posts: ActivityWatch Research Edition for other researchers

[TimeToBuildBob]

Summary

New post _posts/2026-09-30-activitywatch-research-edition.md plus a diagram img/research-edition-data-flow.svg (inline-described, alt text set). Explains the Research Edition for other researchers, what it collects, how a variant is made, mobile status, and how to contact Erik.

Verified facts and sources

• Research prereleases exist for desktop, latest v0.14.0b5-research (Win/macOS/Linux assets): gh release view v0.14.0b5-research -R ActivityWatch/activitywatch.
• Build enables research_enabled = true in aw-watcher-window: release notes and aw_watcher_window/config.py.
• Filter behaviour (browser URL/title -> study category via map, unmatched -> excluded, titles/URLs dropped, non-browser titles dropped, optional research_app_category_map to replace app names): aw_watcher_window/research_filter.py.
• App names retained in the current export (Excel stays "Microsoft Excel"): b5 smoke-test note in the brain repo; participant guide says the same.
• Own port 5667 / own data dirs / side-by-side with a normal install: b5 smoke test; Erik's own macOS dogfood run.
• Export is a participant-initiated JSON export from the dashboard, with the hostname sanitized, then upload to the study team; no live telemetry: participant guide and the Lund scoping notes.
• Android: research flavor with .research applicationId suffix and port 5667: aw-android mobile/build.gradle, PRs #278/#280/#281 merged. Research tags are GitHub-release only.
• iOS: aw-import-screentime README (needs macOS, "Share Across Devices", Full Disk Access; standalone CLI).
• Contact: erik@bjareho.lt is the email on Erik's public GitHub profile. The website itself only lists GitHub/Twitter/LinkedIn.

Please double-check (Erik)

1. Contact address: I used erik@bjareho.lt from your GitHub profile. Swap if you want another one.
2. "the current one at Lund University" and "an earlier academic team ... in a public fork" (the simonperneel/activitywatch_ERC fork). No researcher is named; confirm you are fine naming Lund publicly.
3. Android: I state there is no category filter on Android yet and an Android Research Edition is "in progress, not shipped". The flavor only gives isolation today.
4. iPhone/iPad: I state the study filter does not apply to the Screen Time path yet; that is from my task notes (the importer bypasses the aw-watcher-window filter). Also that it works for anyone with a Mac on the same Apple account.
5. "Easy to make a variant": the post says a variant is mostly a category map, a tagged build, and a participant guide/export step. Confirm that matches how much work you expect, and that the app-name-to-category option really is a config-only change on the shipped build (it exists on aw-watcher-window master; I did not test it in b5).
6. Ethics wording: "aimed at passing ethics review, but your committee decides". Adjust if you want stronger or weaker.
7. The diagram shows the flow as implemented: app name is kept, title/URL dropped, so it is not "category only". This is deliberate.
8. Linux Research builds exist but the participant guide only covers Windows and macOS; the post says "Windows, macOS and Linux" for the prerelease assets.

No stats numbers are cited, so /stats/ is not linked. Jekyll was not run; front matter matches recent posts and the image path exists. No pricing or commercial terms mentioned.

Update: docs link

The post now links the Research Edition docs page (top, diagram section, participant guide line, call to action). That page is in ActivityWatch/docs#186 and will live at https://docs.activitywatch.net/en/latest/research/research-edition.html. Merge ActivityWatch/docs#186 first, then this PR, otherwise the link 404s. The two participant-instructions links already exist on the live docs.

[greptile-apps]

Confidence Score: 5/5

[Low risk] Adds blog post and diagram about research feature.

The PR appears safe to merge based on the reviewed changes and resolved findings.

Summary

The PR adds a Research Edition article and a data-flow diagram.

• The latest edit limits the title-and-URL storage claim to the bundled window watcher.
• Both previous findings are resolved: the publication time was adjusted, and the storage claim is now scoped.

_{Reviews (4) · Last reviewed commit: "posts: research edition: scope storage c..."}

[TimeToBuildBob]

@greptileai review

[TimeToBuildBob]

@greptileai review

[TimeToBuildBob]

Status update: the docs precondition is now satisfied — ActivityWatch/docs#186 merged (the research/research-edition.html link is live, verified 200). Re-triggered a fresh Greptile pass on the current head (9ceaefe7) since the earlier review was on 0580fd72.

This PR is otherwise merge-ready (clean, no unresolved threads) but remains gated on your double-check list in the body above (contact address, naming Lund, Android/iOS wording, variant-effort claim, ethics phrasing). No further action from me.

[TimeToBuildBob]

@greptileai review

[TimeToBuildBob]

Final state at head 110bba81: Greptile 5/5 (fresh pass, threads resolved), CI green, MERGEABLE/CLEAN. The P1 storage-claim finding is fixed — the privacy claim is now scoped to the bundled window watcher, consistent with the caveat above it.

Nothing further is Bob-actionable here: Bob has pull-only access to this repo, so this needs your double-check list in the body above and a maintainer merge. No further review rounds being triggered.