

MIT