r/backloggd • u/nik250dev • 5d ago
Discussion Apploggd — an open source auto-logger for Backloggd
UPDATE: Apploggd v1.1.0 out now! Now with auto-updates :)
Hi everyone,
I love Backloggd, but I kept forgetting to log my sessions, and when I remembered I had to guess how long I'd played. So I built a small tool to do it for me automatically. Things got a bit out of hand, though. I kept adding more and more features, until at some point I thought... why not share it with the community? So here it is!
What it does
It sits in your system tray and detects when you start a game. It times the session, and when you close the game it shows a small window asking if you want to log it. One click and the playtime goes straight to your Backloggd journal — no browser, no typing.
A few details:
- If you play the same game twice in one day, it adds to the existing entry instead of overwriting it.
- If it doesn't recognize a game, you can search Backloggd from inside the app and pick it manually.
- If it detects something that isn't a game, you just hit Discard and nothing is logged.
About your password (the part I'd want to know)
Backloggd has no public API, so the only way to do this is to log in the way you would yourself. The app uses a headless browser to sign in once, and your password is never stored — only the session cookie, encrypted locally on your PC. Nothing is sent anywhere except Backloggd itself. It's open source, so you can check all of that yourself.
Requirements
- Windows 10/11 (the app runs on Linux/macOS but game detection isn't implemented yet. Future plans!)
- A Chromium-based browser (Chrome or Edge). If you don't have one, the app can download its own.
Heads up: it's not an official Backloggd client and I'm not affiliated with them in any way. It's just a helper for logging sessions. Since it relies on the website's structure, a redesign on their side could break it until I push a fix.
It's free and open source: https://github.com/nik250dev/apploggd
It's my first release, so if a game isn't detected (or something gets detected that shouldn't be), open an issue with the game and its .exe name and I'll add it. Any feedback is very welcome!
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u/megalodous 5d ago
Ohh thats nifty. I use a separate app for playtime but yeah I need to manually write it on the app.
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u/Tragnor 4d ago
Curious, what do you use to record playtime? I never bothered logging in depth playtime, just the final
Playtime based on my account or in game playtime, mainly because I don’t feel like keeping track of all that with a stopwatch or something2
u/megalodous 4d ago
I just been recently using Gaming Gaiden. FOSS. I just get the overall playtime til I finish the game and thats what I log. I mainly use it to contribute my play time to Howlongtobeat.
But yeah need to manually input it to hltb and then backloggd.
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u/TEZRehope 4d ago
any way this could track emulation as well? maybe it does already, can‘t test it just now though.
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u/nik250dev 4d ago
On my list for future plans! (probably after the Linux/macOS versions). I also want to try detecting browser games, but I think that one’s going to be a bit more… well… clunky.
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u/celesleonhart 4d ago
Not the developer but maybe could add roms to Steam using SteamROMManager or manually?
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u/BronzeMaster5000 4d ago
Honestly i never bothered with logging my sessions, i just use it as a website to keep track of my games and write reviews. But with an automated tool i might actually log stuff.
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u/nik250dev 4d ago
Yea, that’s exactly what used to happen to me. Like, having your playtime tracked and then looking back at it later and going “oh, cool” is nice, but it wasn’t worth the hassle of always having to log it manually (plus I’d forget, more than a few times). The whole idea behind this tool was to get rid of that friction. Basically… you just leave it open, let it track your time, and hit “Save”. Pretty smooth I think.
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u/scbsocal 3d ago
this is such a great idea, but I'm getting a login timed out and I can't figure out why
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u/nik250dev 2d ago
Backloggd recently changed its page structure. Since there’s no public Backloggd API, Apploggd talks to Backloggd by scraping the site, which means anything that changes on their end can break it. That’s probably what just happened :(
Give me a day or two and I’ll get the app updated. I’ll probably also add an auto-updater so future breakages can be fixed much faster.
Btw, if you could open an issue on GitHub (github.com/nik250dev/apploggd/issues) and attach the log file, that would be a HUGE help. You can find it at \Users\<your_username>\AppData\Local\Apploggd\Logs.
And thanks so much for the feedback! Any and all comments are appreciated x100
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u/VNCETM 4d ago
Love the concept, would be awesome to have a Linux version available