r/software • • 3d ago

Discussion Weekly Discovery Thread - October 23, 2026

9 Upvotes

Share what’s new, useful, or just interesting

Welcome to the Weekly Discovery Thread, where you can share software-related finds that caught your attention this week - especially the stuff that’s cool, helpful, or thought-provoking but might not be thread-worthy on its own.

This thread is your space for:

  • Neat tools, libraries, or packages
  • Articles, blog posts, or talks worth reading
  • Experiments or side projects you’re working on
  • Tips, workflows, or obscure features you discovered
  • Questions or ideas you're chewing on

If it relates to software and sparked your curiosity, drop it in.


A few quick guidelines

  • Keep it civil and constructive - this is for learning and discovery.
  • Self-promotion? Totally fine if it’s relevant and adds value. Just be transparent.
  • No link spam or AI-generated content dumps. We’ll remove low-effort submissions.
  • Upvote what’s useful so others see it!

This thread will be posted weekly and stickied. If you want to suggest a change or addition to this format, feel free to comment or message the mods.

Now, what did you find this week?


r/software • • 1h ago

Release I made a free, open-source voice typing app that runs offline and types into any app

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• Upvotes

Hi all, I'm the developer of Talvio, so full disclosure that this is my own project.

I write a lot (emails, Slack, code comments) and Windows' built-in voice typing kept stopping every time I paused to think. The good alternatives are subscriptions that send your audio to their servers. So I built my own.

How it works: hold Ctrl+Win, talk, let go. The text gets typed wherever your cursor is, in any app. Speech recognition runs on your own machine (Whisper, Parakeet and others, on your GPU if you have one), so it works offline and there's no account needed.

Some other things it does:

- Ask out loud: a second shortcut asks an assistant a question and it answers by voice. It can read the text you have selected, so "translate this" or "reply to this" works.

- Voice commands: "play Believer on YouTube", "turn the volume down", "email Ram that I'm running late"

- Meeting notes: records your mic and the call audio as separate lanes and writes notes afterwards

- Phone as a mic: the Android app lets you dictate into your PC from across the room

The AI features use your own API key, a local model, or the $1 of free credit you get if you sign in. Plain dictation needs none of that.

Windows and Linux builds are out now, macOS is coming. MIT licensed.

GitHub: https://github.com/ishangautam7/Talvio

It's still early, so bug reports are very welcome.


r/software • • 1d ago

Release I made an Encarta-style encyclopedia app that works offline

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178 Upvotes

Microsoft Encarta was a big part of my childhood, and I wanted to pay tribute to classic software applications in general, so I decided to make a free encyclopedia app which uses Wikipedia as its source and can work fully offline.

While online, the app pulls everything from Wikipedia and Wikimedia sites, but it can also download packs from Kiwix to browse the full English Wikipedia in offline mode.

In true Encarta fashion, it also has built-in rich media capabilities, such as a photo/video/sound navigator, world map explorer, trivia-based games, and educational activities such as the periodic table and a solar system simulator.

It's just in beta right now, but I intend to add more Wikipedia capabilities (such as editing), more games, and more activities that cover all educational subjects.

Website: https://encyclopedia2000.com

GitHub: https://github.com/sburton0/encyclopedia-2000

Discord: https://discord.encyclopedia2000.com


r/software • • 3h ago

Jobs & Education High school

0 Upvotes

I am a freshman in high school in honors algebra 2. What math classes/ electives should I take for the rest of my high school career to become a Software Architect


r/software • • 1d ago

Release I made CRT-mpv: watch any video on a retro CRT TV, rendered at your screen's full resolution (free, open source)

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52 Upvotes

CRT-mpv is a free add-on for the mpv player that puts any video inside a retro CRT TV: scanlines, curvature, colour bleed and glow. Unlike a simple filter, it's drawn at your screen's full resolution, so old 480p shows look sharp instead of blurry.

- 45 TV sets (NES, SNES, Dreamcast, PlayStation and more) including 16:9 and vintage variants.

- Clickable on-screen remote: presets, degauss, VHS tracking, channel static

- One-click install and uninstall on Windows, no admin rights

GPL-3.0: https://github.com/SeiferLK/CRT-mpv


r/software • • 8h ago

Looking for software Best FOSS file transfer app?

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2 Upvotes

r/software • • 5h ago

Release Naughty Keyboard - Test input fields with one shortcut (cross platform, open source)

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1 Upvotes

I had just released Naughty Keyboard, it's a tool for testing input fields, the idea is simple:

The app comes with values packs, each value pack is a set of problematic data, with one shortcut we can write the problematic data, with other we can switch the pack, the app is cross-platform, full GUI + CLI (there is nkb emit, so we can export the values and use in own tests form the code). Like the project? Please give it a star. GitHub If you got any questions, features requests feel free to share them :-) The technologi is Rust + slint. The memory ussage is 5-6mb?

Right now there are 208 values, and packs like export breakers, extreme numbers, some specific data, in the future there are plans for 1000+ values, you can read here: full list of packages. Like I said it's simple, keep it in background, use when needed, in the feature I will expand the ability for creating own packages and shortcuts, let's say we would automate whole input fields on website with one shortcut :D And I think the tool can automate some boring work too, because right now I'm using the copy/write mode for testing values, but if in easily way other pepole could create own packs for work, so there is potential.

Please, don't ask me about some girls emojis or anything like that, the "naughty" in the name is in sense of "testing" not some girl things :( You now like a big list of naughty strings. I mean, in theory it's possible, but it's not in the scope of the project.

Full features list:

  • One shortcut, one value - Alt+Shift+N (Option+Command+N on macOS, Ctrl+Alt+N on Linux) clears the line and types the next value of the current pack into whatever window has the keyboard. Previous and restart are one chord away, and every chord can be changed.
  • Values that explain themselves - each one carries breaks (what it usually breaks, and why) and expect (what a correct application does). The pack file, nkb show and the report block all say so.
  • Invisible characters made visible - the palette draws one as a marker, ␣, instead of showing nothing, and counts every value four ways: graphemes, code points, bytes and UTF-16 units.
  • Know where you are - the palette shows the value that comes next and a counter of how far through the pack you are, and the value window searches the values of every pack at once.
  • A bug report in one chord - Alt+Shift+B copies a block for the last value: which value, from which version of the pack, typed as what, how large, and whether all of it arrived. The value is written in a form someone else can type back, never as the marker the palette drew.
  • Never takes the keyboard - the palette is a display driven by shortcuts and does not take focus, so the cursor never leaves the field you are testing.
  • Clipboard mode - put values on the clipboard to paste yourself, for one window or for all of them.
  • Packs you can check - a pack is a plain TOML file, nkb lint checks it against the format rules, nkb fmt puts it in canonical shape, and nkb new-pack writes the skeleton.
  • Made for scripts too - nkb emit prints a pack as JSON, CSV or one value per line, escaped or raw, optionally as base64. Every command has exit codes you can branch on.
  • Offline, free, no telemetry - GPL-3.0, no account, and it opens no network connection.

r/software • • 6h ago

Self-Promotion Wednesdays Spent the last few months making a screenshot app for Windows, finally made a proper video for it

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0 Upvotes

r/software • • 10h ago

Looking for software I built Cone Player, a free media player with a modern redesign on top of the real VLC 4 engine (Windows, open source)

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2 Upvotes

Cone Player is a media player for Windows that takes the VLC Redesign concept by the designer Juxtopposed and builds it on a fork of the real VLC 4. So it's not a skin or a separate app that borrows VLC's engine: it's VLC itself with her whole interface on top, which means it plays everything VLC plays.

Some of what's in it:

- A cleaner player with a thick seek bar, seek preview thumbnails and a subtitle timeline you can drag to fix subtitle timing while you watch

- A settings sidebar with presets per show, so each series keeps its own subtitle and audio settings

- A library with Continue Watching, your folders, music and playlists, plus a mini player

- Dark and light themes with accent colors

- An installer that puts it in Start, "Open with" and Default apps, and installs next to your normal VLC instead of replacing it. Or use the portable zip.

While building it I also found and fixed a few bugs in VLC 4 itself, like a subtitle freeze and a hang when closing some HEVC videos.

It's free and open source (GPL). Windows 10 and 11 for now, Linux is coming.

Download: https://github.com/StickyGonzales/vlc-redesign-juxtopposed/releases/latest

Design by Juxtopposed (CC BY 4.0). Based on VLC by VideoLAN, not affiliated with either. Feedback and bug reports are very welcome.


r/software • • 8h ago

Release I built TextFold to make text stretchable with "semantic zoom"

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1 Upvotes

I think we've been reading too many feeds from AI text lately! I actually want to reduce my cognitive burden...

So I built TextFold, it turns any text into 5 zoomable layers—from a one-screen section map down to verbatim text. You pinch (or press 1–5) to zoom between them without losing your reading position, your agentic output, any papers, or documents.

- Web Demo: https://chenxiachan.github.io/textfold/gallery/

- GitHub (Apache 2.0): https://github.com/chenxiachan/textfold

Welcome any feedback!


r/software • • 8h ago

Software support Microsoft Authenticator Passkey provider not registering in Work Profile – iQOO Neo 7 Pro (OriginOS 6 / Android 16)

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1 Upvotes

r/software • • 8h ago

Software support How to switch video splitted with haali in modern MPC-HC clsid2 fork?

1 Upvotes

As in the title. Have an old .mkv file of a movie, both theatrical and unrated footage in one file. Instructions say to switch between versions with haali trey icon, but it was depreciated years ago.

Anybody know how to do it nowadays?


r/software • • 14h ago

Release Gusco - TUI file manager with SFTP / S3 / MTP / Bitwarden client and audio player

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2 Upvotes

r/software • • 18h ago

Looking for software Looking for an all-in-one file manager with instant search and media browsing

3 Upvotes

Is there a good Windows application that brings all files together in one place?

I'd love to browse all my photos, videos, documents, and other file types separately with one click, similar to how Android Gallery works. Fast file search is also important.

Ideally, it would work offline, keep files private, and not require multiple apps for different tasks.

Does an application like this already exist? Which one would you recommend?


r/software • • 12h ago

Release Ledge – a free app that puts music, meetings, and more in the MacBook notch

1 Upvotes

I'm the developer. Ledge turns the notch on a MacBook into a small status area.

What it shows

- What's playing, with controls and AirPlay output

- A timer

- Your next meeting, with a Join button

- Weather

- Notes

- Keep Awake, which keeps your Mac awake, even with the lid closed

- Volume and brightness, in the notch instead of the system pop-up

Details

- Free and open source (GPL-3.0). Optional tip jar, nothing locked.

- Needs a MacBook with a notch on macOS 26 or later.

- Asks for no permission until you turn on the feature that needs it.

Download: https://ledgeapp.dev

Homebrew: brew install --cask egemertbalcik/tap/ledge

Source: https://github.com/egemertbalcik/Ledge

Bug reports and ideas are welcome.


r/software • • 16h ago

Release Thought Meadow — free, open-source offline notes for iPhone, with Markdown and English/Arabic

2 Upvotes

I'm the developer of Thought Meadow, a native iPhone notes app for iOS 17+. The released app is completely free, without ads, an account, analytics, in-app purchases or a subscription. The source is MIT licensed.

It covers a small local notebook workflow:

  • Write and search note text offline; organize with folders, tags and pins.
  • Preview basic Markdown and tick nested checklist items while preserving their indentation and text.
  • Use English or Arabic, including mixed-direction notes.
  • Import/export through Files, with an optional password-encrypted notebook.

The source includes the SwiftUI code, Xcode project and native checks, so it can be built independently. Recent maintenance fixed indented checklist handling and interface-language changes. The test matrix distinguishes simulator results from physical-iPhone cursor/undo and VoiceOver checks that are still pending. There has not been an independent security audit.

This release is iPhone-only, with no cross-device sync or shared lists. Optional paid cloud features are being considered for the future; they are not implemented in the current app.

App Store · Native source and build instructions · MIT license

I'd welcome concrete feedback on the writing and file export/import flow. A small dummy example is enough to report a problem; please keep private notes private.


r/software • • 11h ago

Other If I unistall photoshop by revo uninstall will my psd files also delete?

0 Upvotes

I was logged out from my creative cloud since it was a school account and now I cant unistall adobe programs, but Im scared it will also get rid of my psd files that i want to keep.


r/software • • 15h ago

Looking for software Battery Forecast — free Windows app that predicts charging and battery life using local AI

0 Upvotes

​

Ho creato Battery Forecast, un'applicazione gratuita per Windows che stima la durata della batteria e i tempi di ricarica in base alla cronologia del tuo laptop.

Invece di mostrare solo la percentuale della batteria, offre:

  • Tempo stimato fino al raggiungimento di una riserva configurabile.
  • Stima dei tempi di ricarica per obiettivi come l'80%.
  • Un grafico di previsione a 24 ore con un intervallo indicativo.
  • Informazioni sullo stato di salute e storico della batteria.
  • Avvisi configurabili e controlli nella barra delle applicazioni.

Utilizza il modello Timestral-28M di Mistral AI completamente offline. Non è richiesto alcun accesso al cloud o account.

Supporta Windows 10/11 su x64 e ARM64.

Questa è una versione per Windows di Till Dusk di Matteo Bonfanti. L'accuratezza delle previsioni è ancora in fase di valutazione.

GitHub e download: https://github.com/Mattboxx/battery-forecast

Screenshot: https://mattboxx.github.io/battery-forecast/

Il programma di installazione non è attualmente firmato e include componenti di terze parti con termini di licenza separati, documentati nel repository.

Sarei lieto di ricevere feedback dagli utenti di laptop Windows disposti a provarlo!


r/software • • 16h ago

Discussion Which app did you love until it got worse (sold, ads, subscription etc) and what did you move to?

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0 Upvotes

r/software • • 16h ago

Self-Promotion Wednesdays I built Toolbox, a local file utility app for macOS and Windows

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0 Upvotes

r/software • • 20h ago

Deal/Sale Tired of cleaning messy file/logs by hand?

0 Upvotes

I built a simple desktop tool using Python that extracts emails, phone numbers, IPs, and errors automatically from .csv, .json, .docx, and .txt files. It handles folders instantly without freezing and I can build that with a simple and easy Graphical Interface.

I can build custom scripts or desktop tools tailored to any file type you need.

If you need a quick script or a tool like this for your work, just shoot me a DM.

**I can show you how the tool works before buying.**


r/software • • 11h ago

Release Zephium: A fast, open-source, fully-featured browser and work environment, reimagined for you and your agents.

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0 Upvotes

After 5 months and 1,500+ hours of development, I'm finally releasing Zephium.

Fully OSS, built in Rust. 40 MB. Not a Chromium fork. Native adblocking, major Chrome extension support, a custom agentic browsing engine, and a lot more. It's not just another wrapper built in a few days.

Deeply integrated powerful productivity tools like Tasks, Notes, Time & Focus (with site blocking), etc.

And... Work mode: a shared environment where you and AI agents can browse, research, build, and get real work done together. Live browser sessions, parallel sub-agents, tools, files, components, and interactive results, all in one canvas.

AI is optional (disable in one click). No telemetry. BYOK support and local models.

Launch video (35K+ views in 1 day): https://youtu.be/QbSarcWspvw
GitHub: https://github.com/zephium-browser/Zephium
Website: https://zephium.app


r/software • • 1d ago

Discussion Blueprints, Not Prompts: Using TLA+ to Guide AI-Written Code

2 Upvotes

A colleague of mine published a piece on our company blog about using formal methods to define high-level specifications for software as an alternative to using the unreliable English language as the primary method of guiding LLMs to write code. It's a super interesting read!

I think one of the most relevant parts is his discussion on how in the past, writing and reviewing code by hand was not merely an "output" but also an essential act of solidifying the "mental model" of the system for you and your team, and as that practice dies, so too do our mental models. Switching to writing the high-level, formal specification using TLA+ and then letting the LLM loose to just "make it work" allows teams to capture the speed of AI driven development without losing their fundamental understanding of what the system is supposed to do.

The article is here if anyone is interested in having a read!


r/software • • 1d ago

Software support Need help.. tried almost everything

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0 Upvotes

r/software • • 1d ago

Looking for software What do you use to create mind maps?

17 Upvotes

Hello, I need an application that helps me create mind maps it just needs to be easy to use. It doesn't have to be anything complex, I simply want to create subheadings under a main heading, and further sub-levels beneath those

Any help is greatly appreciated