+++
title = "Gemini"
description = "Browse Geminispace: follow links, go back, bookmark pages and keep them on the SD card to read offline."
weight = 4
[extra]
tag = "Gemini"
screens = ["gemini.png"]
+++
[Gemini](https://geminiprotocol.net/) is a small, text-first protocol: pages are plain **gemtext**, served over an encrypted connection, from **capsules** instead of sites. It needs Wi-Fi.
## Reading
| Key | Does |
|---|---|
| Tab / Shift+Tab | Picks the next or previous link |
| Enter | Follows the link |
| ` (Back) | Returns to the previous page, at the place where you scrolled to |
| Up and down | Scroll a line |
| Space | Pages down |
| g | Types an address |
| b | Bookmarks the page |
| s | Saves the page to the card |
| S | Saves it with the pages it links to |
Headings, lists, quotes and preformatted blocks are drawn as gemtext intends, wrapped to the screen. Links to other protocols show their address and are not followed. A page that asks for input (a search, say) shows a prompt, and a password prompt hides what you type. Characters outside the Latin fonts show as `?`. The history keeps the last 20 pages.
## The start page
It lists your **bookmarks**, then your **Saved Pages**, then a few starting points: geminiprotocol.net, a search engine and an aggregator. Without a card it shows only the built-in starting points.
## Certificates: trust on first use
Most capsules sign their own certificate. The first certificate seen for a host is **remembered**; if it later changes, the page is not shown and you are asked whether to trust the new one, with both fingerprints on screen. Expired or self-signed certificates are fine: only a *change* counts. Client certificates are not supported.
## Saved Pages
s keeps the page on the card, with the address it came from and when it was saved, and you can read it with no network. S also saves the pages it links to on the **same capsule**, as text only, up to 30, in the background. On the start page, Saved Pages are listed by capsule, newest first. Inside one, r **refreshes** it and d **deletes** it. A link to another saved page opens the saved copy; any other link fetches online if Wi-Fi is up, or says it is not saved. A file that is not text (a picture, say) is saved to `/gemini/downloads/` instead of being shown. The Storage clean-up never offers Saved Pages for deletion.
## Big pages and memory
With a card, every page streams to the card first, so a page larger than the device's memory still arrives whole and is read from the card as you scroll. Without a card, a page is limited to what fits in memory. If there is not enough free memory to open a secure connection, the fetch says so instead of failing silently; stopping IRC frees the most.