Module Suggestions for a Smart Display in Python

[Reacher9046]

Hello all! I'm currently coding a smart display inside of Python using the pygame library. The whole project's data is controlled over a web interface, with interactivity being a goal for the future. However, I have run out of ideas for the final 3 widgets. I currently have the following:

• Clock
• Date
• Temperature
• Weather Condition (cloudy, rainy, stormy, etc.)
• Current song, artist, & album from a local media player installation
• Savings widget (input an item name, how much you need to save, and how much you have, such as; LTT Screwdriver, $70, $35)
• Gmail (shows 5 most recent emails, who they're from, time recieved, etc.)
• Todoist (task app) display
• Countdown (to a set date)
• Slideshow (photos uploaded by anyone on network; "admin" [determined by device IP] approves them)

What else should I add?

 

Thanks LTT community!

 

(attached is a photo of the top row of widgets, including the empty space I need suggestions for. Thanks!)

[Biohazard777]

On 7/1/2025 at 5:36 AM, Reacher9046 said:

Hello all! I'm currently coding a smart display inside of Python using the pygame library. The whole project's data is controlled over a web interface, with interactivity being a goal for the future. However, I have run out of ideas for the final 3 widgets. I currently have the following:

• Clock
• Date
• Temperature
• Weather Condition (cloudy, rainy, stormy, etc.)
• Current song, artist, & album from a local media player installation
• Savings widget (input an item name, how much you need to save, and how much you have, such as; LTT Screwdriver, $70, $35)
• Gmail (shows 5 most recent emails, who they're from, time recieved, etc.)
• Todoist (task app) display
• Countdown (to a set date)
• Slideshow (photos uploaded by anyone on network; "admin" [determined by device IP] approves them)

What else should I add?

 

Thanks LTT community!

 

(attached is a photo of the top row of widgets, including the empty space I need suggestions for. Thanks!)

The image doesn't include the listed widgets: todoist, countdown, slideshow... so you aleardy have something to put there.
Anyways, if I was making one I'd probably add hourly forecast for the next 3-6 hours (handy when going out).

PS
The contrast is horrible, instead of re-inventing the wheel I suggest reading something like:
https://m3.material.io/foundations/designing/color-contrast
and using something like:
https://material-foundation.github.io/material-theme-builder/
to generate your pallete.

[riklaunim]

On 7/1/2025 at 5:36 AM, Reacher9046 said:

pygame library

What you showed is just asking to be a web interface  , and as mentioned, you have to work on contrast, colors, padding, and grid symmetry a bit.

[Reacher9046]

11 hours ago, Biohazard777 said:

PS
The contrast is horrible, instead of re-inventing the wheel I suggest reading something like:
https://m3.material.io/foundations/designing/color-contrast
and using something like:
https://material-foundation.github.io/material-theme-builder/
to generate your pallete.

I want to make the interface colorful, but I get what you mean. I'm also planning on having a background of some sort, so how would you suggest I make the interface colorful without it looking bad?

[Reacher9046]

12 hours ago, Biohazard777 said:

The image doesn't include the listed widgets: todoist, countdown, slideshow... so you aleardy have something to put there.
Anyways, if I was making one I'd probably add hourly forecast for the next 3-6 hours (handy when going out).

PS
The contrast is horrible, instead of re-inventing the wheel I suggest reading something like:
https://m3.material.io/foundations/designing/color-contrast
and using something like:
https://material-foundation.github.io/material-theme-builder/
to generate your pallete.

As of right now, I wanted to keep the colors I had around, but I also wanted to look into making the color palette better. I have now implemented a full theme-switching system, and will be making new themes. the next one to work on is going to be a retro theme, whether the LTT definition of retro or just black & green. I'm also going to work on an LTT theme, (black & orange). any other theme suggestions?

 

[Biohazard777]

3 hours ago, Reacher9046 said:

I want to make the interface colorful, but I get what you mean. I'm also planning on having a background of some sort, so how would you suggest I make the interface colorful without it looking bad?

2 hours ago, Reacher9046 said:

As of right now, I wanted to keep the colors I had around, but I also wanted to look into making the color palette better. I have now implemented a full theme-switching system, and will be making new themes. the next one to work on is going to be a retro theme, whether the LTT definition of retro or just black & green. I'm also going to work on an LTT theme, (black & orange). any other theme suggestions?

You can keep it colorful and readable, you don't have to follow Material 3 way of things.
For that approach though I suggest taking a look at pre-baked colors of older material designs (1 & 2):
https://m2.material.io/design/color/the-color-system.html#tools-for-picking-colors
Scroll down to: 2014 Material Design color palettes
And say you want to use colors similar to what you had already: blue, green, orange...
Let's take blue as an example:

Shades from 50 to 600 are ok to use with black text on them, if you want white text, then pick shades from 700 to 900.
The same goes for accents and other colors.
IMO this is the fastest way to get something aesthetically pleasing while keeping it readable.
 

[Reacher9046]

1 hour ago, Biohazard777 said:

You can keep it colorful and readable, you don't have to follow Material 3 way of things.
For that approach though I suggest taking a look at pre-baked colors of older material designs (1 & 2):
https://m2.material.io/design/color/the-color-system.html#tools-for-picking-colors
Scroll down to: 2014 Material Design color palettes
And say you want to use colors similar to what you had already: blue, green, orange...
Let's take blue as an example:

Shades from 50 to 600 are ok to use with black text on them, if you want white text, then pick shades from 700 to 900.
The same goes for accents and other colors.
IMO this is the fastest way to get something aesthetically pleasing while keeping it readable.
 

I'll look into that and start constructing a new theme as soon as possible. Thanks for your help! If anyone is interested, I'll see if I can make this a little more open-source if possible. This is one of my first Python projects, so the code is all over the place, but I could work to make it a little easier for people to use.

[BootlessBuck]

• A news feed
• Stocks
• Calendar

[Reacher9046]

I'm currently working on reworking layouts and colors. Here's how I decided to rework the top left box. Thoughts, comments, anything I should be thinking about?

[riklaunim]

1 hour ago, Reacher9046 said:

I'm currently working on reworking layouts and colors. Here's how I decided to rework the top left box. Thoughts, comments, anything I should be thinking about?

 

More padding, better data placement as you have half of the tile empty.

[Reacher9046]

46 minutes ago, riklaunim said:

 

More padding, better data placement as you have half of the tile empty.

I'm planning on filling the other half. Not sure what's going there eventually, but I'll figure it out.