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Show HN: macOS desktop app for turning websites into glanceable widgets

Hi HN, I'm Devin, formerly the first engineer at Cresta, an AI enterprise unicorn. My background was in melding complex systems like LivePerson and Citrix with AI-first applications, focusing on ensuring seamless information flow. This experience led me to create Glanceables, a tool that turns complex web pages into streamlined, instantly readable widgets. Glanceables is designed for anyone who's tired of the constant browser refresh. It allows users to select specific areas of a webpage to monitor through a simple, interactive interface. Once set, it captures and refreshes these snippets automatically (once per minute), so you're always up-to-date without any fuss. I need your help: Distribution Suggestions: I’ve built the app with Xcode and am looking for recommendations on where to host the file for download. Any tips? License Input: The project is "almost" open source. I’m open to suggestions on which license might be best suited for this project, aiming to balance openness with protection of the core ideas. Use Case Feedback: I'd love to hear what tedious web monitoring tasks you think Glanceables could simplify. If you try out the app and run into any issues, especially with specific websites not working correctly, please submit an issue on GitHub!! Let me know all your feedback, questions, and thank you for checking it out!

pvg 2y ago
Is cloning the repo and building this from source the only way to try this currently?
- its_down_again 2y ago
  Hey good call out! What version of Mac are you using? I just packaged up a .ipa file that you can install directly to your applications. It’s up & running OK on my M1 air w/ Sonoma 14.5. Here’s a link where you can grab that file if you'd like to give it a try: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Kt6fdFhxdGQFVbmOWRAVGs-3mHtdQZzF https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Kt6fdFhxdGQFVbmOWRAV... Let me know how it goes!
krackers 2y ago
Dashboard web clips? https://www.telerik.com/blogs/web-clips-hidden-useful-os-x-feature https://www.telerik.com/blogs/web-clips-hidden-useful-os-x-f...
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- its_down_again 2y ago
  Thanks for the link! That looks pretty similar to what we're doing with Glanceables, and I like how it ties right into the macOS dashboard. Have you used it yourself? I’d love to hear your experience with it!
Gys 2y ago
I am struggling to think of a use case? Do you have a way to detect changes and signal the user from the background? For distribution: use github releases page to enable downloading of and .dmg? Creating a dmg with an app, draggable to Applications is a commandline script.
- its_down_again 2y ago
  Hey there! Thanks a bunch for your input—it really helps to think through where this project is headed. Right now, I'm still in between a couple ideas on how to shape the project. One thing I'm personally keen on is using it to peek at webapps like Teams or Slack without falling down the rabbit hole of distractions. e.g responding to a message without getting sidetracked by unread notifications. But to make that work right, I’d need to handle logins and authenticated sessions, which I know from experience is hard to get right. Another scenario I’m looking at is for stuff like MX validator tools. When you tweak MX server settings, it takes a good day or two to take effect globally, and it’s crucial not to send out new emails until those new configuration changes are fully propagated. I’ve also heard from a friend who works at an Amazon agency. They’re constantly refreshing product pages they manage waiting for updates to show up. They’ve tried existing tools, but reliability is often a toss-up. But even at $50 a seat, it feels like a bargain to them! You're totally right about detecting changes-- making the app capable of reliably spotting updates and notifying users could really be key. I’m thinking about something like to a git commit history for the web. What's your opinion on a viable UI/UX for the notifications? Maybe a desktop notification that shows the new change? Also really appreciate the tip about using GitHub releases for distribution! I was really overthinking it, but I'll get on that ASAP. Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear more about the use case if the app could detect changes and signal the user from the background.
  - Gys 2y ago
    > I’ve also heard from a friend who works at an Amazon agency. They’re constantly refreshing product pages they manage waiting for updates to show up. They’ve tried existing tools, but reliability is often a toss-up. But even at $50 a seat, it feels like a bargain to them! I suggest you first talk much more with this friend and then try to sell a solution to that agency. Do you know visualping.io? It would also solve many of such cases. It can also watch a specific area. It uses emails to notify. I use it sometimes, so far those were in their free tier. The main difference might be that visualping is a website, meaning a better solution for long term once a while changes. I would not use a local app for changes that are once per week or will happen next month. An app for detecting changes seems to me for more high frequent changes, like several times per day. So local notifications are more appropriate. If it is high frequency then a quick response might be needed? Some kind of macro trigger might add value: `if value > 100 then ...`. So I have some thoughts, but not a specific use case ;)
celtictechie 2y ago
I created a side project which does something similar: https://www.duckboard.io/ https://www.duckboard.io/
celtictechie 2y ago
I've created a side project similar to this https://www.duckboard.io/ https://www.duckboard.io/. Aforementioned OSX "webclips" feature seems to be dead...
- its_down_again 2y ago
  Hey, I like what you're doing with duckboard! I checked it out and it's actually quite similar to what I'm working on. I was curious about integrating with the "webclips" feature since it was native, but it turns out that was part of the "Dashboard" feature, which got dropped after Catalina. But I did find a Reddit thread where someone had a clever workaround. Quote from zonkbonkbadonk on Reddit: "It's not the same, but the closest I've found is creating several desktops and using Chrome's More Tools > Create Shortcut in a New Window option to make a borderless, resizable website window. Then, I arrange them on that desktop. I also use Adblock Pro or uBlock Origin to 'hide elements' and clear away parts of the website I don’t want to see." Here's the link to that discussion if you want to check it out: https://www.reddit.com/r/MacOS/comments/kojjzn/comment/ghrm5nx/ https://www.reddit.com/r/MacOS/comments/kojjzn/comment/ghrm5...

pvg 2y ago

Is cloning the repo and building this from source the only way to try this currently?

its_down_again 2y ago
Hey good call out! What version of Mac are you using? I just packaged up a .ipa file that you can install directly to your applications. It’s up & running OK on my M1 air w/ Sonoma 14.5. Here’s a link where you can grab that file if you'd like to give it a try: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Kt6fdFhxdGQFVbmOWRAVGs-3mHtdQZzF https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Kt6fdFhxdGQFVbmOWRAV... Let me know how it goes!

krackers 2y ago

Dashboard web clips? https://www.telerik.com/blogs/web-clips-hidden-useful-os-x-feature https://www.telerik.com/blogs/web-clips-hidden-useful-os-x-f...

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
its_down_again 2y ago
Thanks for the link! That looks pretty similar to what we're doing with Glanceables, and I like how it ties right into the macOS dashboard. Have you used it yourself? I’d love to hear your experience with it!

Gys 2y ago

I am struggling to think of a use case? Do you have a way to detect changes and signal the user from the background? For distribution: use github releases page to enable downloading of and .dmg? Creating a dmg with an app, draggable to Applications is a commandline script.

its_down_again 2y ago
Hey there! Thanks a bunch for your input—it really helps to think through where this project is headed. Right now, I'm still in between a couple ideas on how to shape the project. One thing I'm personally keen on is using it to peek at webapps like Teams or Slack without falling down the rabbit hole of distractions. e.g responding to a message without getting sidetracked by unread notifications. But to make that work right, I’d need to handle logins and authenticated sessions, which I know from experience is hard to get right. Another scenario I’m looking at is for stuff like MX validator tools. When you tweak MX server settings, it takes a good day or two to take effect globally, and it’s crucial not to send out new emails until those new configuration changes are fully propagated. I’ve also heard from a friend who works at an Amazon agency. They’re constantly refreshing product pages they manage waiting for updates to show up. They’ve tried existing tools, but reliability is often a toss-up. But even at $50 a seat, it feels like a bargain to them! You're totally right about detecting changes-- making the app capable of reliably spotting updates and notifying users could really be key. I’m thinking about something like to a git commit history for the web. What's your opinion on a viable UI/UX for the notifications? Maybe a desktop notification that shows the new change? Also really appreciate the tip about using GitHub releases for distribution! I was really overthinking it, but I'll get on that ASAP. Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear more about the use case if the app could detect changes and signal the user from the background.
- Gys 2y ago
  > I’ve also heard from a friend who works at an Amazon agency. They’re constantly refreshing product pages they manage waiting for updates to show up. They’ve tried existing tools, but reliability is often a toss-up. But even at $50 a seat, it feels like a bargain to them! I suggest you first talk much more with this friend and then try to sell a solution to that agency. Do you know visualping.io? It would also solve many of such cases. It can also watch a specific area. It uses emails to notify. I use it sometimes, so far those were in their free tier. The main difference might be that visualping is a website, meaning a better solution for long term once a while changes. I would not use a local app for changes that are once per week or will happen next month. An app for detecting changes seems to me for more high frequent changes, like several times per day. So local notifications are more appropriate. If it is high frequency then a quick response might be needed? Some kind of macro trigger might add value: `if value > 100 then ...`. So I have some thoughts, but not a specific use case ;)

celtictechie 2y ago

I created a side project which does something similar: https://www.duckboard.io/ https://www.duckboard.io/

celtictechie 2y ago

I've created a side project similar to this https://www.duckboard.io/ https://www.duckboard.io/. Aforementioned OSX "webclips" feature seems to be dead...

its_down_again 2y ago
Hey, I like what you're doing with duckboard! I checked it out and it's actually quite similar to what I'm working on. I was curious about integrating with the "webclips" feature since it was native, but it turns out that was part of the "Dashboard" feature, which got dropped after Catalina. But I did find a Reddit thread where someone had a clever workaround. Quote from zonkbonkbadonk on Reddit: "It's not the same, but the closest I've found is creating several desktops and using Chrome's More Tools > Create Shortcut in a New Window option to make a borderless, resizable website window. Then, I arrange them on that desktop. I also use Adblock Pro or uBlock Origin to 'hide elements' and clear away parts of the website I don’t want to see." Here's the link to that discussion if you want to check it out: https://www.reddit.com/r/MacOS/comments/kojjzn/comment/ghrm5nx/ https://www.reddit.com/r/MacOS/comments/kojjzn/comment/ghrm5...