PlayLedger v3.1.0

Playtime Tracker is now PlayLedger, with a new name, logo and icon.

Download: Setup.exe below. If you have Playtime Tracker 3.0.4 or earlier (back to 2.2.0), it updates itself when no game is running, and becomes PlayLedger.

New

• A new name and look. The app, its window, the tray, notifications, the installer, the Start menu shortcut and the Apps list now say PlayLedger, with the new blue book-and-controller icon.

Nothing to do

• Your history and settings are kept. Updating changes only the name you see. Your play history, settings, artwork and "Start with Windows" choice stay exactly where they were, so some folders (such as Documents\Playtime Tracker) keep their old name.
• Shortcuts are renamed for you. The Start menu shortcut becomes PlayLedger, and a desktop shortcut, if you have one, is renamed too.

Playtime Tracker v3.0.4

Playtime Tracker 3.0.4 does less work in the background, so it's lighter on your PC while you play.

Download: Setup.exe below. If you have 3.0.3, 3.0.2, 3.0.1, 3.0.0 or 2.2.0, it updates itself when no game is running.

Improved

• Lighter dashboard while you play. While a game was running, the dashboard reloaded your whole play history every second to count up the time, on every page and even when minimized. It now only does that while the Overview page or a dialog shows the running time, and never while minimized.
• Lighter tracker. Checking for running games copies less data on each check, the tray tooltip is only updated when it changes, and less memory is used for each program that starts.

Playtime Tracker v3.0.3

Playtime Tracker 3.0.3 gives the Games page's right-click menu the same look as the rest of the dashboard.

Download: Setup.exe below. If you have 3.0.2, 3.0.1, 3.0.0 or 2.2.0, it updates itself when no game is running.

Fixed

• The game menu matches the app. Right-clicking a game (or pressing the Menu key) opened a light Windows menu, even in the dark theme. The menu and its Change artwork submenu are now drawn in the dashboard's own style, following its light and dark themes.

Playtime Tracker v3.0.2

Playtime Tracker 3.0.2 replaces the glass look with an AMOLED mode that has true blacks.

Download: Setup.exe below. If you have 3.0.1, 3.0.0 or 2.2.0, it updates itself when no game is running.

New

• AMOLED mode. Turn it on in Settings → Appearance to give the dark theme true black behind everything, with cards just above it. It looks deeper, and on an OLED screen the black pixels are switched off, which saves power. The title bar turns black to match. It's off by default and has no effect in the light theme.

Removed

• Glass effects. On some PCs, depending on the graphics card and its driver, the see-through glass look drew the window black instead. The dashboard now always uses solid colours, which look the same on every PC.

Playtime Tracker v3.0.1

Playtime Tracker 3.0.1 makes the dashboard easier to use and nicer to look at: every click works the first time, text is smooth, and the glass look is truly see-through.

Download: Setup.exe below. If you have 3.0.0 or 2.2.0, it updates itself when no game is running.

Fixed

• One click is enough. Buttons, games, sessions, days, switches and menu items sometimes needed two clicks before they responded. Now the first click always works.
• Smoother text. Text was drawn snapped to the pixel grid, which looked too sharp and thin. It's now drawn the way the rest of Windows draws it.
• Glass effects are see-through. With Glass effects on, the window only got darker. Now Windows' Acrylic material shows what's behind the window, softly blurred, with translucent cards over it. It needs Hardware acceleration on and Windows 11 version 22H2 or later.
• Even navigation bar. When folded to icons, the navigation bar is narrower and its icons sit in the middle.
• Playing now shows just the time played, without "so far".
• No leftover highlight. The outline around a clicked item stayed after selecting it. Outlines now only show while you move around with the keyboard (Tab), as in the rest of Windows.
• SteamGridDB pictures scroll. When choosing artwork from SteamGridDB, the grid was cut off and couldn't be scrolled. Now it starts at the top and scrolls to every picture.

Changed

• The support button is now simply Tip, with the Cash App logo.

Playtime Tracker v3.0.0

Playtime Tracker 3.0.0 is rebuilt from the ground up in Rust, with a new Windows 11 dashboard: faster, lighter, and with no extra runtime to install. Your history and settings carry over unchanged.

Download: Setup.exe below. Double-click it and follow the steps; no admin rights needed. If you have 2.2.0, it updates itself when no game is running.

A new dashboard

• Windows 11 style, like Task Manager: a navigation pane on the left (Overview, Games, History, Statistics, Settings) that folds to icons, with cards throughout.
• Glass look: Windows' own Mica material shows your wallpaper's colour behind the window, with see-through cards. It switches to solid colours when Windows' transparency effects are off, with a high-contrast theme, or when you turn off Settings → Appearance → Glass effects.
• Your accent colour everywhere: buttons, switches, selection and charts all follow Settings → Appearance → Accent colour.
• Fits any window size: tiles reflow from four across to one per row, History and Statistics never squeeze text into one letter per line, and the window keeps a sensible minimum size.
• Hardware acceleration: on by default. If the window flickers or stays blank (for example over remote desktop), turn it off in Settings → Appearance and click Reopen now. If the graphics card can't draw it, the dashboard switches to drawing without it on its own.
• Screen readers and keyboard work throughout.

Games page

• Right-click a game (or press the Menu key, Shift+F10, or press and hold) for:
  • Change artwork ▸ Choose an image file…: your own picture, 600 × 900 (2:3) works best. PNG with transparency, JPEG and WebP all work.
  • Change artwork ▸ Pick from SteamGridDB…: choose from SteamGridDB's pictures for the game (needs Download missing artwork on and your own free key).
  • Change artwork ▸ Use automatic artwork, Stop tracking and Delete history…
• Box art or icons on every tile, with search and sort, and what's playing first.

Settings

• Search in Ignored Games and Ignored Programs, with a count ("3 of 41").
• Get API key next to the SteamGridDB key box, while no key is saved.
• Your Data now sits right below Game Folders, and section headings are in title case.
• Support Playtime Tracker: a Tip or Donate button below About, if you'd like to support the project.

Fixed

• Running sessions count up every second again.
• A single game's sessions on the Overview show the game's name.
• Pages fill the window when it's resized or maximised.
• Starting the dashboard right after closing it always opens a window.

Upgrading

• 2.2.0 updates itself to 3.0.0 when no game is running, or run Setup.exe over it. Earlier versions: run Setup.exe once.
• Your history, settings and "start with Windows" choice are kept. Before 3.0.0 first runs, it backs them up to Documents\Playtime Tracker\Backups.
• The download is smaller and nothing else is installed with it.

Playtime Tracker v2.2.0

Playtime Tracker 2.2.0 fixes play that wasn't being recorded, recognises Roblox and other popular games, keeps itself up to date, and locks your history so it can't be edited by hand.

Download: Setup.exe below. Double-click it and follow the steps; no admin rights needed. If your PC doesn't have Microsoft's .NET 8 Desktop Runtime yet, setup downloads it from Microsoft and installs it (Windows asks for permission once).

Fixed

• Short sessions are recorded again. Before, any game open for less than 30 seconds was discarded when you closed it. Now every session counts, however short.
  • If you still had the old 30-second setting, it's switched off automatically.
  • A value you chose yourself is kept.
  • You can still set a minimum under Settings → Tracking.
• Roblox is now tracked. It installs outside any launcher, into a folder that changes with every update, so it was never recognised.
• Games keep being recognised after they update. Games from Windows' game list still match after moving into a new version folder.
• Running totals on the Games page count up live instead of showing "0m".

New

Built-in detection for popular games

These are now tracked automatically, even though they don't come from Steam, Epic or another launcher:

• Roblox, including the Microsoft Store version
• Minecraft: Java Edition and Minecraft for Windows (Bedrock)
• Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail and Zenless Zone Zero
• osu!, League of Legends, VALORANT and Fortnite

Only the game itself counts, not its launcher, crash reporter or Roblox Studio.

Automatic updates

• Checks: a minute after start and every 6 hours after that, Playtime Tracker checks this project's GitHub releases.
• Updates itself: when an update is out and no game is running, it installs it, restarts and shows "Playtime Tracker updated". It never updates in the middle of a session.
• Settings → Updates: turn automatic installs off to just get a notification (plus an Update to x.y.z… item in the tray menu), turn checking off, or check and install by hand. A progress bar shows while an update downloads.
• Checked before it runs: an update is installed only if it comes from this project's release on GitHub over a secure connection, and matches the size and SHA-256 checksum GitHub recorded for it. If anything doesn't match, nothing is installed.
• Portable copies: copies that weren't set up with the installer are never replaced; they get a link to the download page instead.
• Privacy: the only data sent is a standard request to GitHub for the latest release (your IP address and the app's version). Turn off Check for updates to stop it.

Custom accent colours, in the app's own style

The + accent swatch opens a new colour picker that matches the rest of the app:

• a saturation and brightness field
• a hue slider
• a hex code box
• a live preview of buttons, selection and charts in the new colour

It works fully from the keyboard.

Your data is locked down

• Encrypted: your history and settings are encrypted and integrity-checked for your Windows account, as in 2.0.
• Old copies are caught: every save is now numbered, and the number is also stored (protected) in your Windows user profile. If an older copy of the history is put back to undo playtime, the app notices, uses the newest genuine copy and tells you.
• Locked while running: other programs can read the data files and reports, but can't change, replace or delete them.
• Edits to the reports aren't kept: Game Stats.txt says it's generated from your protected history and rewritten on every save.

Upgrading from 2.0.0

• Run Setup.exe once. Version 2.0.0 has no updater, so this step is manual. From 2.2.0 on, updates install themselves.
• Your history, settings and "start with Windows" choice are kept.
• Play from before this update can't be recovered: short sessions and Roblox time that were never recorded weren't saved at the time.

Behind the scenes

Work has started on a faster, lighter Playtime Tracker built in Rust, with a new Windows 11-style dashboard. This release doesn't include it yet; the plan and progress are in docs/architecture/.

v2.1.0

Playtime Tracker 2.1.0

This release fixes two bugs that stopped some play from being recorded, adds detection for Roblox and other popular games, and adds automatic updates.

Fixed

• Short sessions are recorded again. Before, any game open for less than 30 seconds was discarded when you closed it. Now every session is recorded, however short.
  • If you still had the old 30-second setting, it's switched off automatically when you update.
  • If you'd chosen your own value, it's kept.
  • You can still set a minimum under Settings → Tracking.
• Roblox is now tracked. It installs outside any game launcher, into a folder that changes with every Roblox update, so it was never recognised as a game.
• Games keep being recognised after they update. Games found through Windows' game list are still matched when they update into a new version folder.
• Running totals on the Games page now count up live. Before, a running game could show "0m".

New

Built-in detection for popular games

These games install on their own, outside Steam, Epic and other launchers, and are now tracked automatically:

• Roblox, including the Microsoft Store version
• Minecraft: Java Edition and Minecraft for Windows (Bedrock)
• Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail and Zenless Zone Zero
• osu!, League of Legends, VALORANT and Fortnite

Only the game itself counts, not its launcher, crash reporter or Roblox Studio.

Automatic updates

• Checks: a minute after it starts and every 6 hours after that, Playtime Tracker checks this project's GitHub releases for a new version.
• Updates itself: when an update is out and no game is running, it downloads and installs it, restarts, and shows a "Playtime Tracker updated" notification. It never updates in the middle of a session.
• Settings → Updates: turn automatic installs off to just get a notification instead, turn checking off entirely, or check and install by hand. The tray menu shows Update to x.y.z… when one is waiting.
• Checked before it runs: an update is installed only if it comes from this project's GitHub release over a secure connection, and matches the size and checksum GitHub recorded when it was uploaded. If anything doesn't match, nothing is installed.
• Portable copies: copies that weren't set up with the installer (for example, run straight from Downloads) are never replaced; they get a link to the download page instead.
• Privacy: the only data sent is a standard request to GitHub for the latest release, which includes your IP address and the app's version. Turn off Check for updates to stop it.

Upgrading

• From 2.0.0: install this version by hand once with PlaytimeTrackerSetup.exe, because 2.0.0 has no updater. Updates are automatic after that.
• Your history and settings are kept.
• Play from before this update can't be recovered: sessions that were never recorded (short sessions, or Roblox) couldn't be saved at the time.

v2.0.0

Playtime Tracker 2.0.0

Game Session Tracker is now Playtime Tracker. This release brings a redesigned dashboard, new Games and History pages, a details window for every session, colour themes, and protection for your play history. Upgrading keeps all your existing data.

Highlights

• New look: a dark "glass" design with soft, layered panels.
• Themes and accent colours: Dark, Light, or follow Windows, with six accent colours or any colour you like.
• Games page: see what you're playing right now and everything you've played before.
• History page: your last 30 days, day by day.
• Session details: click any session to see exactly when the game was opened and closed.
• Protected history: playtimes and settings can't be edited by hand any more.

New

Games page

• Playing now: each game that's running, with the time you opened it and how long it's been running, updating live.
• Played before: every other game, most recent first, with total time, average session length, number of sessions, and first and last played dates.
• Click a game to open the Overview filtered to it.

History page

• The last 30 days, one row per day: total playtime, which games you played and for how long, and a bar comparing the day to your busiest one. Days without play are shown too, so gaps are easy to spot.
• Click a day to see every session from it. The same works from the Overview: click any bar in the Daily playtime chart.

Session details

• Open it by clicking any session, finished or still running (or select one and press Enter). Right-click → Details… works too.
• What it shows:
  • when the game was opened and closed, to the second
  • how long it ran; this counts up live for a game that's still running
  • the program that was tracked, with Show program to open its folder
  • which session it was for that game, e.g. #3 of 12
  • the game's total playtime, and that day's total
• Delete a session right from this window, with a confirmation.

Appearance settings

• Theme: System, Dark or Light.
• Accent colour: Blue, Violet, Teal, Green, Amber, Rose, or + to pick any colour.
• Where it applies: changes take effect instantly across the dashboard, and the dialogs and tray menu pick them up the next time they open.

Improved

Redesigned dashboard

• Atmosphere: a deep, dark background with subtle glows and translucent glass cards.
• Interactions: smooth hover and press effects, and animated switches. Animations turn off when Windows' "Animation effects" setting is off.
• Chart: gradient bars and a clearer tooltip.
• Rows: clearer selected and hover states, and a live green dot for games you're playing.
• Dialogs and menus: the "Add…" dialog opens over a dimmed window, as do delete confirmations. Right-click and tray menus match the new design, and delete options are shown in red.
• Keyboard: visible focus outlines on every control. Tab to the page switcher and use ←/→ to change page.
• Smaller windows: the window can now be made narrower (760 px), with spacing that adapts.

Your data is protected

• Files: your play history and settings are now stored as sessions.dat and settings.dat. They're encrypted and checked using Windows' built-in data protection for your account, so playtimes can't be changed by editing files.
• If a file is changed or damaged: the app notices, keeps that file under a new name, goes back to the last saved copy, and tells you with a notification.
• Reports: Game Stats.txt and Sessions.csv are now read-only. They're rewritten on every save, so edits to them never had any effect. Use Export sessions for a copy you can edit.
• Safer failure: if a data file can't be opened (for example, it's locked by another program), the app no longer risks overwriting it with an empty history.

Security

• Online installer: it now downloads the .NET runtime over HTTPS only, and runs it only if it carries a valid Microsoft signature.
• Installer commands: the installer runs Windows tools by their full system path, so a file with the same name sitting in your Downloads folder can't be run instead.
• Spreadsheet exports: a game name that looks like a formula (starting with =, +, - or @) can no longer run as one in Excel.
• Show program: it only opens folders on local drives, never network paths.

Fixed

• Doubled text: lists no longer show their card's title printed over the top of the rows.
• Red "X" boxes: empty lists in Settings (Custom games, Game folders) no longer show a red "X" error box.
• Spacing: tighter spots were loosened; History rows no longer repeat the date, and game rows have more room between the text and the progress bar.

Upgrading from Game Session Tracker

• Just run the new installer. It closes and removes the old Game Session Tracker (program, shortcuts, startup entry and Apps list entry) and installs Playtime Tracker.
• Your history comes with you. On first start, your data folder moves from Documents\Game Session Tracker to Documents\Playtime Tracker. Your old sessions.json and settings.json are converted to the new protected format and then removed.
• Settings carry over, including whether Playtime Tracker starts with Windows.
• Windows 11 hides new tray icons. Look for the controller icon behind the ^ arrow next to the clock.

Good to know

• Settings are now only changed in the app. settings.json can no longer be edited by hand.
• History stays on this PC. The protection is tied to your Windows account on that PC, so copying the data folder to another PC or account won't bring your history along. Use Settings → Your data → Export sessions to keep your own copy.
• Two installers: PlaytimeTrackerSetup.exe works offline. PlaytimeTrackerSetup-Online.exe is smaller and downloads Microsoft's .NET 8 Desktop Runtime if needed.
• SmartScreen: the installers aren't code-signed yet, so Windows may warn you. Choose More info → Run anyway.

Behind the scenes

• Tighter build pipeline: it runs with read-only access, only the release step can publish, it checks for vulnerable packages, and every GitHub Action is pinned to an exact commit.
• Screenshots: a tool renders the README images from the real app with sample data.
• Repo files: a real security policy (SECURITY.md) and working Dependabot updates.

v1.0.0

v1.0.0
Initial release of Game Session Tracker.

• System-tray app that auto-detects when you launch a game and logs each session's start and end time

• Tracks playtime across Steam, Epic Games, GOG, Ubisoft Connect, EA app/Origin, Xbox app/Game Pass, Riot Games, plus any custom exe or game folder

• Dashboard with total playtime, session count, average length, 30-day daily chart, and most-played game

• Session log with live updates for the game currently running; right-click to delete sessions or games

• Runs in the background, starts with Windows, follows your light/dark theme

• Settings for check interval, minimum session length, reopen grace period, ignored programs, and custom games

• Data stored locally in Documents\Game Session Tracker as plain text, CSV, and JSON

• Two installers: offline (bundled runtime) and online (downloads .NET 8 if needed)