I’m excited to announce that TypeTest.io, the clean and simple typing test website developed by Lucas Hockley, is joining the WhatPulse family.

Originally from Cambridgeshire, UK, Lucas began developing TypeTest.io four years ago and has since delivered over 6 million type tests through a focus on a sleek design, complemented by a modern, minimal typing experience.

The TypeTest.io website lets users track their progress across different typing test modes and compete on the global leaderboards. While simplicity is key, you can customize your type tests by choosing a simple or advanced word list, the duration, using punctuation or numbers, and the end result is a magnificent chart of your typing session.

We’ve acquired TypeTest.io to further enhance the functionality of the typing test website and integrate it with our existing WhatPulse community, like the ability to share the tests via your WhatPulse profile, adding achievement badges to collect alongside your other WhatPulse accolades, and the integration of WPM roles into our popular and growing WhatPulse Discord server. We have some exciting plans for TypeTest.io as well, like supporting multiple languages, building out more leaderboards, and more.

Existing WhatPulse users can look forward to TypeTest.io’s typing test soon being integrated into the WhatPulse website as an additional fun activity. Who are the fastest typists among our community? It’s time to find out!

The latest update of WhatPulse, version 5.6, brings a host of exciting new features and improvements to enhance your user experience. Let's dive right in and explore the highlights below.

Holiday / Black Friday Premium discount!​

But first, a quick note that we're running a holiday promotion for WhatPulse Premium for the next two weeks! Get 50% off on any plan using the discount code BLACKFRIDAY23 during checkout. Click here to get started!

What's new in v5.6?​

• 🔕 Brand-new setting to squash tray notifications when WhatPulse auto pulses. Disable Notification on auto pulse to stop receiving pulse notifications, but continue to get notifications on other things.
• 🍏 macOS Sonoma (14.0) support, and improves hardware details detection. Hardware details show up on your computer profile pages.
• ✨ Twinkling new settings design, making it easier to discover which settings are available and how to tweak WhatPulse to your taste 👇

Introducing a Web Socket API​

Major API changes! If you don’t know what an API is, skip this section. 🙂

WhatPulse has had a REST API for a looong time. Using the WhatPulse Client API, gives you access to the local stats of the client, and present those stats somewhere. You’re created physical Geek Windows with Raspberry Pis, logged daily stats into Excel sheets, and more.

This release brings a web socket version of the Client API, running on port 3489 by default. You’ll get stats update messages every 2 seconds, and you can ask the client to pulse or open the window. More info on the API can be found in the developer documentation.

This also brings me to the next addition:

Introducing the WhatPulse Stream Deck plugin!​

The Elgato Stream Deck has some wonderful uses. I've got it set up to quickly send shortcuts, open apps, control my meetings, and show details about my system (like CPU usage). With the new WhatPulse plugin for Stream Deck, you can display your statistics right on your device.

There are 25 buttons available that will show your statistics, from your account totals, your ranks, your unpulsed stats, and real-time keys & clicks per second and network traffic.

You can also open the WhatPulse window using the Open Window button, and use the Pulse button to send a pulse - straight from your Stream Deck!

Find the plugin on the Stream Deck Marketplace, and find step by step instructions on how to install it in our Help Center.

Other Improvements in v5.6​

• macOS: Improved performance of the hardware detection by integrating directly into macOS, instead of using the system_profiler and ioreg commands. In English: WhatPulse uses less CPU when detecting your devices.
• General Client API performance improvements. Less CPU used when hammering the API. I’d still recommend trying the new web socket API, if you’re collecting stats often.
• Tackled a few memory leaks discovered through testing tools. Less memory = good.
• The portable mode setting has found a new home in the Advanced Actions button. Not many of you use it, so this saves space in the general settings.

How to update​

Version 5.6 is now available when you use the Check for Updates function, and you can download it from: https://whatpulse.org/downloads

Not long ago, Discord was seen as the place for gamers to chat. However, since the pandemic, Discord has experienced strong growth in servers covering a wide range of topics. This growth has led to the launch of many new and exciting servers, fostering quality discussions in various categories. This article focuses on a growing trend: Productivity.

We have compiled a list of some of the best Discord servers to join, aiming to provide you with the productivity boost you need to get through the workweek, help with project management and prioritization, and avoid dangerous procrastination.

Tools for Thought:​

First up is Tools for Thought, a Discord server that focuses on the best tools available to professionals and how to make the most out of them to enhance productivity. While it previously focused mainly on Notion, the server has expanded to include discussions on a wide range of different tools. This server is a fantastic resource for discovering new tools that can transform you into a productivity ninja.

Link to Discord: https://discord.com/invite/hGNfbtRPS5

Productivity Cafe:​

Productivity Cafe is a growing Discord server with an active user base and a strong emphasis on community, self-improvement, accountability, and productivity. You can find an accountability partner, publicly track your daily and weekly to-dos, and participate in movie nights to connect with the community once your workday is complete. They describe themselves as a group of caffeine-fueled productivity wizards on a mission to conquer the dragons of distraction. Unleash your potential and check out this server.

Link to Discord: https://discord.gg/DXdK4WUPWe

/r/Productivity:​

As the server name suggests, this Discord originated from the popular and active Reddit community dedicated to all things productivity. While Reddit is excellent for longer discussions, their Discord server is a hive of live activity when it comes to discussing productivity. It offers channels dedicated to recommending and discussing the best apps, books, systems, websites, and project management tools, as well as channels focused on self-improvement and motivation. If productivity is your thing, joining this server is definitely worthwhile.

Link to Discord: https://discord.com/invite/productivity

Notion:​

Notion has become the all-in-one solution for many businesses and professionals, serving as an internal documentation platform, wiki, and even handling more advanced functions such as content calendar management, finances, and budgeting. Not surprisingly, Notion has its very own Discord server that focuses on making the most out of Notion, helping you become more productive. The server provides tips on commands, resources, and templates that can assist you in maximizing the potential of this amazing tool.

Link to Discord: https://discord.com/invite/notion

WhatPulse:​

Last but not least, we can't miss mentioning our very own Discord server for WhatPulse, which includes a dedicated channel for all things productivity. In this server, you can chat and learn about the tools used by our most productive WhatPulse users to help them make the most of their working week and improve their stats.

Link to Discord: https://discord.com/invite/FtddS6Fwve

In an exclusive interview with Website Planet, Martijn Smit, the founder of WhatPulse, shares insights into how this app enhances productivity and work health. WhatPulse offers powerful features for tracking keyboard and mouse activity, application usage, and network monitoring, leading to increased efficiency and productivity. With a user-friendly interface and a supportive user community, WhatPulse sets itself apart from the competition.

Find out more about how WhatPulse benefits remote teams, improves workers' health, and provides a sneak peek at the upcoming launch of WhatPulse Professional, tailored for organizations.

Dive deeper into the world of WhatPulse by reading the full interview on Website Planet: https://www.websiteplanet.com/blog/whatpulse-interview/

In continuous efforts to enhance user experience, I'm excited to announce the latest version of WhatPulse, v5.5! We've listened to your feedback and made significant improvements and fixes.

Let's dive into the details:

🎉 New features:​

In-application messages banner​

When there's a software update available, WhatPulse already shows you a nice message banner at the top of the window. We've added more important messages to show you, starting with a message when your computer is archived and unable to pulse. Introduced a few weeks ago, you can archive unused computers to clean up your dashboard. Starting with WhatPulse v5.5, you'll see a message inside WhatPulse if you happen to archive a computer that's still active.

We'll add more messages in the future, for example, when you achieve a badge or cross a milestone.

Key combination export​

The Export Wizard is a great way to get your WhatPulse statistics in a CSV format, which you can then process. We've added key combinations to the export options. Export the History of Key Combinations to get all the combinations during your day and see which ones you use the most. Or export them per application to see which combinations you use the most in specific applications.

Manual database backup​

It's now easier to create an online backup of your valuable local statistics with a new button called Start Backup on the Account tab.

📈 Improvements​

Bigger mouse heat map export​

Your mouse heat export image now scales perfectly to match your desktop resolution. No more tiny points on larger screens, providing better accuracy and visibility of where you click.

Auto updating​

We've reintroduced the auto-updating feature, making it easier to stay up to date with the latest WhatPulse versions. Enable the option called Automatically install new versions in the General Settings, and WhatPulse will check for new versions when it starts and install them automatically. Never miss out on the latest enhancements.

Translation testing​

To make it easier to translate WhatPulse into another language, the client now supports loading a custom translation file via a command-line parameter. This is very useful when you're creating a new translation and you want to see how it looks. Find more information about client translations and how to use this new feature on our GitHub page.

🐛 Bug fixes​

Network, network, network​

The high level of different measurements inside the network stack has made the WhatPulse network statistical journey quite a ride. WhatPulse v5.5 includes a ton of network measurement improvements, including a few bugs that could crash WhatPulse in certain conditions. Here's a summary:

• Fixed a bug causing high CPU usage when a network interface disappears.
• Resolved a bug where the client could crash when resuming from sleep, when networking was enabled, and there was a change in the computers network.
• Resolved an issue where the network interface IP address was not displaying on macOS.
• Optimized network interface counters for macOS, resulting in better performance and reliability.

How to update​

Version 5.5 is now available when you use the Check for Updates function, and you can download it from: https://whatpulse.org/downloads

Conclusion​

While this is not all (find all changes in the release notes), I hope this summary of WhatPulse v5.5 shows that we're continuously improving WhatPulse and hope to provide you with the best user experience and computer statistics possible.

Stay tuned for more exciting updates to come!