What's new with WhatPulse?

WhatPulse 6.0 beta 2 builds on the first beta with website exclusions, a kiosk mode for enterprise deployments, UI improvements to the activity chart, and a number of stability fixes.

Website exclusions

You can now exclude specific websites from being tracked by Web Insights, just like you could already exclude applications.

• Exclude websites directly from the tables by right-clicking, just like applications
• Add domain exclusion patterns from the settings, with support for wildcards (e.g., .facebook.com, dev.)
• New setting to toggle uploading website data to the online dashboard

Activity chart improvements

• Navigate the application activity chart forward and backward by day using new navigation buttons
• Hovering over legend items now highlights the corresponding application in the chart

Window and usability improvements

• The main window now remembers its size and position and restores it on launch
• Window resizing support on Linux
• Better styled confirmation dialogs and input dialogs across the app

Kiosk mode (Professional)

A new kiosk mode for enterprise deployments that stores data per-computer instead of per-user.

• Data directory moves to a shared per-computer location, useful for shared workstations
• Managed settings mode (settings_managed_by_admin) for Professional builds

Bug fixes

• Fixed a crash on minimal and older Windows versions related to GetModuleFileNameExW
• Fixed a crash when the browser is closed before the extension pairing request is handled
• Fixed icon stretching in various places

Browser extension v0.4.0

The Chrome and Firefox extensions were updated to v0.4.0 to address an issue counting input events in Google Docs (and possibly other like-type websites).

WhatPulse 6.0 is a big step forward, with Web Insights bringing website activity into your stats for the first time. Alongside that, this release includes a resizable main window, syncing improvements, UI polish, and a long list of stability and performance fixes.

Web Insights (website tracking)

Web Insights adds website-level activity tracking through our new browser extensions.

• Track time spent and activity on websites via browser extensions
• You can use profiles to categorize your browsing stats
• Browse websites activity directly inside the WhatPulse app across the existing application views
• Web Insights can be enabled or disabled via a new setting
• Privacy-first design:
  • This only tracks website domains, not specific pages or content (so no URLs are recorded)
  • The extensions do not run during incognito/private mode browsing, and you can disable tracking at any time
  • All data is stored locally first, and sent aggregated to our servers
  • Websites will never be publicly linked to your account, they'll only appear in your private stats.
• Websites will be included in your private dashboard and other insights on our website in future.

This is the foundation for browsing insights, and we’ll continue expanding on this in future releases.

Application & data syncing improvements

• Applications now sync with category and tag metadata (This data isn’t used in the client yet, but will power future insights.)
• New application sync status window with detailed logging
• Ability to mark applications for re-upload if syncing fails
• Time series handling has been separated from pulsing, making sure the dashboard data is not interrupted

Performance improvements

• Keyboard and mouse heatmaps now render in the background, avoiding UI freezes on large datasets
• Improved handling of monitor and display changes, instantly updating the mouse heatmap
• Better display caching on macOS to reduce redundant system calls

Window and usability improvements

• The main WhatPulse window is now fully resizable
• Polished some UI elements, to give them a better look and feel
• New command-line option to always open the window on launch (--open-window)

Bug fixes

• Client API services now shut down cleanly on exit, preventing lingering ports
• Fixed multiple corner-case crashes reported via our bug reporting system
• Resolved a Linux crash related to network reachability
• Fixed settings being saved unnecessarily when you open the settings page
• Skip showing untranslated facts

You can now unlock a new badge by completing your profile. Head to Account → Profile to fill in your details and grab it.

Reminder

Today (Dec 3rd) is the last day to get 35% off the yearly Premium subscription. If you were planning to upgrade, now’s the moment.

Well, that was fast. Here's a tiny update to fix a few glaring bugs.

Bug Fixes 🐛

• The status bar will now hide application sync when Upload application info is turned off, as it should.
• Per-application uptime in the Uptime → Applications table is showing the correct values again. The collected data is good, the presentation just wasn't.
• Fixed an issue where stuck modifier keys could cause false key-combination counts. Yes, they really do get stuck sometimes.

A small follow-up to 5.11 that adds a new status bar, makes application syncing easier to understand, and packs in a lot of stability fixes.

macOS Note: You might need to reset the Accessibility permissions for WhatPulse after updating. Should take only a minute, and there's a step by step guide in our help center.

New ✨

• A status bar with..the status of WhatPulse.
  • Shows the collector status with a colored dot.
  • Shows a rich tooltip with last pulse stats.
  • Shows pending applications that need syncing. You can click it to open the Applications Sync Status window.
  • You can turn the status bar on or off in Settings → Appearance.

Improvements 🛠️

• Application syncing is now a lot less noisy and a bit faster, especially on macOS
• Smarter upgrade handling & clearer version messages
  • When your database version is too new for the app, the error message now points to the minimum required version, instead of the generic “install the latest version”.
  • After an upgrade, the app notifies the website, which helps keep things in sync.
• Geek Window behaviour on multi-monitor setups
  • The Geek Window’s position handling has been tightened up to use pixel-perfect geometry persistence. Avoids the slow “drifting” effect when you open/close it multiple times.
• Updated the macOS app icon resources to 1024×1024, so icons look sharper on newer macOS versions and high-DPI displays.
• Large upload/download pulses and other big values now display with the correct numbers instead of being cut off. This had an effect on very large upload/download numbers that were not represented correctly in the web dashboard.

Fixes 🐞

• Lots of crash and shutdown safety fixes
• This update includes a broad batch of defensive fixes based on real-world crash reports, mostly happening during shutdown or edge cases when opening/closing windows quickly.

In short: if you ever ran into a crash while closing WhatPulse, reopening the Geek Window, 5.11.1 should feel noticeably more solid.

The WhatPulse Dashboard has been completely redesigned!

You'll now find three new pages: Overview, Productivity, and Leaderboards, that give you a faster, cleaner view of your activity and insights.

The old customizable widgets are gone (sorry to the few who loved them!), but these new dashboards are built for speed and clarity — and they’re already available in your account.

Give them a try →

Version 5.11 introduces one of the biggest updates in a while. You'll now see how much of your uptime is actually focused time, and for the first time ever, Linux users get full network stats support through a brand-new companion service.

💡 New: Focused Uptime

Your computer's uptime now tells a more accurate story. Focused Uptime shows how long you've actively used your computer — not just when it was powered on. It's perfect for seeing how much true "hands-on" time you spend each day.

The dashboard on our website will be updated (very) soon to make the most out of the focused time stats.

🐧 New: External PCap Service for Linux

Linux users can finally track their network traffic and bandwidth usage, just like on Windows and macOS! To make this possible, WhatPulse now works together with a small background companion called the External PCap Service.

This lightweight service securely captures network traffic and passes it to WhatPulse, allowing detailed network tracking. It's open-source, and the releases and documentation is available on GitHub.

👉 Download the External PCap Service on GitHub

⚙️ Quality of life & performance upgrades

A batch of refinements for everyone, across all platforms:

• Big performance boost when opening the main window, as content is now only loaded when necessary
• Application lists load faster — icons are now cached
• Consistent font and theme alignment with the website
• Installer now styled to match the app
• Simplified setup wizard layout
• Grace period added for Premium subscription renewals
• Dozens of small visual, tooltip, and spacing fixes
• General backend improvements for stability, performance, and security

🛠 Other Linux improvements

On top of network tracking, Linux users will notice smoother performance and better reliability all around:

• The AppImage can now update itself 🎉
• Fixed detection of left/right modifier keys (Alt, Ctrl, Shift)
• Fixed numpad Enter tracking and visual alignment
• Data files now live in ~/.local/share/WhatPulse, with automatic migration
• Better tooltip placement, spacing, and color on Linux

🛠️ Linux polish, smoother updates & interface. Final beta before 5.11 general release!

✨ New (Linux)

• Added support for the new batched packet protocol (from the external PCap service v1.2.0)
• Fixed detection of left/right modifier keys (Alt, Ctrl, Shift) on Linux
• AppImage can now update itself automatically 🎉

🐛 Bug Fixes (Linux)

• Fixed numpad Enter tracking and visual alignment
• Fixed a crash when closing the app with the window open

🪄 Improvements

• Linux data files are now stored in ~/.local/share/WhatPulse — old files are migrated automatically
• Improved tooltip visuals — fixed color, positioning, and placement on Linux
• Adjusted tooltip positions around the date range selector for better accuracy
• The app now gives you a short grace period after your Premium subscription expires to renew without interruptions
• Simplified setup wizard layout for easier navigation
• Small spacing and layout fixes in the uptime chart
• Under-the-hood performance and security improvements for a faster, safer app

External PCap Service v1.2.0

Alongside this update, version 1.2.0 of the external network capture service is now available! Find it on Github.

What’s new:

• Much more stable: no more random crashes on systems with multiple network interfaces
• A new, more accurate network measurement method for high-speed traffic
• Optimized communication between the service and WhatPulse for lower resource use and smoother operation

This version continues tightening up performance and polish, especially for Linux users, but everyone benefits from the smoother visuals and reliability improvements.

This beta brings a big step forward for Linux users: network stats are now included! 🎉

Because AppImage apps can't run with elevated privileges, we've introduced a small companion app called the Linux External PCAP Service. This service captures network traffic and securely passes it to WhatPulse, so you can finally see your bandwidth usage just like on Windows and macOS.

👉 Setup guides and details are available here

Other improvements in this version:

• Application tables load much faster – app icons are now cached instead of being read from disk every time.
• UI fixes – no more random tab switches when pulsing, and the setup wizard now looks correct when mixing dark/light themes.
• Linux updater improvements – updates now show in the main notification area, and clicking it takes you to the right place depending on whether you're using AppImage or not. This stops the website's download page from opening repeatedly.
• Future-proofing with metadata – application metadata is now stored in the database, paving the way for deeper website integration.
• Behind-the-scenes stability work – introduced a new EventBus system to replace older communication methods, making the app more modular, testable, and stable.

User profiles just got their big redesign! They've got all the same features as before, but now they're faster, easier to use, and finally friendly on mobile. 🚀

Here's what you'll see on your profile:

• Charts for the last few weeks
• Your computers, applications, badges, and pulses lists
• Easier profile text editing
• A polished layout to better showcase your stats

Your profile is your custom space on WhatPulse — now it's quicker to use and better to share. Go give yours a look! 👀