JtechForums App

Android app for JtechForums with D-Pad navigation support and push notifications.

About

This app is a frontend for forums.jtechforums.org/dumb — a minimal, fast UI for Discourse built without modern JavaScript. It runs on everything from old devices to new flagships.

Compatibility

Supports Android 6.0+ and Chrome WebView 44+.

Download

Get the latest APK from Releases. Each release has two:

• jtech-<version>.apk: the standard app.
• jtech-<version>-no-foreground-notifications.apk: the same app without the persistent "Listening for notifications" notification. Push notifications still work, but Android may pause them briefly when it needs memory. Built from the no-foreground-notifications branch.

Both are signed with the same key, so either installs as an update over the other.

Build

./gradlew assembleRelease

Hardware soft keys

On keypad phones (no touchscreen, or a physical D-pad) on Android 6.0+, the forum's soft-key bar is drawn natively and driven by the phone's real soft keys. The left / center / right labels are always the page's own, on every screen and popup. The forum's Preferences › Soft-key bar setting controls it: Keypad phones = automatic, Always = on, Never = off. Touch phones keep the page's own bar.

To force it on a touch device for testing: adb shell settings put global jtech_force_dpad 1

License

GPL-3.0

Yapchik: the hardware soft-key engine

Yapchik by theonionsarewatching, vendored as the :yapchik module.

• Copyright © 2026 theonionsarewatching
• GNU Lesser General Public License v3.0 or later. See yapchik/LICENSE and yapchik/NOTICE, which lists the local changes.