Hacking Gadget: Firmware 1.0 for Pinball Zero is here and brings the AppStore with it

Pinball Zero is evolving: firmware 1.0 has been released for the popular digital gadget and brings many new functions as well as significantly longer battery life. Especially now the built-in app store makes working and having fun with Pinball much easier.

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The App Store makes things easier

The developers of the pocket-sized hacking tool have Recently released firmware Long-awaited features, some of which have been developed for three years, have been integrated. Above all, support for apps is available via the built-in App Store. Although “Flipper Application Packages” with the slightly ambiguous abbreviation “FAP” have been the method of choice for installing additional program packages for years, its integration into the App Store saves users from the sometimes time-consuming search or even compilation of current program versions.

The App Store is available as a function for Flipper Zero’s smartphone companion app or the web-based “Flipper Lab” – if the gadget is connected via USB or Bluetooth, apps come to the device with the tap of a finger. Of course, there’s also a rudimentary Doom clone that rips out the iconic theme tune from id Software’s 1993 cult game from a pinball machine in the best PC speaker acoustics.

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Something has also changed for developers: you can now write programs for the Pinball Zero in JavaScript and copy them to the SD card. Hardware-related functions such as output via USB and the device’s GPIO pins are also available via JavaScript – some demo scripts show the basics of the supplied library to those interested.

New and fast: NFC, sub-gigahertz, listening functions

The NFC subsystem (Near Field Communication) is completely new in firmware 1.0 and is now better adapted to the conditions of a pinball machine. It reads cards faster, allowing for discreet copying. The pinball machine now also supports SLIX and FeliCA Lite NFC cards. The former is particularly known for the successful Toniebox – each plastic radio play figure has a SLIX chip, which parents can now emulate using Pinball Zero’s on-board tool.

Flipper Zero now supports radio frequencies below 1 GHz About 90 protocolsSuch as those used in garage doors and home automation. Analog walkie-talkies can also be heard, as long as the people listening can speak loud enough into the device. However, the frequency band of 446,000-446,200 MHz used in this country is not activated in the German pinball firmware. So if you want to listen in on your kids playing spy games, you’ll need to put the pinball machine in a different location while you update the firmware via VPN.

Apps need updates

Pre-installed apps in FAP format require updates, and apps from alternative firmware teams are not always compatible with Pinball Firmware 1.0. For official applications, you just need to click on the corresponding header in Flipper Labs, otherwise gadget owners can continue to copy files to the device as usual.

To update the pinball to the latest firmware version, the “Flipper Mobile App” or a Bluetooth connection to the QFlipper on a PC or Mac is required. The update takes a few minutes and does not delete any data such as saved copies of maps on the device.

The Flipper Zero has been on the market since 2020 and is very popular as a hacking gadget for various wireless protocols and USB. Its versatility also led to legal difficulties, with various governments considering banning the device and hotel staff at the Black Hat and Defcon security conferences in Las Vegas being instructed to look for the tiny tool during room searches.

(CKU)