diff --git a/external/sdl/CMakeLists.txt b/external/sdl/CMakeLists.txt
index c5658e48..4a7b1e5b 100644
--- a/external/sdl/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/external/sdl/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -9,7 +9,8 @@ if (NOT TARGET SDL3::SDL3)
 	set(SDL_DISABLE_ANDROID_JAR OFF CACHE INTERNAL "")
 
 	FetchContent_Declare(SDL3
-		GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/libsdl-org/SDL
+		#GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/libsdl-org/SDL
+		GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/Semphriss/SDL
 		#GIT_TAG 0429f5d6a36fc35b551bcc2acd4a40c2db6dab82 # tip when looking
 		#GIT_TAG 14f584a94bfd49cf1524db75bf3c419fdf9436cd # tip 26-04-2024
 		#GIT_TAG 06d6f2cb2518622593570985589700910cf4399f # 13-05-2024 - before
@@ -25,7 +26,8 @@ if (NOT TARGET SDL3::SDL3)
 		#GIT_TAG 6e885d96193a4b0096fe7fed6d4e6c3e5f247283 # tip 09-09-2024
 		#GIT_TAG 9dd8859240703d886941733ad32c1dc6f50d64f0 # tip 19-09-2024
 		#GIT_TAG afdf325fb4090e93a124519d1a3bc1fbe0ba9025 # bad
-		GIT_TAG e292d1f5ace469f718d7b6b4dec8c28e37dcaa0e # tip 05-10-2024 (3.1.3)
+		#GIT_TAG e292d1f5ace469f718d7b6b4dec8c28e37dcaa0e # tip 05-10-2024 (3.1.3)
+		GIT_TAG c523f0bcfeb5700ee233b7fae3c2b036822b8627
 
 		FIND_PACKAGE_ARGS # for the future
 	)
diff --git a/src/CMakeLists.txt b/src/CMakeLists.txt
index 6636b62b..50a9f118 100644
--- a/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -66,6 +66,9 @@ target_sources(tomato PUBLIC
 	./sdl_clipboard_utils.hpp
 	./sdl_clipboard_utils.cpp
 
+	./sys_tray.hpp
+	./sys_tray.cpp
+
 	./chat_gui/theme.hpp
 	./chat_gui/theme.cpp
 	./chat_gui/icons/direct.hpp
diff --git a/src/main_screen.hpp b/src/main_screen.hpp
index 7519d61d..e87bd0d9 100644
--- a/src/main_screen.hpp
+++ b/src/main_screen.hpp
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@
 #include "./tox_avatar_loader.hpp"
 #include "./message_image_loader.hpp"
 
+#include "./sys_tray.hpp"
+
 #include "./chat_gui4.hpp"
 #include "./chat_gui/settings_window.hpp"
 #include "./object_store_ui.hpp"
@@ -91,6 +93,8 @@ struct MainScreen final : public Screen {
 	MessageImageLoader mil;
 	TextureCache<void*, Message3Handle, MessageImageLoader> msg_tc;
 
+	SystemTray st;
+
 	ChatGui4 cg;
 	SettingsWindow sw;
 	ObjectStoreUI osui;
diff --git a/src/sys_tray.cpp b/src/sys_tray.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2d4a9bd3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/sys_tray.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+#include "./sys_tray.hpp"
+
+#include "./image_loader_sdl_image.hpp"
+
+#include <cstdint>
+#include <fstream>
+#include <ios>
+#include <memory>
+#include <iostream>
+
+SystemTray::SystemTray(void) {
+	std::cout << "adding sys tray\n";
+
+	std::ifstream file("../res/icon/tomato_v1_256.png");
+	file.seekg(0, std::ios::end);
+	size_t file_size = file.tellg();
+	file.seekg(0, std::ios::beg);
+	std::vector<uint8_t> data(file_size);
+	file.read(reinterpret_cast<char*>(data.data()), file_size);
+	file.close();
+
+	std::cout << "tray icon file size: " << file_size << "\n";
+
+	ImageLoaderSDLImage il;
+	auto image = il.loadFromMemoryRGBA(data.data(), data.size());
+	std::unique_ptr<SDL_Surface, decltype(&SDL_DestroySurface)> surf = {
+		SDL_CreateSurfaceFrom(
+			image.width, image.height,
+			SDL_PIXELFORMAT_RGBA32,
+			(void*)image.frames.at(0).data.data(),
+			4*image.width
+		),
+		&SDL_DestroySurface
+	};
+
+	std::cout << "tray dims " << image.width << "x" << image.height << "\n";
+
+
+	// different icons?
+	_tray = SDL_CreateTray(surf.get(), "tomato");
+	if (_tray == nullptr) {
+		std::cerr << "failed to create SystemTray!!\n";
+	}
+}
+
+SystemTray::~SystemTray(void) {
+	if (_tray != nullptr) {
+		SDL_DestroyTray(_tray);
+		_tray = nullptr;
+	}
+}
+
diff --git a/src/sys_tray.hpp b/src/sys_tray.hpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..73f05eef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/sys_tray.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+#pragma once
+
+#include <SDL3/SDL.h>
+
+class SystemTray {
+	SDL_Tray* _tray {nullptr};
+
+	public:
+		SystemTray(void);
+		~SystemTray(void);
+};
+