Development journal
How WorkTool is built and why it works the way it does. Every article describes the app as it actually is.
Development updates · · 2 min read
Where WorkTool stands: alpha build 0.2.0
What works, what was tested on real Windows 11 machines, what doesn't work yet, and what has to happen before the first public release.
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5 articles shown
- Engineering3 min read
How WorkTool holds other apps inside its window
SetParent, a layered host window, window regions for menus on top, and why notes are windows of their own.
- Engineering2 min read
Why Microsoft Store apps open in their own window
Two kinds of Store apps, two different reasons they can't be held by another app, and the crash that settled the question.
- Product2 min read
Closing a tab should close the app
Tray apps like Discord kept running after their tab closed. What WorkTool does now, and what it deliberately doesn't do.
- Product2 min read
Installing apps from inside WorkTool with winget and Scoop
Why WorkTool doesn't host downloads itself, how it sets up Scoop without Git, and how an installed app finds its way into the dock.
- Design2 min read
Designing WorkTool to feel like part of Windows 11
Why WorkTool is built on WinUI's own theme values instead of a web component library, and what that means for type, icons, motion and color.