One of those cheap 12-15$ AliExpress DVD R/RW USB C drives did the trick for me.

You can find some builds at the bottom of the page here (edit: when logged in) : https://github.com/ByteWelder/Tactility/actions/runs/12659191949 These files expire in 30 days though.

While it definitely is a cool project, it’s a micropython one, so the target audience is similar but not the same.

Thanks! Good to see there's an ESP32 community too. I just subscribed ^^

I didn't know this exists! I'm currently using a dependency to load ELF files: https://components.espressif.com/components/espressif/elf_loader I guess it would make more sense to have the memory mapping done inside elf_loader, so that S3 devices can load to PSRAM and non-S3 devices can load into IRAM. Thanks for the tip!

I don't expect regular Python apps to ever run on Tactility, as the memory requirements are likely too high. There is at most about 8MB of RAM for apps available. Perhaps a special build of micropython could work at some point.

You can open the Files app and there's a folder named "sdcard". So far, all SD card implementations are done via a serial interface (SPI). I cannot mount them on-the-fly yet - only at boot.

There is indeed no way to create new virtual memory mappings. When a binary is loaded, it's manually mapped into IRAM (instruction RAM).

The target audience for things like Lilygo T-Deck is probably the more technical side of the Flipper Zero audience. I can see how it could also become an end-user device (like Flipper Zero is to many people), but we'll need more apps for that.

And sure, you could use a Raspberry Pi, but part of the fun/challenge of this project is that it hasn't been done for ESP32 before (as far as I'm aware). Some differences: a Raspberry Pi draws more power, costs more, and generally doesn't boot in under 2 seconds. I'm also not aware of compact Pi-based handhelds like the Lilygo T-Deck is to my project. edit: There's the uConsole, but it's twice the price, likely has 6+ months delivery time, is much larger, and weighs much more.

In its current state, it's mainly a tool for developers to be able to build prototypes or experiments quickly. From a user perspective, there isn't enough yet. We'll need more apps before it's useful for end-users. I want to improve the core functionality before I build more apps: I already have to maintain about 2 dozen apps and I'd rather spend my time on building a better platform for now.

Framework laptops solve this by having physical switches for the camera and microphone at the top of edge of the screen. Can’t get safer than that except for physical removal.

If you just want CAD without CAM then the free variant of OnShape is amazing.

And if you want it to be USB A or HDMI for a day, you just swap ‘m out! More brands should do this.

I have a microcontroller project that doesn’t do well with USB C, so I unexpectedly had to swap a C port for an A port. It’s amazing that this is possible.

For me, it’s the feature discovery that’s massively lacking. Last week I wanted to scale the selected area. Had to search for it online. The UX is the least intuitive one of all drawing software I’ve used.