Show HN: TimeSnapper for Mac Beta
TimeSnapper has been a windows-only product for a decade, we’re now at beta stage in our Mac version which you can use by joining here: http://www.secretgeek.net/ts_mac_beta
I don't know the exact use case for this app, so take my feature request with a grain of salt. I implemented something similar for myself which I used for 2-3 years. At first I took a screenshot plainly, but I found that the context was really hard to figure out. I ended up adding a webcam picture to each screenshot, this helped me place where/why I might have been on that specific website. My use case was mostly novelty though. But I still like looking back at the pictures every now and then. You can see my examples (+ script) here: http://www.jontelang.com/blog/2015/08/15/automating-screensh...
I love your blogpost/screenshots.
Some of the options can be seen in one of the screenshots:
Avoiding screenshoting when screen is locked is more complicated, though. You have to access Quartz.CGSessionCopyCurrentDictionary somehow, i.e. from python.
P.S. does Automator or Applescript allows to achieve the same functionality?
It’s a bit like saying “instead of buying food from a shop you could just grow your own food.” It’s technically true, but then you’re responsible for all the care and feeding of the tree instead of other activities that are higher economic value to you.
When we first thought of the idea, over a decade ago, people immediately raised that concern. But few of them wrote the script. Or if they did, they abandoned it after a while and it languished because they didn’t invest the time to do it nicely.
Playback of the images is the first big advantage to having someone else write the code. But also it means that someone has put effort into dealing with cases such as multiple monitors, and multiple monitors with varying DPI and so on. Avoiding screenshots when idle, avoiding duplicates etc.
But I do love scripting up personal solutions to things, and spend far too much time doing exactly that. So I like the attitude.
Industrial revolution was a thing because it made easier the manufacturing of clothing. People could do it by hand before, the end product wasn’t something a human hand couldn’t. It just made it slightly simpler, and here we are 200 years later, counting atoms on microprocessor semiconductor walls.
You’d probably want to integrate it with BitBar for status / pause when browsing naughty.
Also, how would you browse them effectively?
Well done, Leon. Glad to see TimeSnapper is still going!
We’re popular with freelancers and accountants and developers and people interested in personal productivity.
Every now and then there are people who ask for features that involve hiding timesnapper or centralising its output... we direct them to read the EULA and ask them to uninstall the product as they’re not someone we’re interested in dealing with.
If I wouldn’t want it done to me I don’t help people do it to others: end of story.
I like the idea of the tool a lot, I absolutely get the benefits of it and once it's in public release I'll very likely use it on my home machine for those 'retention' reasons you talk about. I love the idea of being able to replay a usage session.
+ password or SSO protection for access to the app's data (use Kerberos/AD SSO for credentials?)
+ an end-user controlled encrypted store for the data & screenshots (FUSE/WinFSP?)
+ a daily local push/popup notification displayed to the logged-in user with... a) app status b) data summary c) a quick action to toggle the background recording service on/off
Just my $.02. Cheers!
In the Windows version you can password protect the images. Because they're stored locally there hasn't been a massive uptake in this feature, but some people do use it.
The icon is not easily hidden from the task tray (and we don't provide any option to encourage that). We found a daily notification too intrusive (as users ourselves).