docs: new blog post "Introduce aw-tauri" by 0xbrayo · Pull Request #34 · ActivityWatch/activitywatch.github.io

0xbrayo · 2024-05-03T18:47:01Z

Hi, I worked up this as the first draft. Let me know what you think

… to ActivityWatch

ErikBjare

Great work!

Here are my comments so far.

Also: I feel tempted to turn this into a general "Developer Update 2024" post, which would then also mention:

sync progress
server-side settings
aw-notify (although it is briefly mentioned here)
Upcoming v0.13.0 (when? idk)

But this might all be too much, perhaps I should just write that as a separate post.

ErikBjare · 2024-05-03T19:47:39Z

+
+## Why Tauri
+
+Tauri apps are lightweight, memory efficient and secure by design. Tauri does not ship a renderer but uses the platform native renderer via webviews. This simple design choice makes the app size compact and memory efficient during runtime, as compared to electron apps. Tauri apps are secure, only interacting with the host systems through tauri apis. This protects the host computer from arbitary code execution (at least in theory).


Tauri apps are secure, only interacting with the host systems through tauri apis. This protects the host computer from arbitary code execution (at least in theory).

While this is true if you build an app the "tauri way", we are running a HTTP server, so we still need to take precautions to not expose sensitive information to other network devices and websites.

ErikBjare · 2024-05-03T19:56:48Z

+
+Aw-tauri is built with the [rust server](https://github.com/ActivityWatch/aw-server-rust) serving the backend and a UI written in Vue. It takes almost no time to get upto speed with the project!
+
+Cross platform development before tauri was a hassle. Binaries had to be built and tested for each target platform separately. Tauri greatly simplifies this.


I'd like to expand on this, going into our long history of struggling with PyInstaller etc.
(I can write it, just leaving the comment here)

Yeah, you could write that bit... I'll add you as a co-author in the credits. I also considered showing the makefiles for before and after. Just how much easier it is to set up with Tauri. Might make the post too long Idk.

Yeah, I don't see a ton of value in going into the details and quoting code, but we could drop some links to source files.

Co-authored-by: Erik Bjäreholt <erik.bjareholt@gmail.com>

0xbrayo · 2024-05-03T20:52:36Z

Great work!

Here are my comments so far.

Also: I feel tempted to turn this into a general "Developer Update 2024" post, which would then also mention:
* sync progress

* server-side settings

* aw-notify (although it is briefly mentioned here)

* Upcoming v0.13.0 (when? idk)
But this might all be too much, perhaps I should just write that as a separate post.

I will write a second draft mentioning aw-notify, and sync. I am not aware of server-side settings, is this syncing preferences between browsers? We'll decide on whether to redo the post "Developer Update 2024"

ErikBjare · 2024-05-03T21:05:38Z

I am not aware of server-side settings, is this syncing preferences between browsers?

Yes!

We'll decide on whether to redo the post "Developer Update 2024"

I feel pretty strongly that aw-tauri should get its own post.

0xbrayo · 2024-05-03T21:13:45Z

I will get started on the second draft. I'll just focus on aw-tauri for now. Then you can do the developer update post later

Co-authored-by: Erik Bjäreholt <erik.bjareholt@gmail.com>

Co-authored-by: Erik <erik@bjareho.lt>

ErikBjare · 2024-05-15T07:30:23Z

+## User Experience
+
+`aw-tauri` aims to consolidate much of the functionality that is currently implemented in [`aw-qt`](https://github.com/ActivityWatch/aw-qt), [`aw-server-rust`](https://github.com/ActivityWatch/aw-server-rust), and [`aw-notify`](https://github.com/ActivityWatch/aw-notify).
+
+- It houses its own webview, no need to visit `http://localhost:5600` in your browser anymore.
+- Watchers can be started and stopped right from the trayicon, just like in `aw-qt`.
+- Updates can be pushed seemlessly across platforms provided by tauri's update system!
+- [aw-sync](https://github.com/ActivityWatch/aw-server-rust/tree/master/aw-sync), which is still in active development, will be integrated into the app. Syncing data across devices will be just as seamless.
+
+These are only the first steps to getting aw-tauri usable, but most of all it serves as a stable foundation enabling many improvements down the line.


We should probably move this section above the "Developer Experience" section.

ErikBjare · 2024-05-15T07:41:01Z

+- Updates can be pushed seemlessly across platforms provided by tauri's update system!
+- [aw-sync](https://github.com/ActivityWatch/aw-server-rust/tree/master/aw-sync), which is still in active development, will be integrated into the app. Syncing data across devices will be just as seamless.
+
+These are only the first steps to getting aw-tauri usable, but most of all it serves as a stable foundation enabling many improvements down the line.


I want to change this line to something else.

ErikBjare · 2024-05-15T07:42:35Z

Avoid renaming the file before we publish, it makes it hard to read the diff.

Co-authored-by: Erik Bjäreholt <erik.bjareholt@gmail.com>

ErikBjare · 2024-07-08T11:38:24Z

+## Conclusion
+
+`aw-tauri` is still in active development, contributions are welcome and encouraged!
+
+Check out the [README](https://github.com/ActivityWatch/aw-tauri/blob/master/README.md) to see the status of development, and where you can help out.
+
+We are hopeful that it will help solve many of our remaining challenges, and are excited to see it help shape the future of ActivityWatch.


I'd like to add links here to an early release that people can test themselves (possibly with many caveats).

Co-authored-by: Erik Bjäreholt <erik.bjareholt@gmail.com>

0xbrayo · 2024-07-09T12:27:03Z

The last commit is unrelated to this PR I just noticed while visiting the website.

* feat: Introduce aw-tauri as a lightweight, cross-platform alternative to ActivityWatch * Update _posts/2024-05-5-introducing-tauri.md Co-authored-by: Erik Bjäreholt <erik.bjareholt@gmail.com> * Update _posts/2024-05-5-introducing-tauri.md Co-authored-by: Erik Bjäreholt <erik.bjareholt@gmail.com> * Update _posts/2024-05-5-introducing-tauri.md Co-authored-by: Erik Bjäreholt <erik.bjareholt@gmail.com> * Update _posts/2024-05-5-introducing-tauri.md Co-authored-by: Erik Bjäreholt <erik.bjareholt@gmail.com> * Minor formattting * feat: briefly mention Aw-sync * feat: fix broken link * Update _posts/2024-05-5-introducing-tauri.md Co-authored-by: Erik Bjäreholt <erik.bjareholt@gmail.com> * Update _posts/2024-05-5-introducing-tauri.md Co-authored-by: Erik Bjäreholt <erik.bjareholt@gmail.com> * Update _posts/2024-05-5-introducing-tauri.md Co-authored-by: Erik Bjäreholt <erik.bjareholt@gmail.com> * Update _posts/2024-05-5-introducing-tauri.md Co-authored-by: Erik Bjäreholt <erik.bjareholt@gmail.com> * Update dates * Final touches Co-authored-by: Erik <erik@bjareho.lt> * Update _posts/2024-05-13-introducing-tauri.md Co-authored-by: Erik Bjäreholt <erik.bjareholt@gmail.com> * Update _posts/2024-05-13-introducing-tauri.md Co-authored-by: Erik Bjäreholt <erik.bjareholt@gmail.com> * Update _posts/2024-05-13-introducing-tauri.md Co-authored-by: Erik Bjäreholt <erik.bjareholt@gmail.com> * Update _posts/2024-05-13-introducing-tauri.md Co-authored-by: Erik Bjäreholt <erik.bjareholt@gmail.com> * move user experience up. add autostart as a feature * Update _posts/2024-05-13-introducing-tauri.md Co-authored-by: Erik Bjäreholt <erik.bjareholt@gmail.com> * Update _posts/2024-05-13-introducing-tauri.md Co-authored-by: Erik Bjäreholt <erik.bjareholt@gmail.com> * Update _posts/2024-05-13-introducing-tauri.md Co-authored-by: Erik Bjäreholt <erik.bjareholt@gmail.com> * posts: update aw-tauri post for v0.14 (betas, platforms, notify, sync, screenshot, stats) * docs: swap aw-tauri post screenshot to Activity view; fix download guidance - Replace the first-launch Welcome capture with a windowed Activity view (7-day aggregate, demo data) per Erik's review on #74: the old shot read as a bare webui page, and the Welcome view is uninformative. - Point readers at GitHub release assets for the Tauri builds instead of the downloads page, which selects the classic aw-qt asset by default (Greptile P1). - Drop the pre-release 'upcoming' framing so the opening reads correctly when the post is published after v0.14.0 stable (Greptile P2). * posts(tauri): ready for the v0.14.0 stable launch Set the publish date (was held at 2099), say v0.14.0 instead of 'the betas', link the v0.14.0 release, and describe the updater as shipped for macOS and Linux (Windows manual for now). * fix(blog): correct Linux Tauri bundle contents Git-Session-Id: c8c571a3-da6c-5c6b-b4a9-23dbbe38d13c --------- Co-authored-by: brayo <vukubrian@gmail.com> Co-authored-by: Brayo <62670517+brayo-pip@users.noreply.github.com> Co-authored-by: Erik Bjäreholt <erik.bjareholt@gmail.com> Co-authored-by: Erik <erik@bjareho.lt>

ErikBjare · 2026-10-06T14:48:22Z

Merged as part of #74

feat: Introduce aw-tauri as a lightweight, cross-platform alternative…

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ErikBjare changed the title ~~feat: Introduce aw-tauri~~ docs: new blog post "Introduce aw-tauri" Jul 8, 2024

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0xbrayo force-pushed the master branch from bc6c297 to 14f469b Compare July 29, 2024 16:53

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docs: blog post: aw-tauri and ActivityWatch v0.14 (supersedes #34) #74

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		## Why Tauri

		Tauri apps are lightweight, memory efficient and secure by design. Tauri does not ship a renderer but uses the platform native renderer via webviews. This simple design choice makes the app size compact and memory efficient during runtime, as compared to electron apps. Tauri apps are secure, only interacting with the host systems through tauri apis. This protects the host computer from arbitary code execution (at least in theory).


		Aw-tauri is built with the [rust server](https://github.com/ActivityWatch/aw-server-rust) serving the backend and a UI written in Vue. It takes almost no time to get upto speed with the project!

		Cross platform development before tauri was a hassle. Binaries had to be built and tested for each target platform separately. Tauri greatly simplifies this.

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