iiSU Alpha v0.0.5 is out, and the remaining team is trying hard to prove there’s still a real project underneath all the mess. The new build focuses on polishing the Android frontend into something closer to an everyday launcher, especially on dual‑screen hardware like the AYN Thor and AYANEO Pocket DS.
According to the Alpha v5 announcement, this is the biggest update yet, with a heavily overhauled UI, expanded customization, better navigation, and more scrapers folded in. The dual‑screen layout, DS‑style menu flow, and animated transitions are finally starting to look like the mockups that originally got everyone excited. For Thor and other clamshell users, the team even says it’s now stable enough to serve as a primary launcher if you’re not too picky.
What’s different from that original vision is just as important as what’s been added. After founder UsagiShade stepped down amid the Discord controversy and refunded around 5K in donations, the big social network ideas (Shopii, iiChannel news feeds, full Miiverse‑style community features) have been deprioritized or stripped out of public builds. Alpha v5 is very much about core launcher duties: library visuals, scrapers (with SteamGridDB and ScreenScraper in the pipeline), DS Mode improvements, and better controller handling.
The team is also clearly trying to distance itself from the earlier baggage. On Reddit, current devs emphasize that Usagi is no longer affiliated and that they’re committed to delivering the original “nice frontend for dual‑screen handhelds” pitch without the overreach. That lines up with the concerns we raised in our last update: if you can’t even manage a Discord safely, maybe don’t promise an entire social platform baked into your launcher.
Alpha v5 doesn’t magically erase any of that, and iiSU is still an unfinished, often fragile app. But for people who loved the concept before the fall, this release is the first real sign that the project might survive its own origin story and slowly turn into something you can actually drive daily.
Source: iiSU Website
What did you think of this article? Let us know in the comments below, and chat with us in our Discord!
This page may contain affiliate links, by purchasing something through a link, Retro Handhelds may earn a small commission on the sale at no additional cost to you.