How tracking works
Vetroscope tracks automatically. While it’s running, it checks which app is in front about every 30 seconds and records what it finds — the app, and where it can, the breakdown you’re in (the project file, site, or document). There are no timers to start or stop.
Active and passive time
Section titled “Active and passive time”Active time is the app you’re actually using — the one in front while you’re at the computer. It’s what the big timer on Home counts.
Passive time is what happens in the background: music playing in Spotify, a YouTube video running in a tab you’re not looking at. Vetroscope samples media every 15 seconds so background playback is captured even between regular checks. Passive time is kept separate everywhere — it never inflates your active totals, and you can hide it in the Activity view with Show/Hide passive time.
When tracking stops on its own
Section titled “When tracking stops on its own”- You go idle. After no input for your Idle timeout (5 minutes by default), active tracking pauses until you’re back. Music and background media keep being tracked. See Idle, locks, and meetings.
- You lock the screen. Nothing at all is recorded while locked — not even passive media.
- You pause it. Settings → Activity Tracking → Pause tracking, or the pause button on the Timeline.
What is never recorded
Section titled “What is never recorded”Vetroscope reads app names and window titles — that’s it. It does not record keystrokes, screenshots, clipboard contents, or file contents. Everything it tracks is stored on your machine and visible to you in the app. See the FAQ for the full privacy picture.