Windows 98 home screenA Windows 98 home screen on Android
Three things make an Android home screen look like Windows 98: the teal desktop colour, real Windows 98 windows on it, and the icons. Risocast's free widgets are the windows, drawn pixel for pixel, and they're useful too: what's playing in any music app, with play, skip and like, and your plays today.
The look
Steps
- Wallpaper: make a plain image in the Windows 98 desktop teal, #008080, and set it as your home-screen wallpaper.
- Install Risocast for Android (it's coming to Google Play) and sign in.
- Turn on phone listening: File › Connect media…, then Turn on… under Phone listening. Android asks you to allow Risocast under Notification access; that's how it sees what's playing.
- Touch and hold an empty spot on your home screen, choose Widgets, find Risocast and drag Now playing, Song strip or Today onto the screen.
- Arrange them: Now playing across the top, Today beside a column of apps, the Song strip at the bottom above the dock.
- Icons (optional): most launchers that support icon packs (Nova Launcher, for one) and Samsung's Theme Park in Good Lock can apply one; search Google Play for a Windows 98 icon pack.
Why these widgets look right
Retro widgets often look slightly off because Android scales them: lines blur and the pixel font goes soft. Risocast's are drawn at your screen's exact pixel size, with every Windows 98 pixel a whole number of screen pixels, the grey bevels, sunken panels and blue title bars of the real thing, and a CD that spins while the song plays. More on the widgets.
The rest of Risocast looks the same: a Windows 98 music app on your PC and in the browser, with windows, a Start menu and a taskbar.
Questions
- Is it free?
- Yes. Risocast and its widgets are free, with no ads.
- Do the widgets need music playing?
- No. With nothing playing, Now playing says so and names your last song; Today always shows your plays today and this week.
- Does this work on Samsung phones?
- Yes. One UI shrinks widgets to fit its grid, and Risocast's widgets draw for the size you actually see.
See also
Risocast is free. Install it once and it logs everything you play.
Updated 7 October 2026
Risocast HelpA music log that fills itself in. It records the songs you play on your computer and your phone, turns them into your top songs, stats and a public profile, and finds people whose taste overlaps with yours.
Yes. The app and the website are free.
A song counts once half of it has played, or four minutes — whichever comes first. Songs of 30 seconds or less, and videos or podcasts over 20 minutes, never count.
On Windows, anything that shows up in Windows' media controls: Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music, Deezer, browsers, foobar2000, Windows Media Player and more (VLC, iTunes and MusicBee through their free media-controls plugin). On Android, any music app — it reads the same now-playing info your lock screen shows. You can also connect Spotify or import from Last.fm.
Yes. Plays are counted on your device and sent when you're back online, and the phone app opens without a connection.
It does the same core job — scrobbling, automatically — without plugins per player, and adds taste matching: see who listens like you and how much your taste overlaps.
Your profile and listening are public so people with similar taste can find you, unless you make your profile private (then only your buddies see it); your email never is. Nothing is sold and there are no ads; anonymous usage analytics (Microsoft Clarity, Google Analytics) show what to improve. See the privacy policy for the details.
More in Help, the guides and the privacy policy.
Welcome to Risocast
RisocastYour music, logged. Your people, found.
A small player that sits in your tray, writes down every song you play, and shows you who listens like you.
102 songs logged today
Android is coming to Google Play. Get notified
How logging works
On Windows, Risocast reads the system media controls, so any player counts: Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music, Deezer, browsers, foobar2000. No plugins.
On Android the app reads what any music app is playing (it's coming to Google Play). Anywhere else, connect Spotify or a Last.fm username.
Taste twins
See how much your taste overlaps with anyone's, and find the people who listen most like you. The match comes from what you both actually play, not a list of favourites.
Open PeopleWeekly Disc and Taste Map
Every week becomes a disc of your top songs. Every record you play goes on a map, grouped by genre.
Real ones, from the maker's own listening.
Download Risocast
Risocast is free for Windows 10 and 11. Android is coming to Google Play; on any other device, use the web app with Spotify or Last.fm.
- Version 4.0.10 · Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit) · about 100 MB
- Updates itself: new versions download in the background and install on restart.
- Every installer is published with its SHA-256 checksum on the releases page.
FeaturesGuides
Track music on WindowsLog YouTube MusicApple Music statsFind people like youPlayers that workLog VLCLog foobar2000Log MusicBeeiTunes on WindowsLog DeezerLog TidalLog SoundCloudAmazon MusicWindows Media PlayerSpotify historyTop songs of all timeWhat genre is it?Describe your tasteExport your dataComing from Last.fmWidget for every appPC music from your phoneWindows 98 home screenCompare