I sat down with Geekstrada and Helaas, the developers behind Leaf, to talk about the project, its origins, development, and where it might go next.

This is my full interview with Geekstrada and Helaas, the two developers behind Leaf, the custom firmware for the MINILOONG Pocket 1 (which you might have seen Russ cover a couple of weeks back with a video, if you’re into the retro handheld scene).

We chat about how they came together, why Leaf exists, the thinking behind its development, the Colorway Studio you might have used when buying Retroid’s Nova, and the community growing around the project. It’s a long one, but there’s plenty in here about the people, ideas and tinkering behind Leaf.

I know these kind of interviews can be a little niche, but I think that so often people use these apps, programs, projects and builds without knowing the people behind them. I think I’m up to over 60 interviews now, so this is my tiny project of remedying that. Hope some enjoy it :)

  • tuckerm@feddit.onlineEnglish
    1·
    3 days ago

    I love these interviews. I don’t even have a device to run Leaf, but I enjoyed reading this anyway.

    • PerfectDark@lemmy.worldOPMEnglish
      1·
      3 days ago

      Thank you!

      That is such a nice comment to read :) I don’t have one of Miniloong’s either, but this duo’s infectious enthusiasm really has me considering it.

      Really glad you enjoyed reading along, you’re who these articles and interviews are for :)

    • PerfectDark@lemmy.worldOPMEnglish
      4·
      5 days ago

      That’s Geekstrada’s dog, Atticus! Who is a good boy :)

      And totally understandable, this is niche-within-niche. Leaf is a custom firmware option for a cheaper retro handheld, which lets you emulate old games on the go from ROMs.

      Leaf just gives a nicer customized interface and method for playing those games, with more features than the stock O.S.! I wasn’t expecting too many here to be screaming to read through this, but if any are into retro handhelds, or development at all, it sure has some gold in there. They’re also two lovely people!