FMVita is an enhanced fork of VitaShell (originally created by TheFloW). This version focuses on usability, expanding touchscreen support for the PS Vita, introducing animated backgrounds, various Quality of Life (QoL) improvements, and a new program file organization under the independent directory ux0:FMVita/.
Installation
FMVita was designed to prevent conflicts with your current configuration. Therefore, it features a unique Title ID and its own dedicated folder structure.
Zero Conflicts: It can be installed side-by-side with the original VitaShell, OneMenuPlus, MolecularShell, or any other file manager.
How to Install: Simply transfer the FMVita .vpk file to your console (via FTP or USB) and install it using VitaShell (or any other file manager application you currently use).
Key Differences and New Features
Interface and Themes
Six Color Presets:Dark, Light, Blue, Red, Purple, and Brown. The system automatically calculates text, highlight, selection, dialog, and border colors.
Quick Action Toolbar: A new toolbar featuring 8 quick shortcuts: Copy, Paste, Delete, Rename, Filter, Group, Search, and New.
Transparency: The interface elements (topbar, cards, and buttons) feature a reduced alpha channel when using image backgrounds (GIF or PNG) for better visibility.
Themed Scrollbar: An adaptive scrollbar that matches the theme's highlight color.
Redesigned Address Bar: Now displays the current directory path, battery status, and clock.
Partial Support for VitaShell Themes: Due to the nature of the original project, themes developed for VitaShell are not 100% compatible with this version, only taking advantage of certain elements such as file icons.
Animated Backgrounds
Four Procedural Animations:Particles (floating PlayStation icons), Waves (colored mist), Stars (starfield), and Squares (PS2-styled falling rectangles).
Animated GIF Support: Loads from ux0:FMVita/Gif/theme.gif (Mode 4) with multiple fallbacks. Powered by an stb_image engine featuring frame delay control, cover-fit scaling, and clipping.
Static PNG Support: Native loading from ux0:FMVita/Background/bg.png (Mode 5).
Touchscreen Support
Native Dialogs: The old system YES/NO prompt has been replaced by custom Touch Dialogs (Confirmation, Deletion, and FTP) styled with PlayStation button icons.
Drag-and-Drop: Hold Square + Touch (or perform a long press) to drag files into other folders. Features Auto-scroll when moving items near the screen edges.
Swipe Gestures: Swipe Left to go Back, Swipe Right to Enter.
Multi-tap: Double-tap and hold to open the context menu.
Mouse Cursor: Control a mouse pointer using the right analog stick (click with Cross), featuring a smooth fade effect after inactivity.
Navigation and Layout
Column View: An innovative 3-column layout (Grandparent / Parent / Current) for ultra-fast directory browsing. Highlights the active folder in gold within the upper columns and allows direct touch navigation on any column.
Bookmarks and Recents: The Square shortcut jumps directly to your bookmarks; the Triangle shortcut navigates to recent files (which automatically generate .lnk symlinks).
Search Tools: A Filter system (All/Folders/Files) on the toolbar and case-insensitive Search within the current directory.
Enhanced Scrolling: Infinite scroll wrapping (from top to bottom and vice versa) and smooth lerp-based scrolling with acceleration.
Symlinks: Optimized tracking via a SymlinkDirectoryPath linked list to ensure correct navigation through shortcuts.
Undo System
Undo Move and Copy actions directly from the context menu (UNDO_ACTION).
Undo Move: Reverts the sceIoRename command.
Undo Copy: Cleanly deletes the file copied by mistake.
The Undo option appears dynamically and also registers actions performed via Drag-and-Drop.
Security and Configuration
System Protection: Renaming locks on critical system folders (verified via isProtectedPath()) with custom error messages.
Independent Settings: Reads and writes directly to ux0:FMVita/settings.txt (use_custom_config = 1 by default; can be temporarily disabled by holding L during boot).
New Menu Options:USB Device (4 modes), SELECT Button (USB/FTP), View Mode (List/Grid/Column), Background Anim (6 modes), and Theme Preset (6 colors).
Removed Features and Optimizations
To keep the application lightweight and focused purely on file management, the following features from the original VitaShell have been deprecated or hidden:
HENkaku Settings menu (PSN spoofing, unsafe homebrew toggle, version spoofing).
Disable Auto-Update and Disable Warning Messages.
Rear Touchpad support.
Credits
TheFloW — Creator of the original VitaShell.
Team Molecule — HENkaku.
xerpi — ftpvitalib and vita2dlib libraries.
Sean Barrett — stb_image implementation.
WolffsRoom — FMVita development, visual modifications, and engine.
AI Notice
Artificial Intelligence tools were utilized as a support resource during the development of this project:
Gemini and DeepSeek: Assisted in bug fixing, logical troubleshooting, and C/C++ code optimization.
Claude: Used for brainstorming, project structuring, and prototyping new features.
