Activity Capture on Your Mac
Groupthink can record which app and window you have in front of you, and for how long. That is the whole mechanism. What it gives you is the one thing meetings and notes cannot: where your attention actually went, including how much of it went to each person you work with.
It is off until you turn it on, it runs only in the Groupthink desktop app on macOS, and while it runs there is a dot in your menu bar the entire time.
You will find it in the desktop app under Settings > Ingestion > Activity on this Mac. The web app shows the same card with a note that it runs on your Mac.
What gets recorded, and what never does
The card says this before the switch, and it is the actual behavior of the code.
What gets recorded: the name of the frontmost app, the title of its window, and the start and end time. Checked every 5 seconds. No screenshots, no keystrokes, no page contents.
What never gets recorded: anything in your password manager, Groupthink itself, and anything you add to your exclusion lists. Those are dropped on your Mac before they are saved or sent anywhere.
When you step away: after 2 minutes without keyboard or mouse, the timer stops and window titles are not read at all.
Only you can see this. Turning it off deletes anything still waiting to upload.
A few consequences of that design worth stating outright:
- Groupthink does not see inside a window. It sees the name of the app and the text of the window's title bar, which is what macOS itself shows in the window switcher.
- A title bar can still carry real content. In a browser, the title often includes the name of the thing you have open. Gmail, for example, puts the subject line of the open email there. If you do not want that recorded, add the site to Never record these sites (with web addresses on) or the app to Never record these apps.
- Locking your screen or putting the Mac to sleep stops the clock right then.
- A window you flick past for a second or two is not recorded. Very short switches are treated as noise and dropped.
- Nothing is recorded before you turn the feature on. There is no timer and no reading of any kind until the switch is pressed.
Turning it on
- Open the Groupthink desktop app on your Mac.
- Go to Settings > Ingestion and find Activity on this Mac.
- Read the disclosure block. It sits above the switch on purpose.
- Turn on Capture my app activity.
macOS then asks for permission, once. See the next section.
While the switch is off, the card says so plainly: "Off. Nothing is being read."
The two macOS permissions
This feature needs two separate macOS permissions, and they behave very differently. The second one is the one that catches people out, so it gets its own warning in the app.
1. Automation (required)
The first time you turn capture on, macOS asks whether Groupthink can control System Events. That is how Groupthink asks the system which app is in front. Allow it.
If you deny it, or it gets turned off later, the card tells you macOS is blocking Groupthink from seeing which app is in front, and gives you an Open Automation settings button. Allow Groupthink to control System Events under Privacy & Security > Automation, then turn capture back on.
Without this permission, nothing is captured at all.
2. Accessibility (needed for window titles)
Window titles need a second permission, under Privacy & Security > Accessibility. Without it, macOS reports that the frontmost app has no windows, and there is no error anywhere.
So the failure is quiet. Capture keeps running, your app names and durations keep accruing, and every single window title is empty. That looks like the feature working.
Groupthink checks for this permission directly rather than guessing from the missing titles. When it is off, the card says that Groupthink can see which app you are in but not what the window is called, that this needs a second permission, and that your time is still counted per app in the meantime, just without the detail. There is an Open Accessibility settings button next to it.
Capture is deliberately not blocked on this one. App names and durations are most of the value, and refusing to run without titles would trade a partial measurement for none.
Automation and Accessibility are adjacent rows in the same macOS settings list, so it is easy to grant one and think you granted both. Each warning in Groupthink links to its own pane.
Knowing when it is running
Capture is never silent about itself.
- A dot in your menu bar for as long as capture is running.
- A menu item in the Groupthink menu bar menu reading "Capturing app activity", with Pause Activity Capture underneath it.
- A tooltip on the menu bar item.
- A Capturing chip on the settings card, and a Paused chip when it is paused.
The menu bar and the settings card read from the same source, so there is no state where capture is running and the indicator is not showing.
Pausing
Pause from the menu bar, or from Pause capture on the settings card.
Pausing closes the current stretch of time immediately, so nothing keeps accruing behind a paused indicator. It keeps your opt-in and keeps anything already queued. Resume capture starts it again.
Use pause for an hour you do not want measured. Use the off switch when you want the whole feature to stop.
Seeing what is being captured right now
Under Being captured right now, the card shows the app, the window title, the web address if you turned that on, and what time the current stretch started. It refreshes while capture is running.
This is deliberately the live row rather than a summary of the policy. The question anyone actually has is what Groupthink has on them right now, and the only honest answer is the current row.
Below it, the card shows how many entries this session were recorded and how many were skipped by your rules, plus how many entries are waiting to upload and when the last upload went out. Entries are uploaded in batches, so a small number waiting is normal.
Excluding apps and sites
Two lists on the card, one entry per line.
Never record these apps. Matched anywhere in the app's name, so Bank covers anything with "Bank" in the name.
Never record these sites. Matched on the address, covering subdomains too. This only applies while web addresses are being recorded.
Click Save exclusions after editing either list.
Password managers and Groupthink itself are always excluded and do not need listing. That covers 1Password, LastPass, Bitwarden, Dashlane, and Keychain Access.
Exclusions are applied on your Mac, at the moment an entry is closed out, before it is written to the local queue. An excluded app never reaches disk, let alone the network.
Recording web addresses
Off by default, with its own switch: Also record web addresses.
When it is on, Groupthink asks your browser for the address of the front tab, so a browser stretch says which site you were on instead of just "Chrome". macOS asks for permission for each browser separately.
Two things it does not do. It never reads page contents. And it only records web addresses, so local files you have open in a browser and the browser's own internal pages are left out.
If a browser refuses the request, the entry is still recorded with the app and window title, just without the address.
Turning it off, and what happens to your data
Turn off Capture my app activity.
Capture stops immediately, the menu bar indicator disappears, and anything still waiting to upload is deleted. Groupthink does not upload a queue it collected under an opt-in you just withdrew.
Activity already uploaded stays in your account. It is yours and it is private to you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can my manager or my team see this?
No. Activity capture is private to you.
Does it take screenshots?
No. No screenshots, no keystrokes, no page contents. The app name, the window title, and the time.
Does it run when I am away from the keyboard?
The clock stops after 2 minutes without keyboard or mouse, and window titles are not read while you are idle. Locking the screen or sleeping the Mac stops it right away.
Why is every window title blank?
The Accessibility permission is off. See the two permissions section above. Turn Groupthink on under Privacy & Security > Accessibility. Titles start appearing within a few seconds; if they do not, relaunch the app.
Does it slow down my Mac?
It checks the frontmost window every 5 seconds and does nothing in between. There is no recording, no screen capture, and no continuous process watching your input.
Is it available on Windows?
Not yet. Activity capture is macOS only for now.
What if I want a record of my day without recording a specific app?
Add that app to Never record these apps. Time in it is dropped on your Mac and never sent.
Related
- Groupthink Desktop App: downloading, installing, and signing in.
- Import Your Messages History on a Mac: the other opt-in ingestion source in the Mac app.
- Capturing On-Screen Content: reading the text of a window you pick during a private recording, which is a separate feature with a separate permission.
Getting Help
Questions about activity capture, or a permission that will not stick? Email support@groupthink.com.