Feature
Showcase mode
The other half of the panel: three slots on the glass, running with no signal.
Docked mode
Docked mode: the always-on desk clock that shows what's next.
Docked is what Apex Mini does when it is not on the glass. Clock, date, weather, your next few events and a rotating feed underneath, in a stack that does not move. It is a desk display rather than a car sign — and unlike Showcase, it needs Wi-Fi to do any of it.
Clock, weather, calendar, feedWi-Fi requiredUSB-C or internal batteryUnder $99
The stack
A fixed stack, top to bottom.
Docked draws the same blocks in the same order every time: the clock, the date and week row, the weather block, then a carousel that turns its own page underneath. There is no layout to arrange, which is the point — a desk display is something you glance at, not something you read.
The clock runs in 12-hour with AM/PM or in 24-hour, and it never shows seconds. The date row reads like MON 22/09 — day abbreviation, then day and month — and that format is fixed rather than configurable.
Time comes from an internet time server, so the clock shows --:-- until the panel's first sync after it is switched on. The app sets the timezone from your phone when you pair, snapping to the nearest of the fourteen zones the panel supports.
- Clock
- 12- or 24-hour, never with seconds
- Date
- Day abbreviation plus DD/MM, fixed format
- Timezones
- 14 supported, set automatically from your phone
- Orientation
- Portrait for the full dashboard, landscape for a compact row
Weather
Now, and four days out.
The weather block carries a WEATHER heading with the city, a drawn condition icon, the temperature in °C or °F and the condition itself. A four-day forecast sits under it and is on by default. An extra line with humidity, wind and feels-like is available and off by default, because most desks do not need it.
The city is worked out from the panel's own internet connection rather than a place you type in. That is usually right and occasionally not — a phone hotspot or a VPN can put the panel somewhere else entirely — so read it as where this panel thinks it is, not as a location picker.
Landscape drops the forecast and keeps the current conditions, which is the trade you make for a compact row that fits along the top of a monitor stand.
Apex Calendar
The next three things on.
Under the weather, the panel lists up to three upcoming events, soonest first. Each one gets its title and a plain-English when: in 25m 08:30, Today 14:00, Tomorrow 09:00, or Mon 01 Sep 08:30. Anything starting inside fifteen minutes turns amber, and an event stays on the list for fifteen minutes after it starts so you do not lose it the second it begins. With nothing coming up, it says so.
These come from the Apex Calendar: your own personal events, plus public events you have RSVP'd Going to, inside the next seven days. Public events are the car meets, car shows, track days and cruises people post, and you find them in the app's Nearby view with a radius you set between 5 and 200 kilometres.
The honest limits. The calendar band is portrait only, it needs a paired panel, and it does not sync with Google or Apple Calendar — events are the ones you enter in Apex or RSVP to. Posting a public event needs Organiser access, which we grant rather than something you switch on yourself, and the built-in public holidays are Australian.
- Up to three events, soonest first, from the next seven days
- Personal events plus public events you are marked Going to
- Amber inside fifteen minutes, and a reminder an hour before
- Portrait only, and a paired panel is required
The carousel
Ten seconds a page, on a loop.
Below the fixed blocks, a carousel turns over every ten seconds, fading two hundred milliseconds each way. That timing is fixed. In portrait it runs Notifications first, then the Minecraft page, the virtual pet and the quote card if you have switched those on; in landscape it is Notifications, Weather and the quote.
The notifications feed mixes two things: messages friends have sent you from the web panel, and notifications forwarded from your phone over Bluetooth. It holds three at a time, survives a reboot and clears itself after three hours of uptime, so a desk panel does not slowly become a wall of yesterday. Emoji are stripped, because panel text is plain ASCII.
Show one, two or three entries at small, medium or large text — large fits one entry, medium at most two, and the size steps down on its own when a line will not fit. Phone notifications come through on iPhone, using iOS's own notification sharing over Bluetooth once your phone has bonded with the panel. Android has no built-in equivalent, so the Apex app does not mirror Android notifications.
The quote card pulls a short line of advice while it is online and falls back to sixteen built-in lines when it is not. The Minecraft page and the virtual pet are deliberately niche: both are configured from the web panel, both are portrait only, and Minecraft needs a companion server of your own.
The honest bit
Docked mode needs Wi-Fi.
Docked is gated on a live Wi-Fi link. Without one the panel does not sit there showing a stale clock — it shows a dedicated screen: the Apex Panels wordmark, a Wi-Fi glyph with a slash through it, DOCKED MODE NEEDS WI-FI, and a line pointing you at Panel details, then Change network, in the app. It keeps retrying in the background and comes back on its own when the network does.
That is the real trade between the two modes. Showcase runs from the panel's own storage and does not care whether there is a network. Docked is a connected dashboard, and a dashboard with no data is worse than a screen that tells you why it is empty.
Fixing it happens in the app over Bluetooth, which works whether or not the panel has a network. And switching between the two modes is manual, from the app or the web panel, with about nine hundred milliseconds of splash in between — the panel never decides for itself which one you wanted.
Look and feel
Background, accent, brightness.
Six background effects: None, Rain, Snow, Lumen, Bubbles and Constellation, which is the default. Or run a looping GIF from the Apex background library behind everything, with a tint colour and an opacity from 0 to 100 so it sits behind the text instead of fighting it. That library is a catalogue we curate rather than a folder you upload to, and some loops are marked Premium.
The text accent colour is gold by default, with White, Cyan, Mint, Coral and Violet presets and a contrast guard that stops you making it unreadable. Docked has no font picker: it always uses Classic, because a dashboard read at a glance is not the place for seven typefaces. Divider lines between the blocks can be switched off.
Brightness runs 5 to 100 and sits at 80, with a night curve behind it: full from 7 AM to 7 PM, fading to 10 per cent between 7 and 9 PM, and 10 per cent after that. On a bedside table that curve matters far more than the top-end number.
Docked at a glance
What the dashboard actually does.
Everything below is what the shipped firmware draws today.
With no Wi-Fi the panel shows a needs-Wi-Fi screen and keeps retrying. Showcase mode is the one that runs offline.
Docked mode
WidgetsClock, date, weather, rotating carousel
Clock12- or 24-hour, no seconds
DateDay abbreviation plus DD/MM, fixed
Timezones14 supported, set from your phone
WeatherCurrent conditions plus a 4-day forecast, °C or °F
CalendarUp to 3 Apex Calendar events, portrait only
Carousel10 seconds a page, fixed
Notifications3 stored, 1–3 shown, iPhone only from a phone
Backgrounds6 effects, or a loop from the Apex library
AccentGold by default, 6 presets, contrast-guarded
Brightness5–100, 80 by default, with a night curve
NetworkWi-Fi required
Questions
Questions about the desk.
Can a small desk display show iPhone notifications?
Apex Mini can. It uses iOS's own notification sharing over Bluetooth, so once your iPhone has bonded with the panel, notifications land in the Docked feed alongside messages from friends. Android has no built-in equivalent, and the Apex app does not mirror Android notifications.
Does the desk clock need Wi-Fi?
Yes. Docked mode is gated on a live Wi-Fi link, because the time comes from an internet time server and the weather and calendar come from our servers. Without Wi-Fi the panel shows a Docked mode needs Wi-Fi screen and keeps retrying in the background.
Can it show my calendar?
It shows up to three upcoming events from the Apex Calendar: your own personal events plus public events you have RSVP'd Going to, inside the next seven days. It does not sync with Google Calendar or Apple Calendar.
Does it show the weather?
Yes: current conditions with an icon and the temperature in °C or °F, a four-day forecast, and an optional humidity, wind and feels-like line. The city comes from the panel's own internet connection rather than a place you type in.
Is there a subscription?
No. You buy the panel and the app is free. Some loops in the Apex background library are marked Premium and there is nothing to buy for those yet, but everything the Docked dashboard itself does is included.
How is it powered?
USB-C for a permanent desk setup, or the internal battery when it comes off the desk and goes back on the glass. On a desk you would simply leave it plugged in.
Can I use it in landscape?
Yes. Landscape gives you a compact row — clock, date, current weather and the carousel — without the four-day forecast, the calendar band, the Minecraft page or the pet, all of which are portrait only.
Does it switch to the desk clock by itself?
No. Switching between Showcase and Docked is manual, from the app or the web panel, with a short splash in between. The panel does not guess which mode you want from where it is or what it is plugged into.
First batch, first served.
We're building the first run now. Get on the list for first access when it ships — plus the early pricing that comes with it.