Lantern · Stillcraft

What's inside

Everything Lantern does.

Hundreds of slides

42 heroes in 28 jobs (Lamplighter Mouse, Captain Fox), 34 places, 48 magic things with 40 powers, 38 troubles, helpers, quirks, twists and quiet endings. Shadow-puppet cut-outs after Lotte Reiniger, drawn in code.

Face down

Lay the phone face down and the screen goes black: the tale is told, not watched. Turn it over and the lantern deals a twist: it started snowing buttons, a door appeared in a tree.

The grown-up's card

Stuck? Hold the card for the next step of a folk tale after Propp (a warning, the rule broken, the helper's test, the gift) and a question to ask the child. Hidden until held, so nobody reads ahead.

Candle, turns, the quiet ending

A candle burns down to the ending. Tell it round the table and a soft bell passes the tale on. Then an ending slide, a name for the tale, and rain, the sea, crickets, a fire or wind, made on the phone, while the lantern dims.

A world that grows

Old friends from earlier tales come back, places light up on a night map, and every evening with a tale brings a parcel with one rare slide. The child can paint their own glass with a finger.

The shelf and the morning

Every tale kept with its glass, a few lines and, if you like, the recording; sequels with the same hero; a little book to print. In the morning, three questions to tell it back. And a code for a parent far away: both phones deal the same glass.

Screens

Captured in Lantern.

Lantern: The lantern — **The lantern**Last night's tale and tonight's hand.

Lantern: Tonight's glass — **Tonight's glass**Each slide can be swapped once.

Lantern: Before the first word — **Before the first word**The candle, turns, the microphone.

Lantern: And then… — **And then…**A twist when the phone is turned over.

Lantern: The quiet ending — **The quiet ending**A name, then lights out.

Lantern: A tale — **A tale**Its glass, twists and ending.

Lantern: The shelf — **The shelf**Every evening's tale.

Lantern: The world — **The world**Places found and old friends.

Lantern: The box — **The box**Parcels of rare glass, painted slides.

What comes out of the lantern

Glass	For example
Hero	Postie Hedgehog, Queen Frog, Sleepyhead Dragon
Place	The Night Train, the House in a Teapot, Under the Bed
Magic thing	A ball of yarn that always shows the way home
Trouble	The moon has gone from the sky (or, not scary at all: the socks are missing)
Twist	The villain turned out to be just lonely

Get it

Get Lantern.

Install

Version: v1.0.0
File: Lantern.apk
Requires: Android 9.0 (API 28) or newer. No Google services needed.
Permissions: Microphone only if you choose to record a tale. No internet.
License: MIT

Download the APK on your phone.
Open it and allow installs from this source when Android asks.
At bedtime, light the lantern and lay the phone face down.

Download APK All releases

Build from source

JDK 17+ (Android Studio's bundled JBR works) and the Android SDK. Every cut-out is drawn on a Compose canvas and the night sounds are synthesised, nothing else to install.

git clone https://github.com/bigdevwhale/lantern.git
cd lantern
./gradlew testDebugUnitTest     # unit tests
./gradlew assembleDebug         # app.lantern.dev, installs next to a release
./gradlew assembleDebug -Pdemo  # app.lantern.demo, three weeks of made-up tales
./gradlew testDebugUnitTest -Prender --tests '*RenderArt*'  # every cut-out on sheets

Good to know

Questions people ask.

Why face down?

Because the point is the tale, not the screen: a glowing phone before sleep is the last thing a child needs. The lantern only deals the glass; the voice is yours.

What if I'm no good at making things up?

Hold the grown-up's card: it walks through the steps folk tales have always followed, and gives you a question for the child, who will usually take over.

Can it be less scary?

Yes. Troubles come in three levels, from lost socks to a grumpy giant, and little ones get no trouble at all.

Where do the recordings go?

Only on the phone, next to the tale. The backup file keeps tales and drawings; recordings stay where they are.