Changelog

Each app version includes the matching Scrollwheel OS. Anything marked experimental is behind App settings › Experimental and hasn’t been tested on a real iPod yet.

0.9.80 · 6 November 2026

• The “start Scrollwheel OS at power-on” swap now applies only when Rockbox’s bootloader is installed. If the swap was made under the Scrollwheel bootloader, one tap repairs it.
• More groundwork for Scrollwheel OS on the iPod classic: its hard drive, sound and full-size 320 × 240 screens. Still in development, not yet tested on hardware.

0.9.79 · 6 November 2026

• Android now offers to open Scrollwheel when you plug in any supported iPod, not only a mini or nano 1st generation.
• The iPod nano 2nd generation bootloader install checks everything before it writes a byte.
• After you eject, the app sends the iPod nothing more, so you no longer get a false “unplugged during a write” warning.

0.9.78 · 6 November 2026

• If the USB link to an iPod nano drops in the middle of a session, a running task now stops within 30 seconds and tells you what to try. The app also reconnects by itself where it can.

0.9.76–0.9.77 · 6 November 2026

• Fixes iPod nano 1st generation units that would not connect in 0.9.74 and 0.9.75.

0.9.75 · 6 November 2026

• iPod classic (experimental): install Scrollwheel OS alongside Rockbox, and put Rockbox back with one tap. New songs’ cover art is stored the way iTunes stores it.
• iPod photo: Scrollwheel OS now puts the iPod to sleep when it’s left alone.
• Two iPods on one hub in USB disk mode now show up as separate devices.

0.9.73 · 6 November 2026

• iPod classic and nano 3rd/4th generation (experimental): adding music is available again. It only runs when the library’s signature checks out and nothing iTunes wrote would be lost, and it always backs up the database first. Put Back restores that backup.

0.9.71–0.9.72 · 6 November 2026

• Big libraries are much faster. A 30,000-song library saves in under 2 seconds, and a find box narrows the list as you type.
• Safer saving: a save can never leave a half-replaced file, and the app warns you before anything iTunes wrote would be dropped.
• A new Start menu in Scrollwheel OS: on a nano whose click wheel the bootloader can’t read at power-on, choose Rockbox, Apple’s firmware or disk mode from there.
• Rockbox downloads are checked against a recorded checksum.
• Now Playing’s technical figures are off by default (Settings › Playback Stats).

0.9.66–0.9.70 · 5 November 2026

• Tap the library’s storage bar to see what “Other” is, and reclaim space used by music files the library doesn’t list.
• Scrollwheel OS on the iPod photo uses its full 220 × 176 colour screen (emulator only so far).
• Improvements to USB disk mode on the nano.

0.9.53–0.9.65 · 31 October – 5 November 2026

• Album art and lyrics: set covers yourself or fetch missing ones from the Cover Art Archive, and get synced lyrics from LRCLIB. Scrollwheel OS gains a cover view, and Now Playing shows the album cover.
• A deeper music library on the iPod: Genres, Composers, Folders, Favourites, ratings and play counts the app reads back, Play Next, and audiobook speed from 0.75× to 1.5×.
• More formats: AIFF, Ogg Vorbis and Opus play as they are in Scrollwheel OS. Hi-res lossless is converted to a rate the iPod can play.
• New on the iPod: Photos, Extras (Clock, Alarm, Contacts, Calendar, Notes), a 10-band custom EQ and visualiser styles. The nano uses its whole screen with larger text.
• In the app: Add a Folder. Restore asks which iPod mini generation you have and refuses the wrong firmware file. Blank CF/SD cards in modified minis can be set up.
• The Scrollwheel bootloader (experimental) starts Scrollwheel OS by default, without Rockbox. Rockbox’s bootloader now ships inside the app.

0.9.40–0.9.52 · 29–31 October 2026

• Lossless: FLAC and WAV play in Scrollwheel OS, with seeking and resume. A “Keep lossless” option skips conversion.
• Audiobooks: chapters, and your place is remembered.
• Sound Quality settings: EQ, ReplayGain, crossfeed, dither, volume curve and fades. Gapless playback for MP3 and AAC.
• Battery: the drive rests while a song plays and the processor sleeps between tasks, with a safe cut-off when the battery is low.
• Games and Labs: the Sir Podrick adventure, Word Ring, Broadside, achievements and a Game Boy player for your own games, with saves and sound.
• USB disk mode inside Scrollwheel OS (experimental), and Scrollwheel OS on the iPod nano 1st generation.
• The app is reorganised into four tabs, with Find.

0.9.0–0.9.39 · 27–29 October 2026

• Add Video: converts phone videos for Rockbox’s video player.
• Rename files and folders, edit song details, a Stop button for long tasks.
• Rockbox extras: themes based on the app’s looks, and new Scrollwheel games for Rockbox with an optional online leaderboard.
• Scrollwheel OS first ships (0.9.28): our own firmware, written from scratch, running alongside Apple’s firmware and Rockbox. First started on an iPod mini 1st generation, it soon gained library browsing, MP3 and AAC playback, playlists, On-The-Go, shuffle and repeat, themes you design in the app, games and a battery gauge.

0.8 · 27 October 2026

• The app is renamed Scrollwheel, released under the GPL, with an About screen and a privacy policy.
• Transfers keep running in the background. Two new looks and a new icon.
• Upload many files or a whole folder. First test on an iPod mini 2nd generation.

0.7 · 27 October 2026

• Every USB iPod is recognised. Older models get full library support, and newer ones are read-only.
• Download Rockbox straight from rockbox.org, and browse its themes, fonts and game data.

0.1–0.6 · 26 October 2026

• Restore (0.1): bring a broken iPod back with Apple’s own firmware file, with a backup first. It revived a nano on its first run.
• Music (0.3): add and remove songs.
• 0.4–0.5: FLAC, Ogg and Opus converted to AAC, playlists, play counts, nano cover art and photos, copying songs back to the phone, Notes, Contacts and Calendars.
• Rockbox install (0.6): confirmed booting on an iPod nano 1st generation.

The Scrollwheel bootloader

The bootloader is optional, offered under App settings › Experimental.

• 0.7.1 (6 Nov): tries three ways of reading a silent click wheel, and logs which one worked.
• 0.7.0 (6 Nov): if it can’t hear the wheel, Scrollwheel OS asks which system to start, and the bootloader follows that choice.
• 0.6.0 (5 Nov): a diagnostic build that shows the wheel’s readings in About.
• 0.5.0 (5 Nov): restarts a silent wheel several times and records what happened.
• 0.4.0 (4 Nov): sets up the clocks the way Scrollwheel OS does before reading the wheel.
• 0.3.0 (4 Nov): listens to the wheel for up to a second, so Play, Next and Select can pick what starts.
• 0.2.0 (4 Nov): starts Scrollwheel OS if the wheel sends nothing. The backlight flashes to signal errors, and a boot log shows in About.
• 0.1.0 (3 Nov): first release.