GUI Library for Electronics Project

[techanis]

Hello everyone,

I am developing a mobile device that uses a display for output and rotary encoders and buttons for input. Currently, the display is a standard SSD1306 0.96-inch OLED with 64x128 pixels. However, this will no longer be sufficient for future revisions, so I want to switch to a 2-inch color display. The programming is done on an ESP32S3 using the Arduino IDE.

My problem now is that I need to develop a GUI as quickly as possible, ideally one that is independent of the display. I haven't really found a suitable library for this yet. I've already tried LVGL, U8G2, EEZ-Studio with LVGL, Squareline Studio with LVGL, Planet 096, and a few smaller projects. None of these really suited my programming style, as I need it to be object-oriented and able to adapt the UI dynamically at runtime with an undefined number of icons, good animations, etc.

For example, the device is supposed to support additional modules, which should each display a different icon in the GUI depending on the module type. These modules should then be controlled via the GUI on the main device.

I don't like desktop programs where the UI is designed with drag-and-drop because you always have to export, add it to the project, and manually modify the files to make the buttons work without touch input. Touch input, however, is not suitable for my application. Display-specific libraries like the Adafruit SSD1306 library in the Arduino IDE have the drawback of only working with one or a few displays of the same type. Since I don't know if the next display we choose will be the final one, it would be great to avoid rewriting everything each time.

In addition, I’m also missing a good 2-inch color display that doesn't require too many GPIOs. Ideally, it should work over I2C or 3-wire SPI. If there's nothing suitable for the Arduino IDE, ESP-IDF could be an alternative, but only as a last resort.

If any of you have had different experiences with these tools, please share, as it might also be a user error on my part.

Thanks in advance for any support!

[horace]

I have used the TFT_eSPI library on a ESP32-S3-DevKitC-1 with a http://www.hiletgo.com/ProductDetail/2157216.html
it has SPI interface MOSI, MISO, SCK, CS and DC

also used a Waveshare 2inch LCD Display Module,

[techanis]

But isn't that pretty limited when it comes to different displays? And also i am searching for displays that fit 1 approximately 60*40mm space, so the pcb around the screen is far too big for me. Ideally it should be something with a flexcable coming off it. Some of those then require constant current led drivers, which would be fine with me. Otherwise i would have to use a smaller display to fit my desired enclosure size

[horace]

@techanis

it 1 approximately 60*40mm space

the Waveshare 2inch display I linked to in post 2 would fit - size of module is 58.0 × 35.0mm

connected Waveshare 2inch display to a ESP32-S3-DevKitC-1 so

// ESP32_S3_DevKit_1 connections
#define TFT_CS    10  
#define TFT_DC    9
#define TFT_MOSI  11  // DIN on Waveshare
#define TFT_CLK   12
#define TFT_RST   3

using Adafruit-ST77**-Library

ran File>Examples>Adafruit_ST7735_and_ST7789_Library>graphicstest_st7789