{"slug": "show-hn-hindsight-lightweight-elegant-open-source-tracker-for-windows-macos", "title": "Show HN: Hindsight – Lightweight, elegant, open-source tracker for Windows/macOS", "summary": "A developer released Hindsight, a free, open-source activity tracker for Windows and macOS that automatically records active apps and window titles without manual timers. Hindsight offers daily, weekly and monthly charts, a yearly heatmap, customizable categories, and optional screenshot and OCR search that is off by default. The app includes AI features that generate daily summaries or answer questions about activity with links back to underlying records, using either a local model or a cloud API with possible third-party fees, plus optional Google Drive or WebDAV sync across Windows and Mac devices and newly added plugin support.", "body_md": "Hi HN, I’m building Hindsight, a free, open-source activity tracker for Windows and macOS.\n\nI know there are plenty of time trackers. I wanted something that combined automatic tracking, detailed charts, and cross-device sync in a lightweight app with an interface I enjoyed using. I couldn’t find a free option that fit, so I started building my own.\n\nHindsight records active apps and window titles while it’s running, without requiring you to start and stop timers. You can explore your activity through daily, weekly, and monthly charts, drill down into individual apps and window titles, and use a yearly heatmap to spot patterns. Categories are customizable.\n\nThere’s also an optional screenshot and OCR feature for finding something you previously saw on screen. Both are off by default. When enabled, you can search recognized text and jump back to the corresponding screenshot.\n\nThe AI features can generate daily summaries or answer questions about your activity, with links back to the underlying records so you can check the answers. You can use a local model or connect a cloud API; third-party API fees may apply.\n\nOptional sync through Google Drive or WebDAV lets you view activity from Windows and Mac devices separately or together. I’ve also recently added plugin support so other developers can extend the app.\n\nI’d appreciate feedback, particularly on how you’d want to explore your activity history. What would make this useful to you beyond simply showing how many hours you spent in each app?\n\nHappy to answer questions about how it works.\n\nComments URL: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50229028](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50229028)\n\nPoints: 2\n\n# Comments: 0", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-hindsight-lightweight-elegant-open-source-tracker-for-windows-macos", "canonical_source": "https://github.com/Tomotsugu-dev/Hindsight", "published_at": "2026-10-25 07:04:10+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-10-25 07:42:35.915319+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-tools", "ai-products", "artificial-intelligence"], "entities": ["Hindsight", "Windows", "macOS", "Google Drive", "WebDAV"], "also_reported_by": [], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-hindsight-lightweight-elegant-open-source-tracker-for-windows-macos", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-hindsight-lightweight-elegant-open-source-tracker-for-windows-macos.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-hindsight-lightweight-elegant-open-source-tracker-for-windows-macos.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/show-hn-hindsight-lightweight-elegant-open-source-tracker-for-windows-macos.jsonld"}}