Settings
Settings controls application behavior, sessions, appearance, update preferences, and local data. Physical device configuration has its own Hardware area.
Behavior tab
The Behavior tab holds three cards: General, Session, and Local data. These are the app-wide knobs that aren't tied to a specific force-feedback device.
General
Close button
Pick what the window's close button does when a system tray is available. Three options: Ask every time (default — prompts with a one-line dialog), Minimize to tray (hide the window, keep the bridge running and the stick armed), or Quit app (full shutdown).
On desktops without a usable tray (stock GNOME Wayland is the common case), close always quits and this setting is effectively ignored.
Theme
Pick the app palette, or follow the operating system. System (default) follows your OS light / dark preference; Light and Dark override it. The bridge re-themes immediately on change — no restart needed.
Visual contrast
Pick how strongly the whole app renders: Standard (default) keeps the normal palette, and High contrast strengthens readability across the entire app — stronger text and muted labels, clearer card and panel borders, more visible focus rings, stronger button and status-pill outlines, clearer idle / active states, and higher-contrast Dashboard effect-group swatches. It applies immediately and works with any theme choice (System, Light, or Dark).
This is deliberately called Visual contrast. Its broader readability improvements help with color-vision differences, aging eyes, cataracts, glare, dim rooms, and older or lower-quality displays. It is purely a visual preference and does not change force output, profile values, tuning, or device behavior.
Startup UI
Two buttons for resetting first-launch UI state:
- Reset window — clears the saved window position and size, so the next launch opens with the default window placement.
- Show welcome — arms the first-launch welcome dialog to appear again on the next launch. Useful if you want to walk a tester through the orientation flow without reinstalling the app.
Neither button changes anything immediately; both take effect the next time the bridge starts.
Session
Hands-off startup and shutdown behavior for live sim sessions. Both checkboxes apply only when the input source is Live (the bridge is talking to a real simulator) — they're no-ops in Mock or Idle modes.
Auto-arm when ready
When checked, the bridge arms force output automatically as soon as every prerequisite is in place: a supported device is open, the simulator is reachable, no startup modal is blocking, and you haven't just manually disarmed during this sim session.
While the dialog is open, Auto-arm waits. Review and fix the issue, or dismiss it when the device is intentionally disconnected; after dismissal, Auto-arm can continue only if its other prerequisites pass.
The last part is worth knowing — if you manually disarm mid-flight (the "I want hands-off until I land" case), the bridge respects it and won't re-arm itself until the next time the sim disconnects and reconnects. Quit the sim and re-launch it, or close the bridge and re-open it, and the auto-arm starts firing again.
Default off — the bridge defaults to manual-only arming so a first launch never surprises you with motors moving.
Disarm when sim exits
When checked, the bridge drops force output the moment your simulator stops reporting telemetry — quit MSFS or X-Plane and the stick stops moving, even if the bridge stays open.
Default off. With it off, the bridge holds whatever spring state it had at the last received tick (the stale-telemetry watchdog still fades dynamic forces, but the spring stays). With it on, the stick goes fully inert until the sim comes back and auto-arm re-arms it (if Auto-arm is also on).
The two checkboxes pair naturally: turn on both for a fully hands-off "stick wakes when sim wakes, sleeps when sim sleeps" session, or leave both off for the original manual-only arming behavior.
Local data
Local files used for preferences, diagnostics, and support bundles. Two sections side by side.
Folders
Two paths and two open-in-file-manager buttons:
- Config folder — holds your preference JSON files (this page's settings, session automation, hardware compatibility, SimConnect host / port, saved aircraft profile bindings). Open config jumps there in your file manager.
- Diagnostics folder — holds the rolling session log and any pending crash log. Open diagnostics jumps there. This is what gets bundled if you export a support bundle.
Both folders stay on this computer; nothing is uploaded unless you choose to attach a support bundle to feedback.
Local diagnostic data
Two buttons for clearing local diagnostic state:
- Clear crash report — removes any pending crash report on disk. Useful after you've sent a crash bundle and want to start clean, or if a stale crash marker is making the bridge keep showing the crash-recovery dialog on launch.
- Clear logs — deletes the session log files in the diagnostics folder. The in-memory log shown on the Diagnostics tab is unaffected and continues to capture new lines.
Crash and session logs stay on this computer unless you attach them to support via a support bundle.
Physical device settings live under Hardware
Version 1.3 gives device selection, strength ceilings, validated rendering, calibration, compatibility, and button assignments their own Hardware area. Settings now stays focused on application behavior, sessions, appearance, updates, and local data.