When we shipped 6.0, we also introduced a new issue reporter, which turned out to be one of the most important changes in the release. Apart from Web Insights, of course. 😉
Within days, we started receiving detailed crash data across different platforms, hardware setups, and edge cases that are nearly impossible to reproduce in-house. That visibility made a big difference.
6.0.1 is the direct result of that.
This release focuses almost entirely on stability: fewer crashes, smoother shutdowns, safer background processing, and better handling of platform quirks.
What we fixed
A lot of the issues were timing-related edge cases. Things like:
- Clicking notification banners multiple times while they were animating
- Rapidly clicking the tray icon
- Hovering over charts while data refreshed
- Switching profiles from the tray before opening Settings
None of these should ever crash a productivity tracker. They don't anymore.
We also hardened shutdown behavior. Components like the network monitor, browser extension server, heatmap generation, and database access now clean up more safely, especially during system sleep or exit.
You won't see a UI change here. You'll just notice that WhatPulse feels more reliable.
Platform-specific improvements (the geeky details)
macOS
GeoIP database updates are now written to a temporary file and swapped in safely. We also fixed a timestamp issue that could eventually cause timezone-related crashes.
Windows
Some third-party shell extensions (like OneDrive or Dropbox) could crash while WhatPulse was retrieving application icons, and take WhatPulse down with them. We now isolate and ignore those problematic extensions.
We also fixed a rare double-launch after updates and improved MSI uninstall cleanup.
Linux
We fixed crashes related to network changes and exit handling, properly stopped the packet capture thread, upgraded Qt to resolve monitor hotplug crashes, and hid a non-functional UI element about pending application uploads.
Faster catch-up sync
If your computer was offline for a while, syncing the dashboard stats could take longer than necessary. We now skip empty time periods instead of processing them one by one. The result: much faster catch-up.
Conclusion
WhatPulse runs in the background. It tracks effort, input, applications, and network usage across your devices. It's not supposed to get in your way, or stop working periodically. That's frustrating.
6.0.1 makes the foundation stronger.
How to update
You can upgrade to WhatPulse 6.0 by using the "Check for Updates" option inside the app, or grab WhatPulse from the Downloads page.
If you have the setting Send bug and usage reports enabled: thank you. The new reporter helped us turn real-world data into real improvements.
More to come!
— Martijn & the WhatPulse team