CPR-vCodex Steroids — Release Notes

Rebase & Architecture Update

This release is based on CPR-vCodex 1.6.0.38 after a full rebase. All Steroids-specific code has been rewritten and integrated against the upstream baseline. The branch topology:

• master — Latest Steroids + upstream vcodex integration
• steroids-before-upstream-vcodex-1.6.0.38 — Pre-rebase historical reference (~670 commits)

What Changed in This Rebase

• All Steroids implementations were rewritten from scratch to align with the new upstream architecture
• Some features may not be fully operational yet — this is a work in progress
• Notable improvements: Library speed, Series/Collections management, Filter system
• The device remains stable for daily reading; only new/modified features may need refinement

Feature Overview for Users

📚 Library (V3) — Major Overhaul

The library has been completely redesigned for speed and flexibility.

What you get:

• Three view modes: Flat (all books), Collections (series/grid), Mixed (series tiles + books interleaved)
• Auto Series Detection: Books organized into series automatically from EPUB metadata (calibre:series) or folder names
• User Collections: Create and manage your own book collections via long-press menu
• Natural Sort: "Book 2" appears before "Book 10" — not alphabetical chaos
• Full-Text Search: Search by title + author across all views, including inside series
• Smart Filters: All / Favourites / Latest Read / Unread / Completed / Hidden
• Cover Generation: On-demand thumbnails for EPUB, XTC, and TXT files
• Page Frame Cache: Instant reload when revisiting books (0.1s vs 2-4s)
• State Persistence: Remembers your view mode, filter, sort, search, and scroll position across reboots

Performance: ~11 KB RAM budget, never loads full dataset into memory

📖 Reading Statistics (Streaming)

Track your reading with minimal RAM impact.

What you get:

• Reading Streak: Consecutive days meeting your daily goal
• Daily Goal: Configurable target (default 15 min)
• Per-Book Stats: Total time, sessions, progress %, chapters read
• Achievements: Milestone badges for books finished, streak days, total hours
• Manual Correction: Edit reading time per day directly in the app
• Import/Export: JSON files streamed — works even with 50 KB+ libraries without crashing

Storage:

• reading_stats.json — Full stats (~51 KB typical)
• reading_stats_summary.json — Fast path for Home/UI (~6 KB)
• reading_sessions.jrn — Binary journal for background sessions

⚡ Fast Restart

Instant return to Home — no logos, no waiting.

What you get:

• Exit Library/Reader/Settings/Apps → seamless restart to Home
• No boot logos, heap defragmented automatically
• Works via RTC silent boot (deep sleep wake)

🏠 Home Screen (Lyra Marcoand75 Theme)

A rich carousel interface with real-time data panels.

What you get:

• Carousel Navigation: Center cover + left/right previews, swipe or buttons
• Data Panels: Progress bar, reading time, session count, streak badge per book
• Recent Books: Up to 10 most recently read
• Shortcuts Grid: 7-slot pageable shortcuts (Apps, Settings, Quick Cards, etc.)
• Sleep Screen Preview: Your current book cover shown on sleep screen

🎴 Quick Cards (QR/Barcode/Image Viewer)

Manage and display cards stored on your SD card.

What you get:

• Directory: Store cards in /cards/ on SD root
• Image Cards: JPEG/PNG auto-converted to BMP for fast e-ink display
• QR Codes: Text → QR code rendering (auto version selection)
• Barcodes: Code-128 barcode generation
• Structured Parsing: Auto-detects WiFi, vCard, MeCard, Geo, mailto, tel, SMS, OTP/2FA, iCal events, URLs
• Navigation: Previous/next through cards, fullscreen toggle
• Create/Delete: In-screen text entry for new cards, delete with cache cleanup

🧩 Lua Plugin System

Extend the reader with custom plugins.

What you get:

• Plugin Browser: Lists .lua files from /.crosspoint/plugins/
• Sandboxed API: Safe access to display, input, storage, network, books, stats
• Built-in Examples: Calculator, notes, clock plugins included
• Shortcut: Accessible from Home grid and Apps menu

📰 Wikipedia Offline

Read Wikipedia articles without an internet connection.

What you get:

• Article Cache: Downloaded ZIM/HTML articles stored on SD
• Full-Text Search: Search across all cached articles
• Offline Reading: No network required after download
• Image Support: Extracted images rendered alongside text
• Shortcut: Accessible from Home grid and Apps menu

🌙 Sleep Screen

Customize what appears when the device sleeps.

What you get:

• Modes: Off, Clock, Cover, Clock+Cover, Custom Image
• Cover Options: Current book, recent book, or random
• Cover Filters: Grayscale, inverted, sepia, or none
• Power Button Short Press: Cycle through sleep modes
• Power Button Long Press: Sleep or power off (configurable)

🖥️ Screensaver

Animated idle display, separate from sleep screen.

What you get:

• Activation: Starts after configurable idle timeout
• Animation Types: Clock, bouncing logo (DVD-style), image slideshow, custom
• Exit: Any button or touch returns to previous activity immediately
• Settings: Timeout, animation type, custom image folder

🎨 Branding & Web UI

Your device, your identity.

What you get:

• Boot Logo: Custom 350×96 "CPR-vCodex Steroids" branding
• Web Interface: Browser-based pages for Settings, Flash, and Stats Editor
• OTA Updates: Points to marcoand75/cpr-vcodex-steroids releases
• Web Settings Page: Full control of Library, Sleep, Power Button, Screensaver via browser
• Stats Editor: Browser-based JSON editor for reading statistics at /stats-editor

📝 Settings Extensions

More control over your reading experience.

What you get:

• Library Settings: Layout, filter, sort, view mode, update mode, root directory
• Sleep Settings: Mode, cover mode, cover filter, clean refresh toggle
• Power Button Settings: Short press and long press actions
• Screensaver Settings: Enabled, timeout, type, custom path
• Reading Stats Settings: Daily goal, import/export, manual correction
• Web API: Batched JSON response (<1s vs 50s before)

🌐 i18n (24 Languages)

Full localization support.

What you get:

• Steroids strings added to all 24 language files
• Language persists as ISO code (e.g., "language": "IT")
• Default to English if not configured

⌨️ Shortcuts Registry (CTAD)

Quick access to all features.

What you get:

• 15 shortcuts: Library, Settings, Apps, Favorites, Flashcards, Dictionary, File Transfer, Sleep, Quick Cards, Wikipedia, Plugins, Screensaver, Reading Stats, Bookmarks, Recent Books
• Null guard prevents crashes from missing shortcuts

Build Instructions

# Build default (X4/X3 ESP32-C3)
.\bin\build-vcodex.ps1

# Build release (gh_release)
.\bin\build-vcodex.ps1 -Environment gh_release

Artifacts: artifacts/1.6.0.38.dev<N>-<sha>-cpr-vcodex.bin
Flash: Auto Flash page (X4 default, X4 Pro blocked)
OTA: https://github.com/marcoand75/cpr-vcodex-steroids/releases

Documentation

Full technical documentation available in the repository:

Last updated: 2026-09-28 | Version: 1.6.0.38-steroids | Branch: master