Unofficial concept · Horizon 2030

Starlink OS

A phone OS that says what works on satellite

Problem: Satellite messaging on phones ends at “sent”. People can't tell what got through, or whether anyone is coming.
Designed: A full phone OS where the link says what you can do right now, and messages and SOS show every step.
Learned: Trust comes from proof the network gives, never from the phone vouching for itself. Still a hypothesis to test with real people.

Role: Concept, design and code
Scope: Full phone OS · 53 screens
Flows: Link status · SOS · Location · Messages
Year: 2026

Try it

Change the signal and watch the phone

Each signal changes what works: texts, calls, photos and SOS. Pick one, then open Messages or SOS on the phone to see it there too.

Signal

Open sky, a satellite overhead

SatelliteLinkClear sky · texts arrive in ~10 sTextsYesCallsYesPhotos3 waitingStarlink · next gap in about 2 min

Photos
Maps
Camera

On this phone3 photos · Plaza de MulasWait for 5GTexts to CarolinaNone waitingUpdates · 4 apps, 180 MBWait for 5G

More conditions

Battery

The problem

The world · 2024–2026

What people miss is knowing whether it got through

Three passes before drawing a screen: global data on coverage and outages, an audit of how satellite-to-phone works on phones today, and four synthetic interviews to stress the hypotheses. The same question kept coming up: did my message get through, and is anyone coming?

300Mpeople live where there is no mobile internet signal at all, 4% of the worldGSMA, State of Mobile Internet Connectivity, Sep 2025
48.7%of cell sites down in western North Carolina five days after Hurricane HeleneFCC, DIRS status report, 1 Oct 2024
3,000+satellite SOS incidents a year from Garmin inReach devices aloneGarmin, inReach SOS year in review, Feb 2026
2.2Bpeople still offline, 96% of them in low- and middle-income countriesITU, Facts and Figures, Nov 2025

What the research changed

The first version was built around an assistant

Every synthetic participant pushed back, not on where the data went but on being listened to at all, and on a company vouching for its own privacy. So the assistant stays, demoted: push-to-talk only, never sends on its own, with a log you can check instead of a promise.

First thesis, dropped: Your carrier is also your AI.

Decision 1 · Messages

Every message shows where it is

“It's the phone itself telling me” came up in every interview, so every message shows its state with times from the network. When 5G returns after two days offline, your people come first, then proof your messages went out, then the rest.

Plays when it scrolls into view. Press Replay to watch the messages arrive again.

Back on 5G

2 days on satellite. Here's what matters first.

Your people · 2

Carolina Méndez2 msgs · Thu 19:02“Rescue says you're both OK. Call me when you're down.”
Base camp1 msg · Thu 18:40“Strong wind tomorrow after 14:00.”

Your outbox · sent

3 messages from the mountainAll delivered

Everything else · 184

In short

· Aconcagua team moved summit day to Friday.
· Family saw your "At camp". Nothing urgent.
· Bank and 2 apps ask you to sign in again.

Summarized on this phone · nothing left it

Groups, apps and emailHeld until you open them

Decision 2 · Link status

The link says what you can do right now

Phones today show “SAT” and leave the rest to support pages. Here the home widget names what the link allows (texts yes, calls yes, 3 photos waiting), and a tap shows what's queued and what went out.

Tap the Satellite widget to open the details; tap outside or drag down to close.

Decision 3 · Emergency SOS

SOS shows every step until help arrives

Satellite SOS today ends at “sent”. Here each step lands with its time, from sent at 14:38 to a team on the way at 14:52, with who already knows. Every way in except the side buttons asks you to slide first, so a stray tap never calls a helicopter.

Plays when it scrolls into view. Press Replay to watch the steps again.

SOS · Sending

Sending SOS

Via satellite, with your location.

Sent, pending. Sending via satellite.
Received by rescue, pending. Waiting for rescue to confirm.
Team assigned, pending. Waiting for rescue to confirm.
On the way, pending. Arrival time shown only when rescue gives one.

Design system

Black is the instrument

Color only appears when the link changes (terrestrial, satellite, degraded, no sky) or when someone needs help.

Link states

Terrestriallink-terrestrial
Satellitelink-satellite
Degradedlink-degraded
No skylink-nosky
SOSsos · reserved

Neutrals

bg
surface
surface-raised
border
text-subtle
text-muted
text

bgSurfaces step up in light, never in huetext

Type: Satellite · 3 waitingOne family: Barlow for everything, like D-DIN across the Starlink app
Radius: none · 0xs · 2sm · 4md · 6 · max

Positioning

A link that goes where you go

A Starlink dish brings broadband to a place. Direct to Cell brings a thinner link to a person. The phone is slower, but it's with you: in your pocket when the dish is in the truck, the power is out, or you're the one who fell.

Compared on	Starlink dish	Starlink OS phone
Where it is	Fixed to a roof, a car or a camp.	On you, all the time.
Best at	Living and working off the grid.	Staying reachable, saying "I'm OK", calling for help.
Design problem	Getting online.	Knowing what you can do right now.

Reflection

What I'd test before anyone trusts it

This concept rests on desk research and four synthetic interviews. They shaped hypotheses, not decisions I'd defend without real people in real places. These are the first four I'd put in front of them.

The research is synthetic. Personas played by language models, set in Mendoza, Argentina as a test bed. A tool to stress hypotheses, not evidence of real behavior. Nothing on this page has been validated with real users yet.

01People understand and trust "±10 m · by Starlink"It works if: They can say where the fix came from and what ±10 m means, without help.
02The AI draft speeds up an SOS instead of getting in the wayIt works if: Details arrive sooner and rescuers rate them as more useful. Nobody sends a wrong draft unread.
03Delivery proof lowers resends and worryIt works if: Fewer duplicate messages, and people stop checking whether it went out.
04"Your people first" is the right order when the link returnsIt works if: Nobody misses an urgent message, and nobody opens the held groups first.

53 screens · 4 flows

The full Starlink OS file

One PDF with everything behind this case study, for designers and product teams who want to see the whole system up close.

All 53 screens across the 4 flows: Link status, Messages, SOS and Location
The edge-case screens for when things go wrong
The design system: tokens and components
The research synthesis: interviews, data and sources