FAQ

FAQ

Is this a keylogger?

PolterType has to see keystrokes to do its job — that is the category. What makes it trustworthy is verifiable: it is fully open source (MIT); the word buffer is RAM-only and short-lived; logs never contain typed words (they are redacted at compile time in release builds); there is exactly one network call in the whole app — the update check — it sends no identifier, the manifest URL is printed in Settings so you can verify it, and one checkbox turns it off. Zero telemetry, and the TLS stack is only linked into the updater crate — grep the code.

Why does my OS warn me during installation?

The installers are currently unsigned — SmartScreen and Gatekeeper warn about any unsigned binary. The workarounds are in Installation; code signing is planned.

Will it mangle my code?

Two engine-level guards run in every app on every OS: the identifier guard (won't touch snake_case, camelCase, letter+digit tokens) and the plausibility keep (won't "fix" kubectl, nginx, or a surname into Cyrillic noise just because it isn't in a dictionary). If that's not enough for one particular app, add it to the per-app skip list (Configuration-Cookbook).

Does it work on Wayland?

Yes — properly, via evdev/uinput, with layout switching implemented for Hyprland, KDE, the GSettings family, IBus and Fcitx5. A one-time setup script grants device access (Linux-Setup). Some extras are compositor-dependent: the suggestions tooltip renders on wlroots compositors; per-app features need the focus tracker (Hyprland/X11/Windows today).

What languages are supported?

Bundled: English, Ukrainian, Russian, German, Spanish, French — and any language you add yourself as a data file, no rebuild needed: Adding-a-Language.

How do updates work?

A daily check against GitHub Releases, checksum-verified download, staged install that only applies when you quit or click "Restart to update" — never mid-typing. It is not telemetry, and [updates] enabled = false switches all of it off. The download is checksum-verified, not signed — an honest distinction the README explains, and manifest signing is tracked in #9.

Punto Switcher used to do this — how is PolterType different?

Open source, cross-platform (including Linux/Wayland and macOS), no telemetry, and no account with anyone. The trade-off: it is a young project by a small team — the honest per-platform status always lives in the README.