Platforms and updates

Where Fishies runs today, what's coming, and how each version keeps itself up to date.

Where Fishies runs

Fishies is a live aquarium, not a boxed release: the web version is the one build everyone is always on, and every native app opens the same server-authoritative aquarium as the browser. What ships and where changes as the alpha grows; this page always describes the current, real state, not the plan.

Desktop

The desktop app installs on Windows, macOS and Linux from the download links on the game's site. It runs the same build inside its own window and adds a proper launcher, without changing what the browser already gets right. In the desktop app, pressing Escape on the aquarium with nothing open asks whether you want to quit the game.

Windows: x64, 32-bit (x86) and ARM64 builds, for Windows 10 and 11.
macOS: one universal build for Apple Silicon and Intel Macs, also on the Mac App Store.
Linux: AppImage, .deb and .rpm packages, still experimental; a virtual machine or an NVIDIA GPU without its proprietary driver can leave graphics running on slow software rendering.

On Windows and macOS, closing the game window does not quit Fishies. The window closes and Fishies keeps running as a small fish icon in the system tray (the menu bar on a Mac), so your aquarium can still tell you when your fish need you. The first time it happens, a note by the icon says so.

Click the fish icon to open the game again. The window comes back where you left it, at the same size.
Right-click it for the tray menu: Play, your newest notifications with how many are unread, and quick ways to your aquarium, Open Water and the Quest Book.
The menu’s settings, also in the launcher’s Settings: Launch at login starts Fishies in the tray when you sign in to your computer (not in the Mac App Store version), and turning off Keep running in the tray makes closing the window quit.
Check for updates opens the launcher, which looks for a new version and installs it.
Quit Fishies closes it fully, like Quit in the game menu.
The menu works from the keyboard too: the arrow keys move, Enter chooses and Esc closes it. On Linux the tray shows a shorter menu of its own.

Mobile

The Android, iPhone and iPad apps share the same aquarium as everywhere else.

Android: Google Play, a direct APK download, and an itch.io build, for Android 7.0 (API level 24) and up.
iPhone and iPad: the App Store, for iOS 15 and up.

Other storefronts

Beyond the game's own download page, Fishies is starting to reach other storefronts.

itch.io: the desktop and Android builds are published there today.
Steam: planned, not yet available; there is no store page yet.

Live wallpaper

A ready-made Wallpaper Engine wallpaper shows your aquarium full screen with no HUD and no sound, drawn by the game's own engine and art. Subscribe to it on the Steam Workshop or download the zip from the embed page, then type your handle in its settings.

Settings: your handle (or the aquarium's link), aquarium 1 to 3, 10 to 60 frames a second, and a small fishies.lol mark you can turn off.
Every monitor can show its own aquarium, or one aquarium can span them all. Ultrawide, portrait and 4K screens are filled edge to edge.
It never makes a sound, stops drawing while Wallpaper Engine pauses it, and keeps showing the last aquarium it saw when you are offline.

Screen saver

A screen saver for Windows and macOS that shows your aquarium live while your computer is idle is coming. There is no download yet; this page will say when there is.

Keeping up to date

Nobody has to go looking for a new version.

The desktop app checks for updates itself and installs them without a separate download; the file you first downloaded keeps working as the updater. While it is open it also looks for a newer version every half hour and when you come back to its window, and offers a Restart button once it is ready.
Google Play, itch.io and the browser all serve the current build automatically. The web version needs nothing at all: reloading the page is enough.
A desktop download installs a small launcher first; on its first run the launcher downloads the game itself, checks every file and resumes where it stopped if the connection drops. The Mac App Store version comes complete.

In the game: https://fishies.lol/wiki/mechanics/platforms · Fishies 0.8.24

This page is generated. Its text lives in locales/en-GB.json under wiki.topics.platforms; correct it there.

4.5 KiB Raw Blame History