F-Droid Coming soon
L9 isn't published yet — it's still catching bugs on a single test device. Once it's stable, it'll ship on F-Droid like the rest of your apps: no Play Store, no tracking, one tap to update.
Android home screen · keypad phones
T9 for texting.
L9 for launching.
A home screen for Android phones with a physical keypad. Press a number, an app opens. No touchscreen, no app drawer, no wallpaper — just a black screen and the apps you actually use.
Officially supported on Dumber Mini — maybe more to come.
11:35 87%
All day Jane's Birthday
12:00 Dentist
16:30 Groceries
- 1phone
- 2calendar
- 3messages
- 4camera
Features
Everything maps to a key
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Keypad-native navigation
Every action lives on a key you already know: numbers jump straight to an app, the d-pad moves the selection, OK launches it.
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True black, on purpose
No wallpaper, no icons, no motion you didn't ask for. Dim grey when idle, white when selected.
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Calendar at a glance
Today's and tomorrow's events sit above your apps. Whatever's happening right now is marked in green.
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Speed dial by digit
Hold a number to call a contact. A countdown warns you first, so a stray hold never places a call.
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One dot for notifications
A single mark tells you something's waiting. No badges, no previews, no counting.
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Side keys, yours to assign
The left and right d-pad keys are configurable shortcuts, not stuck as back and forward.
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Configurable, not configurable-to-death
Slot count, alignment, indices, 12h or 24h — a handful of settings, all reachable by keypad.
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Zero dependencies
No AndroidX, no analytics, no network permission. Small enough to read start to finish in an afternoon.
Philosophy
Built the other way around
Most launchers assume a touchscreen, a search bar, and an app drawer with three hundred icons. L9 assumes nine keys and enough restraint to leave it at that.
Keypad phones exist because someone decided a phone should do fewer things, on purpose. The stock Android launcher doesn't know that — it still wants you to scroll, search, and swipe. L9 is built the other way around: pick the app, press the key, get on with your day. If a feature needs a second screen of settings to explain, it probably doesn't belong here.
Get it
Two ways to run it
Build from source
The source is on SourceHut, GPLv3, and short enough to read in one sitting.
git clone https://git.sr.ht/~timofurrer/l9
cd l9
./gradlew installDebugRequires a JDK (17 or 21) and the Android SDK. Currently targets Android 14 (API 34) while keypad support matures.