Period-correct, not “aged”
A 70s LCD is grey-green with low contrast and visible unlit segments. A 90s pager is high-contrast blue-white. Dropping a sepia layer on a modern font produces neither.
Retro
Time, the way it
used to be displayed.
Split-flap boards. Grey-green LCD panels with visible ghost segments. Amber departure displays. Chrome type over a synthetic sunset. Nostalgia rendered properly, not filtered.
- 6
- retro eras
- 1970s
- to 1999
- 0
- Instagram filters
CRT bloom done in the right order
Scanlines under the glow, glow under the phosphor, a slight barrel curve on top. Stack it the other way and the screen looks like a sticker.
Vapor without the cliché
Grid, sunset, chrome type — yes. But tuned to still read as a clock at small size, which is where most vaporwave widgets fall apart.
Live previews
The retro shelf
All running on your current time.
The aesthetic is a constraint, not a texture
Every vintage display style you love was forced by hardware. Seven segments because that is what you can drive with seven wires. Split flaps because a motor and a stack of cards was cheaper than a screen. Amber because that phosphor was bright and cheap.
Which means you cannot fake these looks with a filter — you have to obey the same constraints. A seven-segment display physically cannot draw a curved “4”, so a retro face that shows one is instantly wrong even if you cannot say why.
That is the standard every face here was built to.
Questions
Retro, answered.
Which retro design looks best on a light wallpaper?
The LCD and ticket faces — both were designed on light substrates. The neon and vapor faces want a dark wallpaper behind them.
Can I use a photo of my own behind a retro face?
Yes, several faces accept a background image from your photo library, with the type re-tinted for contrast.
Are these animated?
The flip cards fall and the CRT glow breathes wherever iOS allows a live view — Lock Screen, StandBy and fullscreen.
Time, the way it
used to be displayed.
Free on the App Store. iOS 16+. No account, no ads, no tracking.