KortaMod
Firmware that turns the ModRetro Chromatic into a pocket smartphone, with games ChatGPT writes for it.
KortaMod adds a home screen of apps to the Chromatic: notes, alarms, a clock, a calculator, and more. Pair it with kortamod.app using a 6-digit code to manage it from any phone or computer. Describe a game and a model writes it; the site runs it on the same engine as the handheld, then installs it.
- Role
- Product, design, and engineering
- When
- 2026
- Stack
- C, ESP-IDF, LVGL, WebAssembly, Python
- Links
- kortamod.appGitHub
12.8klines of C
13apps on the home screen
32games it holds
The approach
C on the Chromatic’s ESP32, built on ModRetro’s open source. The installer checks the device and firmware first and backs up the whole flash before it writes. Updates arrive over Wi-Fi, checked by SHA-256 and an ECDSA signature, and fall back to the previous version if one fails to start.
Results
- Installed and tested on a physical Chromatic
- One games engine in C, built to WebAssembly for the site
- Every reachable screen checked by an exhaustive model test
SPICE++
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