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u/ninja-Nithin

[WIP] Linux OSD daemon + GTK4 overlay UI (need help improving GTK animations)
▲ 2 r/linux4noobs

[WIP] Linux OSD daemon + GTK4 overlay UI (need help improving GTK animations)

Hi
I’m working on a Linux project called ozhium-ollium, a lightweight OSD (on-screen display) daemon written in C.

It runs as two parts:

  • Daemon → listens to system events (volume, brightness, battery, network, etc.)
  • UI (GTK4) → shows overlay animations on screen

GitHub: https://github.com/Nithin-3/ozhium-ollium

What it currently does

  • Shows OSD popups for system changes
  • Uses GTK4 for rendering UI
  • Styling is done using CSS
  • Configuration is handled through a simple .conf file
  • Focus is on being lightweight and fast

What I need help with

I’m not very experienced with GTK4, especially on:

  • Smooth UI response animations
  • Better transition effects
  • Improving overlay feel (less “static”, more fluid)
  • General GTK4 UI/UX improvements

Right now it works, but the visual polish is very basic.

About the project

This started as a small idea for brightness and volume OSD, and slowly became a full daemon-based system overlay tool. I’m still improving it step by step.

Question

Do you think this kind of project is worth continuing/improving?
And if anyone is interested in GTK4 or Linux desktop UI work, I’d really appreciate help or feedback.

u/ninja-Nithin — 4 days ago
▲ 5 r/GTK+1 crossposts

[Development] Linux OSD daemon + GTK4 overlay UI (need help improving GTK animations)

Hi
I’m working on a Linux project called ozhium-ollium, a lightweight OSD (on-screen display) daemon written in C.

It runs as two parts:

  • Daemon → listens to system events (volume, brightness, battery, network, etc.)
  • UI (GTK4) → shows overlay animations on screen

GitHub: https://github.com/Nithin-3/ozhium-ollium

What it currently does

  • Shows OSD popups for system changes
  • Uses GTK4 for rendering UI
  • Styling is done using CSS
  • Configuration is handled through a simple .conf file
  • Focus is on being lightweight and fast

What I need help with

I’m not very experienced with GTK4, especially on:

  • Smooth UI response animations
  • Better transition effects
  • Improving overlay feel (less “static”, more fluid)
  • General GTK4 UI/UX improvements

Right now it works, but the visual polish is very basic.

About the project

This started as a small idea for brightness and volume OSD, and slowly became a full daemon-based system overlay tool. I’m still improving it step by step.

Question

Do you think this kind of project is worth continuing/improving?
And if anyone is interested in GTK4 or Linux desktop UI work, I’d really appreciate help or feedback.

u/ninja-Nithin — 4 days ago
▲ 7 r/GTK+1 crossposts

I’m building a small OSD app using GTK4. Right now I use gtk4-layer-shell, but I want to remove it and rely only on native GTK4 so it works across all display servers (Wayland, X11, etc.).

I just need simple OSD behavior:

  • borderless window
  • always on top

What is the correct GTK4 way to implement this without gtk4-layer-shell?

Here’s my repo: https://github.com/Nithin-3/ozhium-ollium
This is the function I want to change: https://github.com/Nithin-3/ozhium-ollium/blob/main/src/ui/window.c

reddit.com
u/ninja-Nithin — 11 days ago