The Tidbyt (Which I’m Gifting This Year) is a Fun and Retro Scrolling Feed of Your Favorite Apps

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Somewhere between a classic alarm clock, a Lite-Brite, and the Amazon Echo Show sits the Tidbyt, a retro-tinged digital hub that displays… whatever you want it to, however you want, whenever you want. This unconventional doohickey is an eye-catcher on any shelf it sits on, flashing quick bits of information (get it?) with a purpose that’s totally up to its user. It’s the definition of a product someone may not have known they needed, which is the best kind of gift to receive.

I’ve got a tech-obsessed friend I’m giving a Tidbyt to this year, and I’m hoping it serves up a new way of playing with technology. The idea is simple: He’ll open up his Tidbyt, think, “What the hell is this thing?” before plugging it in, downloading its app, and loading it up. And then, hopefully, within a week, he’ll find that he’s staring at its pixelated screen every waking moment.

The Tidbyt is a digital hub that cycles through several apps, some made by users and others by Tidbyt itself. After downloading the Tidbyt app on your smartphone, you can stroll through a wide array of hub apps and pick which ones you’d like on display. These range from the practical (showing the local weather, current time, and stock market info) to the novel (random lobster facts, a state flags quiz, a forever burning yule log).

When you’re bored with an app, you can mute or delete it. You can change the order in which they show up, too, in addition to the speed at which the apps cycle and the Tidbyt’s brightness. Most apps also have app-specific settings. The CNN News app, for example, lets me choose what news section I’d like to pull headlines from and how many articles it’ll show me at once. You can send messages on it, in case you’d like to send a special shout to a roommate or significant other. Best of all, you can also program your own app using Pixlet. So if your techie pal wants to try their hand at software development, this could serve as a fun coding toy.

I see the Tidbyt as a way of slightly engaging with tech instead of fully immersing in it; it’s the best passive device money can buy. Once it’s plugged in and accenting whatever shelf or surface it’s on (with a beautiful retro walnut or beech housing, might I add), it sits there like a clock, softly calling your attention. When your eye finally meets it, you’re rewarded with information like the current time, a pixelated wanted poster of a friend, or, in my case, a map of the world’s most recent earthquakes.

Best case scenario: My techie friend curbs his impulse to pull out his phone and, instead, glances at his Tidbyt when he gets the urge. Hopefully, its attractive design and Lite-Brite LEDs will keep his attention. But not too much.

Buy the Tidbyt

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