Windows app — optional
The control panel, in whatever browser you use.
The Bridge needs nothing installed, and that hasn't changed. This is for the two cases where the usual way in doesn't work: your browser isn't Chrome or Edge, or Windows never showed you the dongle's drive.
268 KB · Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit · SHA-256 a48294a402a8ee6f1af427f3307fbd985715f50fdae8a585a9674344aafe9525
Windows will warn you about it. That's expected.
It isn't signed with a certificate — those cost money every year and this is a one-person operation. So Microsoft Defender SmartScreen shows “Windows protected your PC”. Click More info, then Run anyway. If you'd rather check before running it, the SHA-256 above is this exact file — in PowerShell, Get-FileHash Blipfrog.exe prints yours to compare against.
You don't have to take that on faith and you don't have to download anything at all — the panel runs on this site in Chrome or Edge, and it ships inside the dongle too.
What it does
Three things, then it gets out of the way.
Any browser
The web version of the panel talks to the dongle over WebHID, which only Chrome and Edge have. The app does that talking itself, in Windows, and hands the panel to your browser over your own machine. Firefox works. So does whatever you've set as default.
No drive needed
The dongle normally appears as a small read-only drive with the panel on it. Some PCs never show it — work laptops block removable drives, and some security software hides them. The app reaches the dongle directly, so the drive being missing stops mattering.
A frog in the tray
Battery and signal at a glance, a nudge when the controller is nearly flat, and the panel one click away. It can start with Windows if you want it to — that's a switch in its menu, off until you turn it on.
Fair questions
Do I need this?
No. If the dongle's drive shows up and you have Chrome or Edge, you already have everything — open the panel from the drive, or from this site. The app exists for the cases where neither of those is true.
What does it actually run on my PC?
One program, about a quarter of a megabyte, that sits in the notification area. It opens a listener on your own machine only — 127.0.0.1, the address that never leaves the computer — and serves the panel to your browser from there. It answers only the page it served, refuses anything from a website, and talks to nothing on the internet except the firmware update check, which is the same check the panel has always done.
No account, no telemetry, no installer, no service, nothing in Program Files. Delete the file and it's gone.
Does it start with Windows?
Only if you switch that on in its menu. Left alone it runs when you open it and stops when you quit it. With the switch on, it copies itself somewhere sensible first — running it off the dongle and then pulling the dongle out is asking for trouble — and stays quiet in the tray until a Bridge turns up.
Can I update the firmware from it?
Yes, and the check works in any browser. The last step — writing the file to the dongle for you — needs Chrome or Edge, because it uses a file-access feature only they have. In other browsers the panel hands you the file and tells you where to drop it, which takes about ten seconds. The firmware page has that written out.
Mac or Linux?
Not yet — this is a Windows program. On a Mac, Chrome or Edge with the panel on this site is the way in, and it works fine. We build and test the Bridge itself for Windows 10 and 11, so that's what we promise.
Something not behaving?
Mail [email protected] and say what you're seeing. One person builds these and the same person answers the email.