diff --git a/external/solanaceae_message3 b/external/solanaceae_message3
index 53d65a0..c577a1f 160000
--- a/external/solanaceae_message3
+++ b/external/solanaceae_message3
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit 53d65a06855129135e5884f50d9983676290ac24
+Subproject commit c577a1fa3d19272d481a0ed4a5b8715524204928
diff --git a/external/solanaceae_tox b/external/solanaceae_tox
index dd596bd..5700d9d 160000
--- a/external/solanaceae_tox
+++ b/external/solanaceae_tox
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit dd596bdad8d71654ff21dd3a032d6eb2dd7139a8
+Subproject commit 5700d9d17febedec690dc24193bc65607d8d9fda
diff --git a/flake.nix b/flake.nix
index c7116bd..e488cfa 100644
--- a/flake.nix
+++ b/flake.nix
@@ -30,9 +30,12 @@
         # for some reason, buildInputs performs some magic an converts them to build dependencies, not runtime dependencies
         # also, non static dependencies (?? how to ensure ??)
         dlopenBuildInputs = with pkgs; [
+          dbus
+
           xorg.libX11
           xorg.libXext
           xorg.xorgproto
+          libxkbcommon
           xorg.libICE
           xorg.libXi
           xorg.libXScrnSaver
@@ -40,7 +43,10 @@
           xorg.libXinerama
           xorg.libXrandr
           xorg.libXxf86vm
+
           libGL
+
+          pipewire
         ];
 
         buildInputs = with pkgs; [
diff --git a/src/chat_gui4.cpp b/src/chat_gui4.cpp
index 24c6d66..0bc1b2b 100644
--- a/src/chat_gui4.cpp
+++ b/src/chat_gui4.cpp
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 
 #include "./media_meta_info_loader.hpp"
 #include "./sdl_clipboard_utils.hpp"
+#include "solanaceae/message3/registry_message_model.hpp"
 
 #include <string>
 #include <variant>
@@ -22,6 +23,19 @@
 #include <filesystem>
 #include <ctime>
 
+namespace Components {
+
+	struct UnreadFade {
+		// fades form 1 to 0
+		float fade {1.f};
+	};
+
+} // Components
+
+static float lerp(float a, float b, float t) {
+	return a + t * (b - a);
+}
+
 ChatGui4::ChatGui4(
 	ConfigModelI& conf,
 	RegistryMessageModel& rmm,
@@ -167,6 +181,22 @@ void ChatGui4::render(void) {
 						//ImGui::TableNextRow(0, TEXT_BASE_HEIGHT);
 
 						Message3Registry& msg_reg = *msg_reg_ptr;
+
+						// do systems TODO: extract
+						{ // fade system
+							std::vector<Message3> to_remove;
+							msg_reg.view<Components::UnreadFade>().each([&to_remove](const Message3 e, Components::UnreadFade& fade) {
+								// TODO: configurable
+								const float fade_duration = 7.5f;
+								// TODO: dynamic fps
+								fade.fade -= 1.f/fade_duration * (1.f/60.f);
+								if (fade.fade <= 0.f) {
+									to_remove.push_back(e);
+								}
+							});
+							msg_reg.remove<Components::UnreadFade>(to_remove.cbegin(), to_remove.cend());
+						}
+
 						msg_reg.view<Message::Components::ContactFrom, Message::Components::ContactTo, Message::Components::Timestamp>()
 							.use<Message::Components::Timestamp>()
 							.each([&](const Message3 e, Message::Components::ContactFrom& c_from, Message::Components::ContactTo& c_to, Message::Components::Timestamp ts
@@ -184,6 +214,15 @@ void ChatGui4::render(void) {
 									ImGui::TextUnformatted("<unk>");
 								}
 
+								// use username as visibility test
+								if (ImGui::IsItemVisible() && msg_reg.all_of<Message::Components::TagUnread>(e)) {
+									// get time now
+									const uint64_t ts_now = std::chrono::duration_cast<std::chrono::milliseconds>(std::chrono::system_clock::now().time_since_epoch()).count();
+									msg_reg.emplace_or_replace<Message::Components::Read>(e, ts_now);
+									msg_reg.remove<Message::Components::TagUnread>(e);
+									msg_reg.emplace_or_replace<Components::UnreadFade>(e, 1.f);
+								}
+
 								// highlight self
 								if (_cr.any_of<Contact::Components::TagSelfWeak, Contact::Components::TagSelfStrong>(c_from.c)) {
 									ImU32 cell_bg_color = ImGui::GetColorU32(ImVec4(0.3f, 0.7f, 0.3f, 0.20f));
@@ -194,10 +233,31 @@ void ChatGui4::render(void) {
 									//ImGui::TableSetBgColor(ImGuiTableBgTarget_CellBg, cell_bg_color);
 								}
 
+								std::optional<ImVec4> row_bg;
+
 								// private group message
 								if (_cr.any_of<Contact::Components::TagSelfWeak, Contact::Components::TagSelfStrong>(c_to.c)) {
-									ImU32 row_bg_color = ImGui::GetColorU32(ImVec4(0.5f, 0.2f, 0.5f, 0.35f));
-									ImGui::TableSetBgColor(ImGuiTableBgTarget_RowBg0, row_bg_color);
+									const ImVec4 priv_msg_hi_col = ImVec4(0.5f, 0.2f, 0.5f, 0.35f);
+									ImU32 row_bg_color = ImGui::GetColorU32(priv_msg_hi_col);
+									ImGui::TableSetBgColor(ImGuiTableBgTarget_RowBg1, row_bg_color);
+									row_bg = priv_msg_hi_col;
+								}
+
+								// fade
+								if (msg_reg.all_of<Components::UnreadFade>(e)) {
+									ImVec4 hi_color = ImGui::GetStyleColorVec4(ImGuiCol_PlotHistogramHovered);
+									hi_color.w = 0.8f;
+									const ImVec4 orig_color = row_bg.value_or(ImGui::GetStyleColorVec4(ImGuiCol_TableRowBg)); // imgui defaults to 0,0,0,0
+									const float fade_frac = msg_reg.get<Components::UnreadFade>(e).fade;
+
+									ImVec4 res_color{
+										lerp(orig_color.x, hi_color.x, fade_frac),
+										lerp(orig_color.y, hi_color.y, fade_frac),
+										lerp(orig_color.z, hi_color.z, fade_frac),
+										lerp(orig_color.w, hi_color.w, fade_frac),
+									};
+
+									ImGui::TableSetBgColor(ImGuiTableBgTarget_RowBg1, ImGui::GetColorU32(res_color));
 								}
 							}
 
@@ -588,7 +648,14 @@ bool ChatGui4::renderContactListContactBig(const Contact3 c, const bool selected
 	ImGui::SameLine();
 	ImGui::BeginGroup();
 	{
-		ImGui::Text("%s", (_cr.all_of<Contact::Components::Name>(c) ? _cr.get<Contact::Components::Name>(c).name.c_str() : "<unk>"));
+		// TODO: is there a better way?
+		// maybe cache mm?
+		bool has_unread = false;
+		if (const auto* mm = _rmm.get(c); mm != nullptr && !mm->storage<Message::Components::TagUnread>().empty()) {
+			has_unread = true;
+		}
+
+		ImGui::Text("%s%s", has_unread?"* ":"", (_cr.all_of<Contact::Components::Name>(c) ? _cr.get<Contact::Components::Name>(c).name.c_str() : "<unk>"));
 		if (request_incoming) {
 			ImGui::TextUnformatted("Incoming request/invite");
 		} else if (request_outgoing) {
diff --git a/src/main_screen.cpp b/src/main_screen.cpp
index 740310b..df8b4a5 100644
--- a/src/main_screen.cpp
+++ b/src/main_screen.cpp
@@ -85,9 +85,7 @@ Screen* MainScreen::poll(bool& quit) {
 	cg.render();
 
 	if constexpr (false) {
-		bool open = !quit;
-		ImGui::ShowDemoWindow(&open);
-		quit = !open;
+		ImGui::ShowDemoWindow();
 	}
 
 #if 0