Rewind · Stillcraft

What's inside

Everything Rewind does.

Face out on the shelves

Films on VHS, series as box sets, albums on audio cassettes, books from the library corner, comics from the spinner rack, all face out the way rental stores showed them. Friends' picks get a shelf of their own.

The back of the box

Find a tape in the free catalogue (Wikidata, Wikipedia, TVmaze, iTunes), share it from Kinopoisk, IMDb, Letterboxd, Spotify or Goodreads, or type it in. Then write the back of the box in your own words: why it's worth taking.

The window

A new tape waits three days behind the glass, "coming soon", before it reaches the shelf. Whatever you added on a wave of hype gets time to cool; if you still want it, it was yours.

Two at a time

Take one home and the till prints a receipt with the due date. With both hands full, bring one back first. A few hours before a tape is due, the store gives you a nudge.

Be kind, rewind

Turn a reel with a finger or hold REW, and meanwhile fill in the return slip: stars out of five, three words, the moment that stayed. Didn't finish it? Bring it back rewound, with a word on why. No shame in it.

Evening hours

Open from 6 pm on weekdays and from noon at the weekend, until 11. All adjustable, or off. No choosing at three in the morning.

Wrapped in brown paper

Can't choose? Tell the clerk how much time you have and get a tape in brown paper with a question mark on it. The clerk leans toward what has waited longest, so the faded ones get their evening too.

The bargain bin

A box nobody takes slowly fades in the window's sun. Half a year untouched and it's bleached through, and the clerk offers to mark it down, guilt‑free. From the bin it can still be rescued.

The card catalogue

Every tape the store has ever had, on an index card in a wooden drawer: the stars in red, how often it's been taken, your last three words. Seven ways to sort, with divider cards.

Screens

Captured in Rewind.

Rewind: The store — **The store**Two at home, the window, the shelves.

Rewind: A tape — **A tape**The back of the box, in your own words.

Rewind: Bring it back — **Bring it back**Rewind first, then the return slip.

Rewind: The receipt — **The receipt**Out today, due in two evenings.

Rewind: Wrapped — **Wrapped**Can't choose? Let the clerk.

Rewind: The member card — **The member card**A stamp for every tape brought back.

Rewind: A loved one — **A loved one**Five stars and a slip for every time.

Rewind: The card catalogue — **The card catalogue**Every tape the store has ever had.

How long you keep it

	On the shelf as	Due back in
Film	A VHS box	Two evenings
Album	An audio cassette	Two evenings
Comic	The spinner rack	Three days
Series	A box set	A week
Book	The library corner	Two weeks

Get it

Get Rewind.

Install

Version: v1.0.0
File: Rewind.apk
Requires: Android 9.0 (API 28) or newer. No Google services needed.
Permissions: Internet, only to search the catalogue and fetch covers; notifications, for due dates and the window.
License: MIT

Download the APK on your phone.
Open it and allow installs from this source when Android asks.
Bring in the first tapes from your watchlist and write the back of each box.

Download APK All releases

Build from source

JDK 17+ (Android Studio's bundled JBR works) and the Android SDK. Kotlin, Jetpack Compose, Room, DataStore; the boxes, cassettes, neon, reels, brown paper, receipts and stamps are all drawn in code.

git clone https://github.com/bigdevwhale/rewind.git
cd rewind
./gradlew testDebugUnitTest             # due dates, the window, fading, the clerk
./gradlew assembleDebug                 # app.rewind.dev, installs next to a release
./gradlew assembleDebug -Pdemo          # app.rewind.demo, a lived-in store
./gradlew testDebugUnitTest -Prender --tests '*RenderArtScreens*'  # every screen, to app/build/art

Good to know

Questions people ask.

Does it stream or sell anything?

No. It's the store, and the tapes on its shelves are your own list. You watch, listen and read wherever you already do.

Where does the catalogue come from?

All free and keyless: films and series from Wikidata with posters from Wikipedia, series also from TVmaze, albums from iTunes Search, books and comics (manga too) from Wikidata and iTunes. A tape without a cover gets a box drawn in nineties two‑colour printing.

Can I recommend a tape to a friend?

Yes, as a card: plain text with the title, your line from the back of the box and your name, so it travels through any messenger. A friend with Rewind shares it back in, and it lands on a shelf signed "Alex recommends".

What's on the member card?

A stamp for every tape brought back: blue on time, red when late or unfinished. The hit of the month, the latest slips, and the year on a till roll.

What does it keep?

The store, the slips and the card, on the phone, with no account, no ads and no analytics. It goes online only when you search the catalogue, to ask Wikidata, Wikipedia, TVmaze or iTunes and fetch the cover you pick.