diff --git a/workspace/all/battery/battery.c b/workspace/all/battery/battery.c
index 990d63ac7..df031a1da 100644
--- a/workspace/all/battery/battery.c
+++ b/workspace/all/battery/battery.c
@@ -641,6 +641,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
     device_model = PLAT_getModel();
 
     screen = GFX_init(MODE_MAIN);
+    bool firstFrame = true;
     PAD_init();
     PWR_init();
 
@@ -766,6 +767,11 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 
             GFX_blitButtonGroup((char *[]){"B", "BACK", NULL}, 1, screen, 1);
 
+            if (firstFrame)
+            {
+                GFX_animateBlack(LAYER_SCROLLTEXT, 255, 0, CFG_getAppStartExitAnimationDuration());
+                firstFrame = false;
+            }
             GFX_flip(screen);
             dirty = 0;
         }
@@ -776,6 +782,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
     QuitSettings();
     PWR_quit();
     PAD_quit();
+    GFX_animateBlack(LAYER_SCROLLTEXT, 0, 255, CFG_getAppStartExitAnimationDuration());
     GFX_quit();
 
     return EXIT_SUCCESS;
diff --git a/workspace/all/clock/clock.c b/workspace/all/clock/clock.c
index 3734f6329..dc43e7b14 100644
--- a/workspace/all/clock/clock.c
+++ b/workspace/all/clock/clock.c
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ int main(int argc , char* argv[]) {
 	PWR_setCPUSpeed(CPU_SPEED_AUTO);
 	
 	SDL_Surface* screen = GFX_init(MODE_MENU);
+	bool firstFrame = true;
 	PAD_init();
 	PWR_init();
 	InitSettings();
@@ -309,6 +310,10 @@ int main(int argc , char* argv[]) {
 			}
 			blitBar(x,y, (select_cursor==CURSOR_YEAR ? SCALE1(40) : (select_cursor==CURSOR_AMPM ? ampm_w : SCALE1(20))));
 		
+			if (firstFrame) {
+				GFX_animateBlack(LAYER_SCROLLTEXT, 255, 0, CFG_getAppStartExitAnimationDuration());
+				firstFrame = false;
+			}
 			GFX_flip(screen);
 			dirty = 0;
 		}
@@ -320,6 +325,7 @@ int main(int argc , char* argv[]) {
 	QuitSettings();
 	PWR_quit();
 	PAD_quit();
+	GFX_animateBlack(LAYER_SCROLLTEXT, 0, 255, CFG_getAppStartExitAnimationDuration());
 	GFX_quit();
 	
 	if (save_changes) PLAT_setDateTime(year_selected, month_selected, day_selected, hour_selected, minute_selected, seconds_selected);
diff --git a/workspace/all/common/api.c b/workspace/all/common/api.c
index e107225da..f4ce3589a 100644
--- a/workspace/all/common/api.c
+++ b/workspace/all/common/api.c
@@ -428,11 +428,6 @@ SDL_Surface *GFX_init(int mode)
 	
 	CFG_init(GFX_loadSystemFont, GFX_updateColors);
 
-	// by default, we will clear with whatever background color the user prefers
-	// if MODE_MENU /e.g. minarch, clear with default black)
-	if(mode == MODE_MAIN)
-		GFX_setClearColor(mapUint(CFG_getColor(COLOR_BACKGROUND)));
-
 	// We always have to symlink, does not depend on NTP being enabled
 	PLAT_initTimezones();
 	PLAT_setCurrentTimezone(PLAT_getCurrentTimezone());
@@ -570,8 +565,57 @@ SDL_Surface *GFX_init(int mode)
 
 	PLAT_clearAll();
 
+	if (mode == MODE_MENU)
+	{
+		// black-screen apps, e.g. minarch: keep the default black.
+	}
+	else
+	{
+		// regular apps: set background color from the user preferences.
+		// IMPORTANT: no screen flip here - the app may use fade-in, so the display
+		//   stays black (from the clear call) until then app flips its own frame.
+		GFX_setClearColor(mapUint(CFG_getColor(COLOR_BACKGROUND)));
+		GFX_clearLayers(LAYER_ALL);
+	}
+
 	return gfx.screen;
 }
+
+void GFX_animateBlack(int layer, int start_opacity, int end_opacity, int duration_ms)
+{
+	int width = gfx.screen->w;
+	int height = gfx.screen->h;
+	Uint32 format = gfx.screen->format->format;
+
+	// the frame is drawn into the screen surface but may not be composed yet. Compose it.
+	GFX_flipHidden();
+
+	SDL_Surface *screenshot = SDL_CreateRGBSurfaceWithFormat(0, width, height, 32, format);
+	SDL_Surface *black = SDL_CreateRGBSurfaceWithFormat(0, width, height, 32, format);
+	if (screenshot && black && PLAT_captureScreenshot(screenshot) == 0)
+	{
+		SDL_FillRect(black, NULL, SDL_MapRGBA(black->format, 0, 0, 0, 255));
+		GFX_animateAndFadeSurface(screenshot, 0, 0, 0, 0, width, height, duration_ms,
+								  black, 0, 0, 0, 0, width, height,
+								  start_opacity, end_opacity, layer,
+								  0, 0, 1);
+
+		if (end_opacity == 255)
+		{
+			// Fade-out: clear layer above main, draw black on the screen.
+			GFX_clearLayers(LAYER_ALL);
+			SDL_BlitSurface(black, NULL, gfx.screen, NULL);
+			GFX_flip(gfx.screen);
+		}
+		else
+		{
+			GFX_clearLayers(layer);
+		}
+	}
+	SDL_FreeSurface(black);
+	SDL_FreeSurface(screenshot);
+}
+
 void GFX_quit(void)
 {
 
diff --git a/workspace/all/common/api.h b/workspace/all/common/api.h
index e7b5d6808..034240a77 100644
--- a/workspace/all/common/api.h
+++ b/workspace/all/common/api.h
@@ -345,6 +345,8 @@ void GFX_flip_fixed_rate(SDL_Surface* screen, double target_fps); // if target_f
 void GFX_sync(void); // call this to maintain 60fps when not calling GFX_flip() this frame
 void GFX_delay(void); // gfx_sync() is only for everywhere where there is no audio buffer to rely on for delaying, stupid so doing gfx_delay() for like waiting for input loop in binding menu. Need to remove gfx_sync() everwhere eventually
 void GFX_quit(void);
+// Performa an animation of an translucent black curtain over the screenshout on the layer.
+void GFX_animateBlack(int layer, int start_opacity, int end_opacity, int duration_ms);
 
 enum {
 	VSYNC_OFF = 0,
diff --git a/workspace/all/common/config.c b/workspace/all/common/config.c
index aea4cb496..f1430d1c9 100644
--- a/workspace/all/common/config.c
+++ b/workspace/all/common/config.c
@@ -793,6 +793,17 @@ void CFG_setMenuAnimations(bool show)
     CFG_sync();
 }
 
+int CFG_getAppStartExitAnimationDuration(void)
+{
+    int transition = CFG_getMenuTransitions();
+    if (transition == TRANSITION_COMFY)
+        return TRANSITION_COMFY_DURATION;
+    else if (transition == TRANSITION_SNAPPY)
+        return TRANSITION_SNAPPY_DURATION;
+    else
+        return 20;
+}
+
 int CFG_getMenuTransitions(void)
 {
     return settings.showMenuTransitions;
diff --git a/workspace/all/common/config.h b/workspace/all/common/config.h
index bad3f5fc0..ae87693fa 100644
--- a/workspace/all/common/config.h
+++ b/workspace/all/common/config.h
@@ -346,6 +346,7 @@ void CFG_setMenuAnimations(bool show);
 // Menu transition mode: TRANSITION_OFF, TRANSITION_SNAPPY, TRANSITION_COMFY.
 int CFG_getMenuTransitions(void);
 void CFG_setMenuTransitions(int mode);
+int CFG_getAppStartExitAnimationDuration(void);
 // Set thumbnail rounding radius.
 int CFG_getThumbnailRadius(void);
 void CFG_setThumbnailRadius(int radius);
diff --git a/workspace/all/gametime/gametime.c b/workspace/all/gametime/gametime.c
index a30f67c5c..8c03324f8 100644
--- a/workspace/all/gametime/gametime.c
+++ b/workspace/all/gametime/gametime.c
@@ -326,6 +326,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
     PWR_setCPUSpeed(CPU_SPEED_AUTO);
 
     screen = GFX_init(MODE_MAIN);
+    bool firstFrame = true;
     PAD_init();
     PWR_init();
 
@@ -429,6 +430,11 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 
             GFX_blitButtonGroup((char *[]){"B", "BACK", NULL}, 1, screen, 1);
 
+            if (firstFrame)
+            {
+                GFX_animateBlack(LAYER_SCROLLTEXT, 255, 0, CFG_getAppStartExitAnimationDuration());
+                firstFrame = false;
+            }
             GFX_flip(screen);
             dirty = 0;
         }
@@ -442,6 +448,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
     QuitSettings();
     PWR_quit();
     PAD_quit();
+    GFX_animateBlack(LAYER_SCROLLTEXT, 0, 255, CFG_getAppStartExitAnimationDuration());
     GFX_quit();
 
     return EXIT_SUCCESS;
diff --git a/workspace/all/ledcontrol/ledcontrol.c b/workspace/all/ledcontrol/ledcontrol.c
index 8441d77fc..7602d1d65 100644
--- a/workspace/all/ledcontrol/ledcontrol.c
+++ b/workspace/all/ledcontrol/ledcontrol.c
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 #include <msettings.h>
 
 #include "sdl.h"
+#include "config.h"
 #include "defines.h"
 #include "api.h"
 #include "utils.h"
@@ -251,9 +252,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	PAD_init();
 	PWR_init();
 
-    GFX_clearAll();
-	GFX_clearLayers(0);
-	GFX_flip(screen);
+    bool firstFrame = true;
 
     // GFX_init() is what gets the platform far enough along to answer this
     // (the trimui platforms only learn their model in PLAT_initPlatform)
@@ -273,6 +272,11 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
                 GFX_blitMessage(font.large, "This device has no RGB lights.", screen,
                     &(SDL_Rect){0, 0, screen->w, screen->h});
                 GFX_blitButtonGroup((char*[]){ "B","BACK", NULL }, 1, screen, 1);
+                if (firstFrame) {
+                    GFX_animateBlack(LAYER_SCROLLTEXT, 255, 0, CFG_getAppStartExitAnimationDuration());
+                    firstFrame = false;
+                }
+
                 GFX_flip(screen);
                 msg_dirty = 0;
             }
@@ -280,6 +284,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
         }
         PWR_quit();
         PAD_quit();
+        GFX_animateBlack(LAYER_SCROLLTEXT, 0, 255, CFG_getAppStartExitAnimationDuration());
         GFX_quit();
         QuitSettings();
         return 0;
@@ -452,6 +457,11 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
                 }
             }
 
+            if (firstFrame) {
+                GFX_animateBlack(LAYER_SCROLLTEXT, 255, 0, CFG_getAppStartExitAnimationDuration());
+                firstFrame = false;
+            }
+
             GFX_flip(screen);
             dirty = 0;
         }
@@ -459,6 +469,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
     }
 	PWR_quit();
 	PAD_quit();
+	GFX_animateBlack(LAYER_SCROLLTEXT, 0, 255, CFG_getAppStartExitAnimationDuration());
 	GFX_quit();
     QuitSettings();
 
diff --git a/workspace/all/minarch/minarch.c b/workspace/all/minarch/minarch.c
index 82b5d4c7e..d44ccc657 100644
--- a/workspace/all/minarch/minarch.c
+++ b/workspace/all/minarch/minarch.c
@@ -347,7 +347,7 @@ int main(int argc , char* argv[]) {
 	screen = converted;
 	SDL_FreeSurface(rawSurface);
 	free(pixels); 
-	GFX_animateSurfaceOpacity(converted, 0, 0, cw, ch, 255, 0, CFG_getMenuTransitions() ? 200 : 20, 1);
+	GFX_animateSurfaceOpacity(converted, 0, 0, cw, ch, 255, 0, CFG_getAppStartExitAnimationDuration(), 1);
 	SDL_FreeSurface(converted); 
 	
 	Video_cleanup();
diff --git a/workspace/all/minput/minput.c b/workspace/all/minput/minput.c
index 5656a8111..e2e2c3330 100644
--- a/workspace/all/minput/minput.c
+++ b/workspace/all/minput/minput.c
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ int main(int argc , char* argv[]) {
 	PWR_setCPUSpeed(CPU_SPEED_AUTO);
 	
 	SDL_Surface* screen = GFX_init(MODE_MAIN);
+	bool firstFrame = true;
 	PAD_init();
 	PWR_init();
 	InitSettings();
@@ -307,6 +308,11 @@ int main(int argc , char* argv[]) {
 				blitButton("R3", screen, PAD_isPressed(BTN_R3), x+o+dx, y+o+dy,0);
 			}
 
+			if (firstFrame)
+			{
+				GFX_animateBlack(LAYER_SCROLLTEXT, 255, 0, CFG_getAppStartExitAnimationDuration());
+				firstFrame = false;
+			}
 			GFX_flip(screen);
 			dirty = 0;
 		}
@@ -316,6 +322,7 @@ int main(int argc , char* argv[]) {
 	QuitSettings();
 	PWR_quit();
 	PAD_quit();
+	GFX_animateBlack(LAYER_SCROLLTEXT, 0, 255, CFG_getAppStartExitAnimationDuration());
 	GFX_quit();
 	
 	return EXIT_SUCCESS;
diff --git a/workspace/all/nextui/nextui.c b/workspace/all/nextui/nextui.c
index 90c567390..315f8ad3c 100644
--- a/workspace/all/nextui/nextui.c
+++ b/workspace/all/nextui/nextui.c
@@ -2286,9 +2286,12 @@ int main (int argc, char *argv[]) {
 		currentScreen = SCREEN_GAMESWITCHER;
 	}
 
-	// add a nice fade into the game switcher
-	if(currentScreen == SCREEN_GAMESWITCHER)
+	bool fadeInFromBlack = true;
+	if (currentScreen == SCREEN_GAMESWITCHER) {
 		lastScreen = SCREEN_GAME;
+		// Game switcher animates from screenshot on opening
+		fadeInFromBlack = false;
+	}
 
 	// make sure we have no running games logged as active anymore (we might be launching back into the UI here)
 	system("gametimectl.elf stop_all");
@@ -2637,7 +2640,10 @@ int main (int argc, char *argv[]) {
 			}
 		}
 
-		if(dirty) {
+		// When a game or pak starts, keep the last frame as it is: the exit fade-out
+		// captures the frame the user saw. A redraw here would show the screen the
+		// launcher returns to instead (e.g. the game list behind the quick menu).
+		if(dirty && !startgame) {
 			SDL_Surface *tmpOldScreen = NULL;
 			SDL_Surface * switcherSur = NULL;
 			// NOTE:22 This causes slowdown when CFG_getMenuTransitions is set to false because animationdirection turns > 0 somewhere but is never set back to 0 and so this code runs on every action, will fix later
@@ -2820,14 +2826,6 @@ int main (int argc, char *argv[]) {
 				}
 				lastScreen = SCREEN_QUICKMENU;
 			}
-			else if(startgame) {
-				//pilltargetY = +screen->w;
-				//animationdirection = ANIM_NONE;
-				GFX_clearLayers(LAYER_ALL);
-				GFX_clear(screen);
-				GFX_flipHidden();
-				GFX_animateSurfaceOpacity(tmpOldScreen,0,0,screen->w,screen->h,255,0,CFG_getMenuTransitions() ? 150:20,LAYER_BACKGROUND);
-			}
 			else if(currentScreen == SCREEN_GAMESWITCHER) {
 				GFX_clearLayers(LAYER_ALL);
 				ox = 0;
@@ -3157,9 +3155,6 @@ int main (int argc, char *argv[]) {
 							animationdirection = ANIM_NONE;
 						}
 					}
-					if(lastScreen==SCREEN_OFF) {
-						GFX_animateSurfaceOpacity(blackBG,0,0,screen->w,screen->h,255,0,CFG_getMenuTransitions() ? 200:20,LAYER_THUMBNAIL);
-					}
 
 					previous_row = selected_row;
 					previous_depth = stack->count;
@@ -3271,11 +3266,17 @@ int main (int argc, char *argv[]) {
 				}
 				SDL_UnlockMutex(animMutex);
 			}
-			if(!startgame) // dont flip if game gonna start
+			if (fadeInFromBlack) {
+				// The fade uses the scroll-text layer (the top one in use) for the picture
+				// and its cover, and clears it after. The next pass draws it again.
+				GFX_animateBlack(LAYER_SCROLLTEXT, 255, 0, CFG_getAppStartExitAnimationDuration());
+				fadeInFromBlack = 0;
+				dirty = 1;
+			} else {
 				GFX_flip(screen);
-
-			dirty = 0;
-		} else if(getAnimationDraw() || folderbgchanged || thumbchanged || is_scrolling) {
+				dirty = 0;
+			}
+		} else if(!startgame && (getAnimationDraw() || folderbgchanged || thumbchanged || is_scrolling)) {
 			// honestly this whole thing is here only for the scrolling text, I set it now to run this at 30fps which is enough for scrolling text, should move this to seperate animation function eventually
 			Uint32 now = SDL_GetTicks();
 			Uint32 frame_start = now;
@@ -3424,6 +3425,7 @@ int main (int argc, char *argv[]) {
 	// Cleanup worker threads and their synchronization primitives
 	cleanupImageLoaderPool();
 
+	GFX_animateBlack(LAYER_SCROLLTEXT, 0, 255, CFG_getAppStartExitAnimationDuration());
 	GFX_quit(); // Cleanup video subsystem first to stop GPU threads
 
 	// Now safe to free surfaces after GPU threads are stopped
diff --git a/workspace/all/settings/settings.cpp b/workspace/all/settings/settings.cpp
index f9f740470..60b3b3d8d 100644
--- a/workspace/all/settings/settings.cpp
+++ b/workspace/all/settings/settings.cpp
@@ -411,6 +411,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
         ctx.dirty = 1;
         ctx.show_setting = 0;
         ctx.screen = GFX_init(MODE_MAIN);
+        bool firstFrame = true;
         PAD_init();
         PWR_init();
         TIME_init();
@@ -1258,6 +1259,11 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
                 ctx.menu->draw(ctx.screen, listRect, titleRect);
 
                 // present
+                if (firstFrame)
+                {
+                    GFX_animateBlack(LAYER_SCROLLTEXT, 255, 0, CFG_getAppStartExitAnimationDuration());
+                    firstFrame = false;
+                }
                 GFX_flip(ctx.screen);
                 ctx.dirty = false;
             }
@@ -1281,6 +1287,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
         PWR_quit();
         PAD_quit();
         BT_quit();
+        GFX_animateBlack(LAYER_SCROLLTEXT, 0, 255, CFG_getAppStartExitAnimationDuration());
         GFX_quit();
 
         return EXIT_SUCCESS;