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URL Tracking on Linux: How It Works in TimoDesk

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At TimoDesk, our goal is simple: give teams accurate, transparent time and activity tracking across Windows, macOS, and Linux.

URL tracking already works out of the box on Windows and macOS. For Linux, the approach is slightly different - and this post explains why, and how we handle it.

URL Tracking on Windows & macOS

On Windows and macOS, TimoDesk’s desktop app can directly detect:

  • Active browser
  • Current website URL
  • App/window focus changes

This gives you seamless URL tracking without any extra setup.

Nothing to install. Nothing to configure. It just works.

Why Linux Is Different

Linux is powerful - but it’s also highly decentralized. Different:

  • Desktop environments (GNOME, KDE, XFCE, etc.)
  • Window managers
  • Security models

Because of this, Linux does not provide a single, reliable system-level API to track browser URLs from a desktop app alone. So instead of doing something unstable or invasive, we chose a clean, secure, and user-controlled solution.

URL Tracking on Linux Using Browser Extensions

For Linux users, TimoDesk uses official browser extensions to track URLs accurately.

Supported Browsers
  • Google Chrome / Chromium
  • Mozilla Firefox
Official Extensions

Once installed, the extension securely sends:

  • Active tab URL
  • Domain name
  • Timestamp

to the TimoDesk desktop app - only when tracking is running.

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