One calm, gesture-first interface for every screen.
Etesian
One calm, gesture-first interface for every screen.
Etesian runs on the KDE Plasma desktop, on LineageOS phones and on the web, from one design language. Its influence is the Nokia N9's Swipe UI, re-envisioned for how we use our screens today.
Interactive: swipe sideways to unlock, then tap an app. Swipe in from an edge to minimise it.
KDE Plasma 6.6 and newer
Etesian for KDE Plasma.
The Etesian desktop on KDE Plasma: the same design language as the phone, on laptops and desktops. It installs for the current user, needs no root for the look, and uninstalling puts your own settings and panels back.
What you get
- Actions in the title barA native window decoration: the app’s squircle, its title and its main actions in one header bar. One row of chrome, not two.
- Global menu, clock on the rightThe focused app’s menus on the left; Events, status and the clock on the right.
- A light dock on the leftLit squircle icons, live previews of running windows, and an edit mode.
- SnappingDrag a window to show numbered zones, or to the top edge for six layouts. Keyboard shortcuts too.
- EventsThe phone’s Events view: the day, weather, notifications, calendar and feeds, sliding in from the right.
- Status menuWi-Fi, Bluetooth, Silent and Focus, volume and brightness, as on the phone.
- Belle desktop widgetsFlip clock, word clock, feeds and a mail widget over KMail’s inboxes.
- The whole lookColours from the design tokens, icons, cursors, sounds, wallpaper, splash and login screen, all made for Etesian.
- ThunderbirdAn Etesian theme for Thunderbird, generated from the same tokens.
Still to come
People and mail in search need KDE PIM. The mail widget reads KMail only for now. Apps with toolbars that hold more than file and edit actions keep their own toolbar.
The desktop design Etesian for Plasma follows.
Etesian for LineageOS
A calm, gesture-first phone.
No home button, no back button, no clutter. Swipe in from any edge to go home, see everything new in one calm list, and let your content fill the screen. Etesian runs on any phone LineageOS 24 supports, inspired by the Nokia N9's Swipe UI.
Swipe, don’t press
There is no home button and no navigation bar. The edges of the screen do the work, the same way on every screen.
- Swipe in from the left or right edgeMinimises the app. It keeps running and waits in Open applications.
- Swipe down from the top edgeCloses the app: the N9 swipe-down close.
- Swipe up from the bottom edge and holdPeeks the first row of the app grid over the app. Release on an icon to launch it.
- Swipe sideways on the lock screenUnlocks. There is no unlock button.
- Tap the status barOpens the status menu: profile, volume, connectivity and battery.
- Pinch in Open applicationsZooms between a carousel and 2, 3 or 4 cards per row.
Three home views
Home is three views side by side, plus an optional fourth for widgets. Swipe between them; page dots show where you are.
- EventsDay, date and weather at the top, then notifications and feeds, grouped by source. New notifications slide in under their section.
- ApplicationsEvery app as a lit squircle icon on a four-column grid. Long-press to arrange.
- Open applicationsLive cards of the running apps, two per row by default. Pinch to zoom; long-press to close or rearrange.
- WidgetsAn optional view for Belle-style widgets: clocks, weather, agenda, mail and more.
The lock screen
A large, thin clock and the full date, with notifications as dark translucent cards at the bottom. The newest show in full and the rest stack beneath them. Nothing pops up over the lock screen. The N9’s “More” style is available as an option. Swipe sideways to unlock.
12:45Saturday, 24 October
Are we still on for lunch?
Anna Virtanen
2 missed calls
Phone
Additions, off by default
Everything the N9 did not have is optional and starts switched off, so the phone starts as a pure N9 experience. Each addition sits in Settings on the page of what it changes, with a live preview of that part of the phone at the top. Try the Lock screen page here. N9-style replacements keep every option of the stock Android screens they replace.
Lock screen
12:45Saturday, 24 October
Under the clock
Glance lineNext alarm and event under the date
WeatherCurrent weather under the date
Emergency information
Show on the lock screenOwner and essentials beside the clock
Settings where you expect them
Every page of Settings shows what it changes before you change it.
- Status menuAn optional toggle strip and sliders, with an edit mode to add, remove and reorder rows.
- Open applicationsCarousel, split screen and arranging the cards by hand.
- Lock screenNotification style, a glance line and the weather under the clock.
- Emergency informationMedical details and emergency contacts, reachable from the lock screen.
- SharingAn N9-style share sheet and sharing a Wi-Fi network as a QR code.
- ToolbarThe N9 bar under every app, with Back on the left.
From the first second
A boot animation and a startup sound made for Etesian, in the spirit of the N9 rather than copied from it, set the tone before the lock screen appears.
The Etesian design language
Calm, gesture-first, content before chrome.
Etesian is a way of designing as much as a piece of software. Its influence is the Nokia N9's Swipe UI, re-envisioned for today’s screens.
Principles
- Content before chromeScreens show what matters; controls step back. One row of chrome, never two.
- Gestures, not buttonsThe edges of the screen minimise and close, everywhere, the same way. Nothing in an app imitates them.
- Calm by defaultNothing shouts for attention. Everything that happened waits in one place: Events.
- Faithful firstThe N9 behaviour is the default. Every addition is optional and starts switched off.
Look and feel
- The squircleEvery thumb-sized shape, from app icons to avatars, is a superellipse measured from the N9’s own icons. Never a circle, never a rounded square.
- Lit from the topIcons and buttons are lit objects: a soft gradient, a thin rim, a gentle sheen.
- Light, large typeBig, thin headings and plain text. Type follows the system’s size and weight settings.
- Colour that means somethingEach app has its own colour, used on its main header and icon. Sub pages stay plain.
- Black home, light pagesThe home views are black; apps are light. Dark and light modes keep the same structure.
- Motion with purposeApps slide in, slide away when minimised and follow the finger when closed. No splash screens.
Heritage
The design language is built from careful study of the N9 (2011): its gestures, proportions and behaviour. Where the N9 had no answer, for larger screens, a pointer or a keyboard, the gaps are filled in the same spirit. Fonts, icons and sounds are open or made for the project.
N9-style apps
The everyday apps, rebuilt.
Each core app follows the same rules: the app’s own colour on its main header, plain sub pages, a bottom toolbar with Back on the left, squircle icons and light, large type.
- ContactsPeople first: squircle photos, one list, every way to reach someone on their card.
- MessagingConversations in N9 bubbles. Inline reply from Events is an optional extra.
- MailA calm inbox with the N9 view menu: Inbox, Sent, Drafts and folders from the title.
- CalendarMonth, week and agenda views; today’s entries also appear in Events.
- MusicLibrary and now playing, with a Belle-style music widget planned for the home screen.
- GalleryPhotos as they are, edge to edge, with sharing from the toolbar.
- StoreApps in the same visual language as the rest of the system.
- ClockAlarms, world clock, timers and stopwatch behind one bottom toolbar.
- FeedsThe sources you follow, delivered into the Feeds section of Events.
- SettingsEvery stock option, N9 lists, and pull-down to search instead of a search button.
Home-screen widgets
Belle-style widgets.
Widgets are lit objects: glass, brushed metal and paper, each lit from the top. They sit on a four-column grid and resize in whole cells.
Web
Etesian for the web.
The design language is a Vue 3 component library, so anything on the web can look and work like Etesian.
Status
Follow progress.
Etesian is being built one part at a time. There are no downloads and no release dates yet.
- Etesian for LineageOSIn developmentLauncher, home views, lock screen, gestures, status menu, settings and apps running on the device.
- Optional additionsIn developmentEach on the Settings page of what it changes, with a live preview. All off by default for the pure N9 experience.
- Boot animation and startup soundDoneMade for Etesian.
- Etesian for KDE PlasmaIn developmentLook, window decoration, dock, Events, snapping and widgets working on Plasma 6.6 and newer.
- Etesian for the webLiveThis website. Cloud Companion is experimental.