Did you know? Lightning Piggy is part Danish 🇩🇰

We’re excited to share that @Thomas Farstrike , creator of MicroPythonOS, will be presenting at FOSDEM 2026! His talk, “MicroPythonOS: Best of Android, Now on MCUs,” will explore how Android-style user experiences are coming to microcontrollers — a big step forward for open-source embedded systems. 👉

FOSDEM 2026 - MicroPythonOS: the best of Android, now on Microcontrollers. AppStore, OTA Updates, Touch Screen, Camera and much more!

FOSDEM is one of the world’s largest free and open-source developer conferences, bringing thousands of builders to Brussels each year to meet, share ideas, and collaborate. Best of all: it’s completely free — no registration required. Just turn up and join in.

Freedom Farm News: ICYMI On Christmas Eve, Santa delivered a new MicroPythonOS release (v0.5.2). This update is a significant step forward, with fewer threads, improved async handling, smoother Wi-Fi setup, and more transparent updates; all making LightningPiggy devices more reliable, especially for kids, workshops, and first-time users. ⚡🐽👩‍🌾 Install it via

MicroPythonOS Installer

or update using the OSUpdate app. MicroPythonOS v0.5.2 Changelog Highlights - New TaskManager API based on asyncio, replacing multiple threaded components and improving reliability on constrained hardware. - New DownloadManager API built on TaskManager, enabling more robust and observable downloads for updates and configuration assets. - Elimination of another background thread through the use of aiorepl, improving system stability and responsiveness. - OSUpdate app now shows download speed, making over-the-air updates clearer and more user-friendly. - WiFi app improvements that simplify LightningPiggy setup in workshops and classroom environments: - Add networks that are currently out of range. - Support for hidden WiFi networks (thanks to Andre_y_M). - New “Forget” button for removing saved networks. Audio and Hardware - Fri3d Camp 2024 board: added I2S microphone support as found on the communicator add-on. - AudioFlinger API: - Added I2S microphone recording to WAV. - Optimised WAV volume scaling for speed. - Volume is now applied immediately. - New SoundRecorder app created to test AudioFlinger’s recording features. System and API Improvements - Added TaskManager API wrapping asyncio. - Added DownloadManager API using TaskManager. - Rearranged automated testing facilities. - About app now displays mpy format information. Apps - AppStore app: - All threads eliminated using TaskManager. - Experimental support for the BadgeHub backend (not enabled). - MusicPlayer app: - Faster and more responsive volume slider. - WiFi app: - New “Add network” functionality for out-of-range networks. - Support for hidden networks. - Ability to forget saved networks. Credits * @Thomas Farstrike * @Andre_y_M (TG handle) ref. support for hidden WiFi networks Team LightningPiggy

Lightning Piggy

Lightning Piggy

An electronic cash piggy bank for children that accepts bitcoin sent over lightning, while displaying the amount saved in satoshis.

LightingPiggy is an electronic cash piggy bank for children, that accepts Bitcoin sent over the Lightning Network. It displays payment amounts, messages, and the total satoshis saved. Our vision is to make bitcoin the savings’ standard for every child, while creating an educational platform to inspire future generations, not only to save in bitcoin, but also to learn to code and build in a free and open-source way. Web installer:

Lightning Piggy Web Installer

Easily allow users to install Lightning Piggy firmware on the web.

Build your own:

Lightning Piggy

Build a LightningPiggy 1.0 (e-paper edition)

For LightningPiggy 2.0 click here! Making your very own LightingPiggy is squealy easy. Here are the steps you need to follow: 1. Source the part...

Chat with our community:

Telegram

LightningPiggy

Community group for the LightningPiggy FOSS project

Join our shadowy super coders:

GitHub

LightningPiggy

An electronic cash piggy bank for children that accepts bitcoin sent over lightning, while displaying the amount saved in satoshis - LightningPiggy

Support the project:

Geyser | Bitcoin Crowdfunding Platform

A Bitcoin crowdfunding platform where creators raise funds for causes, sell products, manage campaigns, and engage with their community.

Follow us on Nostr: https://njump.me/npub1y2qcaseaspuwvjtyk4suswdhgselydc42ttlt0t2kzhnykne7s5swvaffq Follow us on X:

X (formerly Twitter)

LightningPiggy ⚡️🐽 (@LightningPiggy) on X

An electronic cash piggy bank for children that accepts bitcoin sent over lightning, while displaying the amount saved in satoshis.

#LightningPiggy #PigStr #STEMM #BitcoinKids #FOSS #BuildInPublic #bitcoin

NWC makes it squealy easy to connect your piggy with your lightning-enabled wallet of choice⚡️🐽 📰 @Lightning News #NWC #LightningNetwork

Together, let’s make 2026 the year sats become the savings standard for every child - one piggy at a time ⚡️🐽

Christmas has come early 🎄 Huge thanks to the @LNbits community for making it even easier to configure LightningPiggy 2.0 with LNbits. With LNbits v1.4, the server name is now viewable as an optional QR. That means configuring LightningPiggy 2.0 with LNbits as its wallet now requires just two QR codes to scan. And the entire setup can be done on a mobile phone. We’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported the project along the way. It’s been humbling to see the excitement and joy on kids’ faces (young and old!) receiving zaps on their piggies. We’re excited about what’s ahead and can’t wait to build, ship, and share even more in the year to come. Wishing you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas! Let’s make sats the savings standard for every child ⚡🐽 Team LightingPiggy

Freedom Farm News: Oink-credible news for LightningPiggy 2.0 owners! MicroPythonOS, the belly of the beast, has been freshly upgraded with some seriously tasty improvements. Time to tuck in ⚡️🐽👩‍🌾 MPOS 0.5.1 Release Highlights A brand-new Camera experience The Camera app has received a major overhaul with new Basic, Advanced, and Expert modes. Scanning QR codes is now dramatically more powerful; even tiny, high-density codes (like Nostr Wallet Connect) on phone screens, damaged images, or codes with logos and dots are decoded reliably. Better image handling You can now delete images directly from ImageView, and grayscale images are fully supported. Smarter updates & connectivity System updates now automatically pause if Wi-Fi drops and resume when you’re back online. The Wi-Fi app also feels smoother thanks to improved keyboard handling and fixed cancel behaviour. Improved hardware support Fri3d Camp 2024 boards gain startup light and sound feedback, more accurate battery readings, and full support for the WSEN-ISDS 6-axis IMU — including temperature sensing. More control Storage usage is now visible in the About app, IMU calibration has been added to Settings, and the back-swipe gesture intelligently closes the top menu when it’s open. Under-the-hood improvements New audio, lighting, and sensor APIs unlock richer apps, smoother animations, and better hardware integration across the system. Credits * @Thomas Farstrike * Mark19000 ref. UI: back swipe gesture closes topmenu when open

MicroPythonOS - The Ultimate MicroPython Operating System

Team LightningPiggy

Lightning Piggy

Lightning Piggy

An electronic cash piggy bank for children that accepts bitcoin sent over lightning, while displaying the amount saved in satoshis.

LightingPiggy is an electronic cash piggy bank for children, that accepts Bitcoin sent over the Lightning Network. It displays payment amounts, messages, and the total satoshis saved. Our vision is to make bitcoin the savings’ standard for every child, while creating an educational platform to inspire future generations, not only to save in bitcoin, but also to learn to code and build in a free and open-source way. #LightningPiggy #STEMM #BitcoinKids #FOSS #BuildInPublic #bitcoin

Freedom Farm News: MicroPythonOS 0.5.0 has left the barn and is running wild! LightningPiggy 2.0 owners, you’ll want to roll in the mud with this one ⚡️🐽👩‍🌾 ESP32 / Core * Unified build system: now one build to rule them all. A single firmware image auto-detects and initializes any supported board at runtime. MposKeyboard * Fixed bug where **q, Q, 1, ~** keys were unclickable * Increased keyboard font size 16 → 20 * Replaced newline symbol with a checkbox for “OK, Ready” * Enlarged space bar for easier typing OSUpdate App * Simplified network handling using ConnectivityManager * Updated logic to support new device IDs ImageView App * Improved error handling and overall robustness Settings App * Tweaked font sizing for improved readability * Added new option: “Format internal data partition” * Fixed checkbox + button interaction issues UI / UX Improvements * Pass-through: clicks on the invisible “gesture swipe start” area are now correctly forwarded * Back/down gesture icons now show only during swipe, not on tap * Doubled the size of the back/down gesture activation zones * Increased overall gesture sensitivity * Fixed visual glitches during UI animations API / System * Added instrumentation hooks (screengrabs, mouse-click simulation) * Moved WifiService to mpos.net * Removed unused fonts to reduce firmware size * Replaced font_montserrat_28 with a compressed version * Improved SD-card error handling WifiService * Now prioritizes connecting to the strongest available networks Credits * @Thomas Farstrike

MicroPythonOS - The Ultimate MicroPython Operating System

Loving this solar-powered #LightingPiggy in a #ZapTV case, streaming sats in El Salvador ⚡️🐽🇸🇻🧡

🥁 Farm News: MicroPythonOS 0.4.0 is out and running! LightningPiggy 2.0 owners, you’ll want to grab this one by the tail ⚡️🐽 Here’s the change log: * Add custom MposKeyboard with more than 50% bigger buttons, great for tiny touch screens! * Apply theme changes (dark mode, color) immediately after saving * About app: add a bit more info * Camera app: fix one-in-two "camera image stays blank" issue * OSUpdate app: enable scrolling with joystick/arrow keys * OSUpdate app: Major rework with improved reliability and user experience * add WiFi monitoring - shows "Waiting for WiFi..." instead of error when no connection * add automatic pause/resume on WiFi loss during downloads using HTTP Range headers * add user-friendly error messages with specific guidance for each error type * add "Check Again" button for easy retry after errors * add state machine for better app state management * add comprehensive test coverage (42 tests: 31 unit tests + 11 graphical tests) * refactor code into testable components (NetworkMonitor, UpdateChecker, UpdateDownloader) * improve download error recovery with progress preservation * improve timeout handling (5-minute wait for WiFi with clear messaging) * Tests: add test infrastructure with mock classes for network, HTTP, and partition operations * Tests: add graphical test helper utilities for UI verification and screenshot capture * API: change "display" to mpos.ui.main_display * API: change mpos.ui.th to mpos.ui.task_handler * waveshare-esp32-s3-touch-lcd-2: power off camera at boot to conserve power * waveshare-esp32-s3-touch-lcd-2: increase touch screen input clock frequency from 100kHz to 400kHz

MicroPythonOS - The Ultimate MicroPython Operating System

Massive updates for LightningPiggy 2.0 are here! MicroPythonOS v0.3.2 and LightningPiggy App v0.0.17 are now live. App v0.0.17–0.0.15 highlights: • Fixed the “camera stays blank” issue during QR scans • Payments list: tap to cycle font styles • Balance now switches denominations on tap • Replaced confetti GIF with a custom animation (no more slowdown) • Click the line under the balance to trigger confetti • Added multi-relay support for Nostr Wallet Connect • Fully rewritten wallet classes (LNbits + NWC) for stability + speed • NWC now displays 6 payments and rechecks balance every 60s MPOS v0.3.2 key improvements: • New setting: Auto Start App • Smoother gesture navigation (better back/menu triggers) • OTA rollback if launcher fails • “Home” menu renamed to “Launch” • Improved drawing performance on ESP32 • Rebuilt WebSocketApp + python-nostr on uasyncio • Updated aiohttp_ws to 0.0.6 with fragmentation support Enjoy the update! Stay humble, hog sats! Credits * @Thomas Farstrike

GitHub

ThomasFarstrike - Overview

The future looks bright! ThomasFarstrike has 23 repositories available. Follow their code on GitHub.

Team LightningPiggy

Lightning Piggy

Lightning Piggy

An electronic cash piggy bank for children that accepts bitcoin sent over lightning, while displaying the amount saved in satoshis.

LightingPiggy is an electronic cash piggy bank for children, that accepts Bitcoin sent over the Lightning Network. It displays payment amounts, messages, and the total satoshis saved. Our vision is to make bitcoin the savings’ standard for every child, while creating an educational platform to inspire future generations, not only to save in bitcoin, but also to learn to code and build in a free and open-source way. Web installer:

Lightning Piggy Web Installer

Easily allow users to install Lightning Piggy firmware on the web.

Build your own:

Lightning Piggy

Build a LightningPiggy 1.0 (e-paper edition)

For LightningPiggy 2.0 click here! Making your very own LightingPiggy is squealy easy. Here are the steps you need to follow: 1. Source the part...

Chat with our community:

Telegram

LightningPiggy

Community group for the LightningPiggy FOSS project

Join our shadowy super coders:

GitHub

LightningPiggy

An electronic cash piggy bank for children that accepts bitcoin sent over lightning, while displaying the amount saved in satoshis - LightningPiggy

Support the project:

Geyser | Bitcoin Crowdfunding Platform

A Bitcoin crowdfunding platform where creators raise funds for causes, sell products, manage campaigns, and engage with their community.

Follow us on Nostr: https://njump.me/npub1y2qcaseaspuwvjtyk4suswdhgselydc42ttlt0t2kzhnykne7s5swvaffq Follow us on X:

X (formerly Twitter)

LightningPiggy ⚡️🐽 (@LightningPiggy) on X

An electronic cash piggy bank for children that accepts bitcoin sent over lightning, while displaying the amount saved in satoshis.

#LightningPiggy #STEMM #BitcoinKids #FOSS #BuildInPublic #bitcoin

Building and shipping is the way—also in bear markets. A LightningPiggy 2.0 wood cut-out version by LoneRookie is on its way today to a sound money saver!

Noderunners are making history today in Amsterdam, and we’re thrilled to be a part of it. 📸 @Jake⚡️

Noderunners

Conference - Noderunners - Podcasts and Videos by Bitcoin Maxis running Nodes

Bitcoin maximalists unite! Join the orange-pilled community for a Bitcoin-only event in the heart of Amsterdam.

@Noderunners Conference