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Is WhatPulse a keylogger?

How we actually count your keys

One of the most common questions we hear is whether WhatPulse is a keylogger. The short answer: no, it isn't. But because it's a fair question, let's go into how WhatPulse actually counts keystrokes, both in simple terms and with some technical detail.

The plain-language version​

WhatPulse is only interested in how often you use your keyboard, not what you type. Think of it like a pedometer for your keyboard: it tracks activity, not conversations.

When you press a key, WhatPulse adds one to a counter for that specific key. That's how features like the keyboard heatmap or "most pressed keys" work. Over time, those counters add up to totals, like:

  • how many keys you've pressed today,
  • which application you typed the most in, or
  • which key is your most-used overall.

But the actual order of your typing, the words, passwords, or sentences, is never stored or reconstructable.

The technical side​

Here's a more detailed breakdown for those who want the specifics:

  • Event listening, not logging: WhatPulse uses the operating system's input APIs to listen for input events. Each event is essentially a message that says, "key X was pressed." Importantly, WhatPulse does not hook into text buffers or capture typed content.
  • Counting, not storing: When a key event comes in, WhatPulse updates a counter. For example: keys['A'] + 1. These counts are stored locally and can be grouped by application or time period.
  • Randomized storage: While in memory those increments technically happen in sequence, WhatPulse uses a randomizer when writing key counts into its local database. This breaks any potential order, ensuring no other program could reconstruct what you typed by looking at the database.
  • No order or sequence: Unlike a keylogger, WhatPulse never stores the order of keystrokes. It doesn't build words, sentences, or logs. Instead, it aggregates counts (per key, per app, per hour). The raw content of what you typed is never available, even to you.
  • Privacy-first design: The maximum granularity is one hour. At most, WhatPulse can tell you that between 2pm and 3pm, you pressed 1,200 keys, with the spacebar being the most frequent. That's it. There's no way to rewind and see what was actually typed.

Why this matters​

By counting without logging, WhatPulse gives you useful productivity stats without ever crossing into invasive territory. It's closer to fitness tracking than surveillance: measuring effort, not content.

So next time you hear "isn't this a keylogger?" the answer is simple: No; it's a key counter.