Teal / Launcher

Apps are not the home screen.

I have never wanted RETUI to turn the simple act of opening an app into a ceremony. If you know the name, type it. The `apps` command exists for the moments when you want to decide what the launcher shows, hides, remembers, and groups together.

Launching should remain the easy part

Type an app name at the prompt and press Enter. That is still the shortest path, and I think it should stay that way.

`apps` is the management layer. It opens the drawer, exposes Android details, controls visibility, and lets the same groups you create from the terminal appear in the drawer. The visual surface and the command surface are not two unrelated systems.

youtube
apps -ls
apps -l YouTube

The commands I actually need

The full command has quite a few options, but the shape is simple: inspect an app, change where it appears, or hand the job back to Android.

apps -ls

Open the app drawer. If the drawer UI is unavailable, list visible apps in the terminal.

apps -lsh

List apps hidden from normal suggestions and drawer views.

apps -l <app>

Show the package, activity, permissions, services, receivers, and other Android metadata.

apps -hide <app>

Remove an app from normal suggestions and the drawer without uninstalling it.

apps -show <app>

Bring a hidden app back into the normal launcher surfaces.

apps -frc <app>

Force-launch a known app, including one that is currently hidden.

apps -st <app>

Open Android's settings page for that app.

apps -ps <app>

Open the app's Play Store page.

apps -file

Open `apps.xml` when you would rather inspect the launcher state directly.

apps -reset <app>

Reset that app's launch count to zero.

Hidden does not mean gone

I use hiding as a way to remove visual noise, not as a security feature and not as a strange second uninstall button. The app stays installed. RETUI simply stops offering it through the usual launcher surfaces.

apps -hide YouTube
apps -lsh
apps -show YouTube

If you want to open it once without restoring it everywhere, force-launch it:

apps -frc YouTube

Groups should reflect how you think

Most app drawers give you a pile of icons and ask you to make peace with it. RETUI groups are deliberately more direct. You create them with commands, fill them with the apps that belong together, and those groups become focused tabs in the drawer.

apps -mkgp work
apps -addtogp work Slack
apps -addtogp work Calendar
apps -lsgp work

apps -mkgp <group>

Create a group. Group names cannot contain spaces.

apps -rmgp <group>

Remove a group.

apps -addtogp <group> <app>

Add a visible app to a group.

apps -rmfromgp <group> <app>

Remove an app from that group.

apps -lsgp

List every group.

apps -lsgp <group>

List the apps inside one group.

apps -gp_bg_color <group> <color>

Set or clear the group's background color.

apps -gp_fore_color <group> <color>

Set or clear the group's text color.

A few permanent slots, if you want them

Default app slots live in `apps.xml`. They can point at a specific app, follow usage with `most_used`, or be cleared with `null`.

apps -default_app 1 Phone
apps -default_app 2 most_used
apps -default_app 3 null

This is optional structure. RETUI does not need a row of permanent icons to work, but the slots are there when a few fixed anchors make the launcher faster for you.

When the list feels wrong

If you installed or removed an app and suggestions feel stale, run `refresh`. If you need to inspect permissions, battery settings, or Android's own controls for an app, use `apps -st <app>`.

apps -lsh
refresh
apps -st <app>

`apps -tutorial` opens this public guide from the launcher.

The point is not to manage apps for the sake of managing them. It is to keep the home screen quiet while still making every app reachable on your terms.