feat(ui-lvgl): live map tiles kept apart, under a size limit

Tiles fetched while browsing online go to /sdcard/maps-live with an
index of arrival order; past the limit (Settings > Storage, 16 MB-1 GB,
default 64 MB) the oldest are deleted a few per loop. Storage shows
their count and size and can delete them all. Downloaded maps are never
touched. Roadmap: live tiles done, second batch of user items added.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

docs/development/l2-roadmap.md

@@ -225,7 +225,26 @@ Ideas to come back to (2026-09-26):
       remove it?
 - [ ] Import routes from the SD card (optional extra).
 - [ ] Battery life without losing features, above all CPU sleep.
-- [ ] Live tiles: don't keep them, or give them a bounded cache on the card
+- [x] Live tiles: bounded cache on the card (2026-09-26) -- they go to
-      so they never fill it.
+      /sdcard/maps-live, apart from downloaded maps; an index keeps their
+      order and the oldest are deleted past the limit (Settings > Storage >
+      Live map tiles: 16 / 64 / 256 MB / 1 GB, default 64 MB; Delete).
+      Live tiles saved by earlier builds sit in /sdcard/maps and can't be
+      told apart from downloaded ones.
 - [ ] Vector maps and other tile sources (to think through).
 
+User list, second batch (2026-09-26):
+
+- [ ] Status bar icons look like different sizes?
+- [ ] Under own messages: a small counter as in the original (L1), not a
+      checkmark with "relayed".
+- [ ] Polish the path popup of a sent / received message.
+- [ ] Map download popup runs off the screen; take the WiFi settings out
+      of it (one place: Settings > WiFi).
+- [ ] Splash: "MeshCore Solo" with the upstream version and ours, all in
+      the MeshCore title font.
+- [ ] Emoji, ideally the full range (glyphs could live on the SD card).
+- [ ] Tap-to-wake toggle.
+- [ ] Favourites as their own screen in the menu rather than a tile.
+- [ ] WiFi indicator icon in the status bar.
+

examples/companion_radio/ui-lvgl/LvglPort.h

@@ -212,6 +212,20 @@ static void saveHistKeep(int idx) {
   p.putChar("hkeep", (int8_t)idx);
   p.end();
 }
+// Settings > Storage > Live map tiles: index into mapview::LIVE_CAP_MB, -1 = default.
+static int loadLiveCap() {
+  Preferences p;
+  if (!p.begin("mc_ui", true)) return -1;
+  int v = p.getChar("ltcap", -1);
+  p.end();
+  return v;
+}
+static void saveLiveCap(int idx) {
+  Preferences p;
+  if (!p.begin("mc_ui", false)) return;
+  p.putChar("ltcap", (int8_t)idx);
+  p.end();
+}
 // Filesystem size and space in use (Settings > Storage), plus the card's own
 // size -- a card whose FAT partition is small (e.g. written by a Raspberry Pi
 // imager) shows both. The first free-space count on a big card takes a moment.
@@ -508,6 +522,9 @@ static void saveAccent(int idx) { s_accent = idx; }
 static int s_hist_keep = -1;
 static int loadHistKeep() { return s_hist_keep; }
 static void saveHistKeep(int idx) { s_hist_keep = idx; }
+static int s_live_cap = -1;
+static int loadLiveCap() { return s_live_cap; }
+static void saveLiveCap(int idx) { s_live_cap = idx; }
 // The browser has no card: a nominal 32 GB, used = what the files add up to
 // (the storage screen counts them anyway; it passes that in).
 static bool sdInfo(uint64_t& total, uint64_t& used, uint64_t& card) { total = card = 32ULL << 30; used = 0; return true; }

examples/companion_radio/ui-lvgl/MapScreen.h

@@ -17,11 +17,12 @@
 #include <math.h>
 #include "map/TileProvider.h"
 #include "map/TileCache.h"
+#include "map/LiveCache.h"
 #include "map/TileDownloader.h"
 
 namespace mapview {
 
-static RasterTileProvider s_raster("/sdcard/maps");
+static RasterTileProvider s_raster("/sdcard/maps", LIVE_ROOT);
 static TileProvider*      s_provider = &s_raster;   // the one place to swap in a vector renderer
 static TileCache&         s_cache = *new (psramBuf<TileCache>(1)) TileCache();   // decoded tiles, in PSRAM
 static TileDownloader     s_dl("/sdcard/maps");
@@ -787,6 +788,7 @@ void UITask::setLiveTiles(bool on) {
 void UITask::mapDownloadTick() {
   mapview::TileDownloader& dl = mapview::s_dl;
   dl.loop();
+  mapview::s_live_cache.service(6);   // trims live tiles past the Storage limit
   if (dl.liveOn()) {
     int z, x, y;
     bool got = false;

examples/companion_radio/ui-lvgl/StorageScreen.h

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 // Settings > Storage: how full the SD card and the internal flash are and
 // what takes the card's space (maps, message history, GPX trails, the rest),
 // how many messages each conversation keeps (HistoryStore.h) and deleting
-// the history.
+// the history, and how much space live map tiles may take (map/LiveCache.h).
 //
 // The card's files are counted in the background while the screen is open
 // (a map can be tens of thousands of tiles), a few milliseconds per loop.
@@ -11,8 +11,8 @@
 
 namespace storeview {
 
-enum Cat : uint8_t { C_MAPS, C_MSGS, C_TRAILS, C_OTHER, C_COUNT };
+enum Cat : uint8_t { C_MAPS, C_LIVE, C_MSGS, C_TRAILS, C_OTHER, C_COUNT };
-static const char* const CAT_NAME[C_COUNT] = { "Maps", "Messages", "Trails (GPX)", "Other" };
+static const char* const CAT_NAME[C_COUNT] = { "Maps", "Live map tiles", "Messages", "Trails (GPX)", "Other" };
 
 static uint64_t s_bytes[C_COUNT];
 static uint32_t s_files = 0;
@@ -34,6 +34,9 @@ static lv_obj_t* s_cat_val[C_COUNT];
 static lv_obj_t* s_status = nullptr;
 static lv_obj_t* s_clear_lbl = nullptr;
 static uint32_t  s_clear_armed_ms = 0;
+static lv_obj_t* s_live_lbl = nullptr;       // "Delete live map tiles" row label
+static lv_obj_t* s_live_info = nullptr;      // count / size from the index
+static uint32_t  s_live_armed_ms = 0;
 static uint32_t  s_shown_ms = 0;
 
 static void fmtBytes(char* out, size_t n, uint64_t b) {
@@ -65,6 +68,7 @@ static void startWalk() {
 // What a top-level folder counts as.
 static uint8_t topCat(const char* name) {
   if (!strcmp(name, "maps")) return C_MAPS;
+  if (!strcmp(name, "maps-live")) return C_LIVE;
   if (!strcmp(name, "meshcore")) return C_MSGS;
   if (!strcmp(name, "trails")) return C_TRAILS;
   return C_OTHER;
@@ -193,6 +197,10 @@ static void onHistKeep(lv_event_t* e) {
   s_ui->storageKeep((int)lv_dropdown_get_selected((lv_obj_t*)lv_event_get_target(e)));
 }
 static void onHistClear(lv_event_t* e) { (void)e; s_ui->storageClearHistory(); }
+static void onLiveCap(lv_event_t* e) {
+  s_ui->storageLiveCap((int)lv_dropdown_get_selected((lv_obj_t*)lv_event_get_target(e)));
+}
+static void onLiveClear(lv_event_t* e) { (void)e; s_ui->storageClearLive(); }
 
 void UITask::showStorage() {
   _screen = SCR_STORAGE;
@@ -202,7 +210,7 @@ void UITask::showStorage() {
 void UITask::buildStorage() {
   using namespace storeview;
   lv_obj_t* body = newScreen("Storage", true);
-  s_sd_bar = s_sd_lbl = s_status = s_clear_lbl = nullptr;
+  s_sd_bar = s_sd_lbl = s_status = s_clear_lbl = s_live_lbl = s_live_info = nullptr;
   memset(s_cat_val, 0, sizeof(s_cat_val));
   s_clear_armed_ms = 0;
 
@@ -245,6 +253,21 @@ void UITask::buildStorage() {
   lv_obj_t* row = listRow(body, LV_SYMBOL_TRASH "  Delete message history", "Every chat, on the card and in memory",
                           onHistClear, NULL);
   s_clear_lbl = lv_obj_get_child(row, 0);
+
+  sectionTitle(body, "LIVE MAP TILES");
+  int cap_idx = mapview::LIVE_CAP_DEFAULT;
+  for (int i = 0; i < mapview::LIVE_CAP_COUNT; i++)
+    if (((uint64_t)mapview::LIVE_CAP_MB[i] << 20) == mapview::s_live_cache.limit()) cap_idx = i;
+  lv_obj_t* cd = dropdownRow(body, "Keep up to", mapview::LIVE_CAP_OPTS, cap_idx);
+  lv_obj_remove_event_cb(cd, onKeyboardAlphabet);
+  lv_obj_add_event_cb(cd, onLiveCap, LV_EVENT_VALUE_CHANGED, NULL);
+  s_live_info = label(body, "", THEME_FONT_SMALL, theme::TEXT_MUTED);
+  lv_label_set_long_mode(s_live_info, LV_LABEL_LONG_WRAP);
+  lv_obj_set_width(s_live_info, LV_PCT(100));
+  lv_obj_t* lrow = listRow(body, LV_SYMBOL_TRASH "  Delete live map tiles", "Downloaded maps stay",
+                           onLiveClear, NULL);
+  s_live_lbl = lv_obj_get_child(lrow, 0);
+  s_live_armed_ms = 0;
   s_shown_ms = 0;
 }
 
@@ -274,6 +297,18 @@ void UITask::pollStorage() {
     if (used == 0) for (int c = 0; c < C_COUNT; c++) used += s_bytes[c];   // the sim counts files
     showUsage(s_sd_bar, s_sd_lbl, s_sd_total, used);
   }
+  if (s_live_info) {
+    char b[16], t[96];
+    fmtBytes(b, sizeof(b), mapview::s_live_cache.bytes());
+    if (mapview::s_live_cache.clearing()) snprintf(t, sizeof(t), "Deleting... %lu left", (unsigned long)mapview::s_live_cache.count());
+    else snprintf(t, sizeof(t), "Fetched while browsing online: %lu tiles, %s. Past the limit, the oldest go first.",
+                  (unsigned long)mapview::s_live_cache.count(), b);
+    lv_label_set_text(s_live_info, t);
+  }
+  if (s_live_armed_ms && millis() - s_live_armed_ms > 4000) {
+    s_live_armed_ms = 0;
+    if (s_live_lbl) lv_label_set_text(s_live_lbl, LV_SYMBOL_TRASH "  Delete live map tiles");
+  }
   if (s_clear_armed_ms && millis() - s_clear_armed_ms > 4000) {   // the confirm tap timed out
     s_clear_armed_ms = 0;
     if (s_clear_lbl) lv_label_set_text(s_clear_lbl, LV_SYMBOL_TRASH "  Delete message history");
@@ -304,3 +339,23 @@ void UITask::storageClearHistory() {
   showToast("Message history deleted");
   startWalk();
 }
+
+void UITask::storageLiveCap(int idx) {
+  if (idx < 0 || idx >= mapview::LIVE_CAP_COUNT) return;
+  lvport::saveLiveCap(idx);
+  mapview::s_live_cache.setLimit((uint64_t)mapview::LIVE_CAP_MB[idx] << 20);   // trimmed in the background
+  showToast("Saved");
+}
+
+void UITask::storageClearLive() {
+  using namespace storeview;
+  if (!s_live_armed_ms) {   // first tap: ask
+    s_live_armed_ms = millis();
+    if (s_live_lbl) lv_label_set_text(s_live_lbl, LV_SYMBOL_TRASH "  Tap again to delete");
+    return;
+  }
+  s_live_armed_ms = 0;
+  mapview::s_live_cache.clearAll();   // a few files per loop (mapDownloadTick)
+  if (s_live_lbl) lv_label_set_text(s_live_lbl, LV_SYMBOL_TRASH "  Delete live map tiles");
+  showToast("Deleting live map tiles");
+}

examples/companion_radio/ui-lvgl/UITask.cpp

@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ template <class T> static T* psramBuf(size_t n) {
 #include "Anim.h"
 #include "LvglPort.h"
 #include "HistoryStore.h"
+#include "map/LiveCache.h"
 static histstore::SdArchive s_archive;   // message history on the SD card
 namespace storeview { static void stopWalk(); }   // StorageScreen.h
 #include "../ui-core/KeyboardData.h"
@@ -216,6 +217,8 @@ void UITask::begin(DisplayDriver* display_drv, SensorManager* sensors, NodePrefs
   {  // history kept on the SD card: back into the ring, then every new entry to it
     int hk = lvport::loadHistKeep();
     s_archive.setKeep(histstore::KEEP[hk >= 0 && hk < histstore::KEEP_COUNT ? hk : histstore::KEEP_DEFAULT]);
+    int lc = lvport::loadLiveCap();
+    mapview::s_live_cache.setLimit((uint64_t)mapview::LIVE_CAP_MB[lc >= 0 && lc < mapview::LIVE_CAP_COUNT ? lc : mapview::LIVE_CAP_DEFAULT] << 20);
     s_archive.restore(_core->history);
     _core->history.setArchive(&s_archive);
   }

examples/companion_radio/ui-lvgl/UITask.h

@@ -224,6 +224,8 @@ public:
   void pollStorage();
   void storageKeep(int idx);
   void storageClearHistory();
+  void storageLiveCap(int idx);
+  void storageClearLive();
   bool locked() const;
   void pinKey(const char* key);        // the lock screen's keypad
   void pinSetupPopup();                // Settings > Display & power > Screen PIN

examples/companion_radio/ui-lvgl/map/LiveCache.h

@@ -0,0 +1,139 @@
+#pragma once
+// Live map tiles (fetched while browsing online) live apart from downloaded
+// maps, under LIVE_ROOT/{z}/{x}/{y}.png, and only up to a size limit
+// (Settings > Storage): an index remembers the order they came in, and the
+// oldest are deleted once the tiles add up to more than the limit. Maps
+// downloaded on purpose (TileDownloader jobs, the PC tool) are never touched.
+//
+// Index: LIVE_ROOT/index.bin, a header and a ring of RING records. Eviction
+// runs a few files per loop (service()), so lowering the limit or clearing
+// thousands of tiles never blocks the UI.
+//
+// Single-TU fragment: included by ui-lvgl/UITask.cpp only (after LvglPort.h).
+
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <sys/stat.h>
+
+namespace mapview {
+
+static const char* const LIVE_ROOT = "/sdcard/maps-live";
+
+// Settings > Storage > Live map tiles: "Keep up to".
+static const uint32_t LIVE_CAP_MB[] = { 16, 64, 256, 1024 };
+static const int LIVE_CAP_COUNT = sizeof(LIVE_CAP_MB) / sizeof(LIVE_CAP_MB[0]);
+static const int LIVE_CAP_DEFAULT = 1;
+static const char* const LIVE_CAP_OPTS = "16 MB\n64 MB\n256 MB\n1 GB";
+
+class LiveCache {
+public:
+  static const uint32_t RING = 16384;   // tiles; ~400 MB of typical tiles, 256 KB of index
+
+  void setLimit(uint64_t bytes) { _limit = bytes; }
+  uint64_t limit() const { return _limit; }
+  uint64_t bytes() { load(); return _h.bytes; }
+  uint32_t count() { load(); return _h.count; }
+  bool clearing() const { return _clearing; }
+
+  // A tile was written to LIVE_ROOT: remember it (eviction follows in service()).
+  void add(int z, int x, int y, uint32_t size) {
+    load();
+    if (_h.count >= RING) evictOne();   // the ring is full: make room right away
+    Rec r = { (int32_t)z, x, y, size };
+    uint32_t slot = (_h.head + _h.count) % RING;
+    _h.count++;
+    _h.bytes += size;
+    writeRec(slot, r);
+    writeHdr();
+  }
+
+  // Delete every live tile (a few per service() call).
+  void clearAll() { load(); _clearing = true; }
+
+  // Evicts while over the limit (or clearing), for up to `budget_ms`.
+  void service(uint32_t budget_ms) {
+    if (!_loaded && !_clearing) return;   // nothing written or asked for yet
+    load();
+    uint32_t t0 = millis();
+    bool changed = false;
+    while ((_clearing ? _h.count > 0 : _h.bytes > _limit) && millis() - t0 < budget_ms) {
+      evictOne(false);
+      changed = true;
+    }
+    if (changed) writeHdr();
+    if (_clearing && _h.count == 0) { _clearing = false; _h.bytes = 0; writeHdr(); }
+  }
+
+  static void tilePath(char* out, size_t n, int z, int x, int y) {
+    snprintf(out, n, "%s/%d/%d/%d.png", LIVE_ROOT, z, x, y);
+  }
+
+private:
+  struct Hdr { uint32_t magic, ring, head, count; uint64_t bytes; };
+  struct Rec { int32_t z, x, y; uint32_t size; };
+  static const uint32_t MAGIC = 0x3143544C;   // "LTC1"
+
+  Hdr  _h = { MAGIC, RING, 0, 0, 0 };
+  bool _loaded = false, _clearing = false;
+  uint64_t _limit = 64ULL << 20;
+
+  static void indexPath(char* out, size_t n) { snprintf(out, n, "%s/index.bin", LIVE_ROOT); }
+
+  void load() {
+    if (_loaded) return;
+    _loaded = true;
+    char p[128];
+    indexPath(p, sizeof(p));
+    FILE* f = fopen(p, "rb");
+    Hdr h;
+    if (f && fread(&h, sizeof(h), 1, f) == 1 && h.magic == MAGIC && h.ring == RING && h.count <= RING && h.head < RING) _h = h;
+    else _h = { MAGIC, RING, 0, 0, 0 };
+    if (f) fclose(f);
+  }
+
+  FILE* openIndex() {
+    char p[128];
+    indexPath(p, sizeof(p));
+    FILE* f = fopen(p, "r+b");
+    if (!f) {
+      mkdir(LIVE_ROOT, 0777);
+      f = fopen(p, "w+b");
+    }
+    return f;
+  }
+  void writeHdr() {
+    if (FILE* f = openIndex()) { fwrite(&_h, sizeof(_h), 1, f); fclose(f); }
+  }
+  void writeRec(uint32_t slot, const Rec& r) {
+    if (FILE* f = openIndex()) {
+      if (fseek(f, (long)(sizeof(Hdr) + slot * sizeof(Rec)), SEEK_SET) == 0) fwrite(&r, sizeof(r), 1, f);
+      fclose(f);
+    }
+  }
+  bool readRec(uint32_t slot, Rec& r) {
+    char p[128];
+    indexPath(p, sizeof(p));
+    FILE* f = fopen(p, "rb");
+    if (!f) return false;
+    bool ok = fseek(f, (long)(sizeof(Hdr) + slot * sizeof(Rec)), SEEK_SET) == 0 && fread(&r, sizeof(r), 1, f) == 1;
+    fclose(f);
+    return ok;
+  }
+
+  void evictOne(bool save = true) {
+    if (_h.count == 0) return;
+    Rec r;
+    if (readRec(_h.head, r)) {
+      char path[128];
+      tilePath(path, sizeof(path), r.z, r.x, r.y);
+      remove(path);
+      _h.bytes = _h.bytes > r.size ? _h.bytes - r.size : 0;
+    }
+    _h.head = (_h.head + 1) % RING;
+    _h.count--;
+    if (save) writeHdr();
+  }
+};
+
+static LiveCache s_live_cache;
+
+}  // namespace mapview

examples/companion_radio/ui-lvgl/map/TileDownloader.h

@@ -20,7 +20,8 @@
 // Live tiles: while the map is open, single tiles it is missing are fetched
 // the same way (one at a time, between the job's steps when there is no job),
 // the WiFi connected on the first miss and dropped by the caller (liveEnd)
-// once the map has been closed for a while.
+// once the map has been closed for a while. They go to LIVE_ROOT, not
+// <root>, and only up to the Storage limit (LiveCache.h).
 //
 // Single-TU fragment: included by ui-lvgl/UITask.cpp only (after LvglPort.h).
 
@@ -317,7 +318,10 @@ private:
       _lv_fetching = false;
       size_t len = 0;
       const uint8_t* data = r > 0 ? lvport::fetchData(len) : nullptr;
-      if (r > 0 && looksLikeImage(data, len) && !isNoTilePicture(data, len) && writeTile(_lv_cur.z, _lv_cur.x, _lv_cur.y, data, len)) {
+      char lpath[64];
+      LiveCache::tilePath(lpath, sizeof(lpath), _lv_cur.z, _lv_cur.x, _lv_cur.y);
+      if (r > 0 && looksLikeImage(data, len) && !isNoTilePicture(data, len) && writeFile(lpath, data, len)) {
+        s_live_cache.add(_lv_cur.z, _lv_cur.x, _lv_cur.y, (uint32_t)len);   // kept apart, within the Storage limit
         _lv_consec_fail = 0;
         if (_lv_done_n < LV_DONE) _lv_done[_lv_done_n++] = _lv_cur;
       } else {
@@ -476,8 +480,12 @@ private:
   }
 
   bool writeTile(int z, int x, int y, const uint8_t* d, size_t n) {
-    char path[96], tmp[100];
+    char path[96];
     tilePath(path, sizeof(path), z, x, y);
+    return writeFile(path, d, n);
+  }
+  static bool writeFile(const char* path, const uint8_t* d, size_t n) {
+    char tmp[100];
     makeParents(path);
     snprintf(tmp, sizeof(tmp), "%s.tmp", path);
     FILE* f = fopen(tmp, "wb");

examples/companion_radio/ui-lvgl/map/TileProvider.h

@@ -47,7 +47,9 @@ public:
 // which copies onto a FAT card far faster than millions of loose files.
 class RasterTileProvider : public TileProvider {
 public:
-  explicit RasterTileProvider(const char* root) : _root(root) {}
+  // `live`: a second folder in the same layout (live tiles, LiveCache.h), read
+  // when <root> has no tile.
+  explicit RasterTileProvider(const char* root, const char* live = nullptr) : _root(root), _live(live) {}
 
   // Also reads <root>/attribution.txt (written by tools/maps/fetch_tiles.py and
   // the on-device downloader): the tile set's credit line, shown on the map.
@@ -68,8 +70,9 @@ public:
 
   bool renderTile(int z, int x, int y, uint16_t* out) override {
     uint32_t len = 0;
-    uint8_t* png = readLoose(z, x, y, len);
+    uint8_t* png = readLoose(_root, z, x, y, len);
     if (!png) png = readPacked(z, x, y, len);
+    if (!png && _live) png = readLoose(_live, z, x, y, len);
     if (!png) return false;
 
     unsigned char* res = nullptr;
@@ -94,6 +97,7 @@ public:
 
 private:
   const char* _root;
+  const char* _live;
   char _attr[96] = "";
 
   static uint8_t* readRange(FILE* f, long off, uint32_t len) {
@@ -104,9 +108,9 @@ private:
     return buf;
   }
 
-  uint8_t* readLoose(int z, int x, int y, uint32_t& len) {
+  uint8_t* readLoose(const char* root, int z, int x, int y, uint32_t& len) {
     char path[64];
-    snprintf(path, sizeof(path), "%s/%d/%d/%d.png", _root, z, x, y);
+    snprintf(path, sizeof(path), "%s/%d/%d/%d.png", root, z, x, y);
     FILE* f = fopen(path, "rb");
     if (!f) return nullptr;
     fseek(f, 0, SEEK_END);