What it does
A Python GUI app for sorting files through a Tinder-style swipe interface. Swipe right to keep, left to delete — making file cleanup faster and more intuitive than traditional file browsers.
Why I built it
File organization is tedious. Clicking through folders, selecting files one by one, confirming deletions — it’s slow, error-prone, and honestly just lame. Almost nobody wants to clean up their files.
I wanted something different: show me a file, I decide in a second, next. Make it almost fun, or at least less painful.
Tech stack
- Language: Python
- UI: Tkinter
- Architecture: Multi-threaded file loading for smooth performance
How it works
- Point the app at a directory
- Files load in the background (threaded for responsiveness)
- Swipe or use keyboard shortcuts: Keep → Right, Delete → Left
- Review your decisions before applying changes
What I learned
- Building responsive GUI apps with Tkinter
- Threading for non-blocking file operations
- Designing intuitive UX for mundane tasks
- Sometimes the simplest tools are the most useful
Retrospective
It was interesting to explore Tkinter, but I have to admit — I don’t like it and wouldn’t use it for anything beyond a proof of concept. I had constant trouble with different image formats: scaling issues with GIFs, color problems with RAWs, different color spaces breaking things.
Looking back, I probably should have generated thumbnails instead of displaying files directly. Maybe I’ll add that eventually.