Skip to content

Apex

Latest
Latest

Choose a tag to compare

View all tags
@SufiyanAasim SufiyanAasim released this 29 Jun 18:00
v1.2.5
c8e3a21

Smart Study Planner — v1.2.5

Codename: Apex

📖 Overview

Apex represents the most advanced release of Smart Study Planner to date, introducing real-time local collaboration through LAN Study Rooms while expanding every user's academic identity within the application.

Building upon the organizational improvements introduced in Horizon, this release focuses on connecting students beyond personal productivity. Users can now create academic profiles containing department, class, section, and batch information, allowing peers on the same local network to discover and join study rooms without requiring cloud services, internet connectivity, or external servers.

Designed around an offline-first philosophy, Apex leverages lightweight UDP broadcasting to provide automatic room discovery while maintaining the application's privacy-first approach. Every networking component operates entirely within the local area network, ensuring fast communication without exposing user data externally.

This milestone transforms Smart Study Planner from a personal study organizer into a collaborative academic platform.

🎯 Objectives

This milestone was developed with the following goals:

  • Introduce real-time LAN collaboration.
  • Expand user profiles with academic information.
  • Enable automatic study room discovery.
  • Maintain an offline-first architecture.
  • Ensure networking remains lightweight and responsive.
  • Preserve privacy by eliminating cloud dependencies.

✨ Added

🎓 Academic Profile

Introduced a dedicated Academic Profile section during registration and within the Settings page.

Users can now optionally manage:

  • Department
  • Class / Batch
  • Section
  • Batch Year

This information is securely stored within the SQLite database and displayed throughout the application where appropriate.

Academic details enrich collaboration by providing additional context during group study sessions while remaining fully editable at any time.

🌐 LAN Study Rooms

Added a completely new collaboration workspace within the Study Groups module.

A second tab titled 🌐 LAN Study Rooms allows users to discover and host study sessions across the same local network.

The interface provides:

  • Live room discovery
  • Room information
  • Hosting controls
  • Participant details
  • Automatic refresh

No manual configuration is required.

📡 Host a Study Room

Users can now create their own study rooms with a single click.

Hosting includes:

  • Custom room names
  • Automatic UDP broadcasting
  • Continuous availability while active
  • One-click hosting control
  • One-click stop functionality

Room broadcasts occur every three seconds, allowing nearby users to discover sessions almost instantly.

🔍 Automatic Room Discovery

Implemented passive LAN discovery using UDP broadcast technology.

The discovery service automatically displays:

  • Room name
  • Host name
  • Department
  • Class
  • Section

Inactive rooms are automatically removed after ten seconds if broadcasts stop, ensuring the room list remains accurate without manual refreshes.

🖥️ Dedicated LAN Manager

Introduced the new:

src/lan.py

This module encapsulates all networking functionality within a dedicated LANManager component.

Responsibilities include:

  • UDP broadcasting
  • Room discovery
  • Thread management
  • UI synchronization
  • Connection lifecycle management

Separating networking from the graphical interface improves maintainability and simplifies future expansion.

🔄 Changed

👥 Study Groups

The Study Groups workspace has been redesigned into two dedicated sections:

  • My Study Groups
  • 🌐 LAN Study Rooms

This separation improves navigation while preserving all existing collaborative functionality.

🧾 Sidebar Profile

The application's sidebar now displays the user's academic information beneath their email address whenever profile details have been provided.

Visible information may include:

  • Department
  • Class
  • Section

This provides immediate academic context throughout the application.

🗄️ Database Schema

The users table has been expanded with four additional fields:

  • department
  • class_name
  • section
  • batch_year

Existing databases migrate automatically using SQLite schema updates, allowing users to upgrade without losing previously stored data.

🚀 Improved

⚡ Offline Collaboration

Apex introduces real-time collaboration while maintaining Smart Study Planner's offline-first philosophy.

Unlike traditional collaborative platforms, LAN communication requires:

  • No cloud infrastructure
  • No internet connection
  • No external authentication servers
  • No third-party networking services

Everything operates entirely within the user's local network.

🧵 Background Networking

All networking operations execute inside daemon threads.

This ensures:

  • Smooth interface responsiveness
  • Non-blocking communication
  • Stable background discovery
  • Seamless user interaction

The graphical interface remains fully responsive even while continuously broadcasting and listening for study rooms.

🔄 Intelligent Resource Management

LAN discovery automatically pauses whenever users navigate away from the Study Rooms interface and resumes only when necessary.

Networking services also terminate automatically during logout, reducing unnecessary resource usage.

🔒 Privacy & Local Security

All room discovery remains confined to the local network.

No personal information or academic data is transmitted over the internet, preserving the application's commitment to privacy and offline operation.

🏛️ Architecture Progress

Apex represents the project's transition from a personal productivity application into a collaborative academic platform.

Major architectural milestones include:

  • Academic identity management
  • Local network communication
  • Automatic service discovery
  • Thread-safe networking
  • Database schema evolution
  • Offline collaborative infrastructure
  • Modular networking layer

These additions establish the foundation for future collaborative capabilities while maintaining the lightweight architecture introduced in previous releases.

💻 Compatibility

Platform Status
Windows ✅ Verified
macOS 🟢 Supported
Linux 🟢 Supported

Python: 3.8+

Dependencies:

  • Pillow

Network Requirements:

  • UDP Port 50505
  • Local Area Network (LAN)

👥 Contributors

Name Role
Mohammad Sufiyan Aasim System Architecture, LAN Module, Database Schema & Documentation
Taha Siddiqui Networking & Cyber Security — LAN Design Review

🏁 Release Summary

With the introduction of LAN Study Rooms and Academic Profiles, Apex significantly expands Smart Study Planner beyond individual productivity. Students can now organize, discover, and collaborate within their local academic environment while maintaining complete control over their data through an offline-first architecture.

This release represents the most feature-complete and collaborative version of Smart Study Planner, providing a strong foundation for future innovations in academic productivity, networking, and intelligent study management.

Assets 3
Loading