blitztext-app-linux/linux/CHANGELOG.md
mARTin-B78 2d777382f5 Settings accessibility: per-tab info boxes + tooltips; complete 1.2.0 changelog
Add a plain-language info box to the top of every Settings tab (Presets,
Engines, Input, General, Benchmark, Log, About), exposed to screen readers, and
tooltips (wired to ATK descriptions) on the preset, general, and input-mode
controls — for non-technical and blind users (barrierefrei).

Complete the unreleased 1.2.0 changelog with the engine manager, Benchmark tab,
custom audio cues, Log tab, click-to-bind hotkeys, the GTK rebuild, voice
routing, the modifier hotkey scheme, and the quality gate.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-06-06 09:48:35 +02:00

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# Changelog
All notable changes to **Blitztext for Linux** (the native dictation tool in
`linux/`) are documented here. The format follows
[Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.1.0/), and this project
adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
The version is defined in [`blitztext/__init__.py`](blitztext/__init__.py).
## [Unreleased]
## [1.2.0] - 2026-06-05
### Added
- **Wyoming Wakeword Support**: Complete hands-free integration via Wyoming protocol (e.g., openWakeWord), with live configuration testing and model fetching in the UI.
- **ATK Screen Reader Accessibility**: Fully mapped GTK labels, inputs, tooltips, and properties to the ATK bridge, enabling seamless navigation for blind users via screen readers like Orca.
- **Drag-and-Drop Workflow Ordering**: Workflows in the main tray menu can now be reordered via native drag-and-drop.
- **Voice Activity Detection (VAD) Auto-Stop**: Dictation now automatically stops after detecting 2.5 seconds of silence, removing the need to manually click Stop.
- **Audio Feedback**: Added audible start/stop/cancel chimes mapping to system-native alert sounds.
- **Benchmark Autocomplete**: The Benchmark UI automatically fills in the reference `.txt` transcript if it matches the selected audio file.
- **Realtime STT streaming mode**: new `mode = "stream"` workflow support and a
`riva_realtime` STT engine for Riva/NIM WebSocket transcription, including a
Settings shortcut for Nemotron ASR Streaming on `http://127.0.0.1:8006/v1`.
- **Settings About tab** with the app version, source link, changelog, and
license text.
- **STT & LLM engine manager**: add, rename, and delete engine presets, each
with an online/offline status dot, a per-engine type (local/cloud), and a
**searchable model dropdown** populated from the server's `/models` (with a
reload button). Local Whisper device/precision now live with the STT engine.
- **Benchmark tab**: run a reference clip through every STT engine and compare
**time**, **case-sensitive accuracy** (WER), and a **CPU/GPU/remote device**
column, with the fastest and most accurate highlighted.
- **Custom audio cues**: pick your own WAV files to play when recording starts
and stops (covers stop+paste, stop+paste+Enter, and silence auto-stop), each
with play-test and clear-to-default buttons. Built-in system sounds otherwise.
- **Settings Log tab**: a live activity log (model load/download, transcriptions,
errors) with Copy and Clear, so a long "Loading…" is no longer opaque.
- **Per-tab info boxes** and expanded **tooltips** across Settings, written in
plain language and exposed to screen readers (ATK) — for non-technical and
blind users (barrierefrei).
- **Click-to-bind hotkeys**: a *Set* button captures the next keypress (including
modifier-only chords like Ctrl+Win) into any hotkey field.
### Changed
- **GUI rebuilt in GTK 3** (replacing tkinter): a native GNOME panel unified with
the tray, with the Ubuntu font and a dropdown+editor pattern in Settings.
- **Voice-keyword routing** and a **modifier hotkey scheme** (Ctrl+Win start,
Ctrl stop+paste, Alt stop+paste+Enter, Esc cancel) replace per-preset combos as
the default way to dictate.
- **Quality gate** rejects silent/too-short clips and stock Whisper
hallucinations before they reach the screen.
## [1.1.0] - 2026-06-04
### Added
- **Debian package** (`packaging/build-deb.sh`) producing an installable
`blitztext_<ver>_arm64.deb` with a desktop entry, app icon, and a `blitztext`
launcher. Installs via the Software app or `apt install ./…deb`. Bundles a
relocatable venv with all Python deps (no pip/network at install) and declares
system deps (python3-gi, xdotool, libnotify-bin, a recorder) so they pull in
automatically. The bundled venv is built on the system `/usr/bin/python3`, so
the tray works out of the box.
### Notes
- `python3-gi` is already present on a standard Ubuntu GNOME install; the tray
only seemed unavailable from source when the project venv was built from a
non-system Python (e.g. conda/miniforge). The `.deb` avoids this entirely.
## [1.0.1] - 2026-06-03
### Changed
- Redesigned the control-panel window: minimal flat layout, Ubuntu font
throughout, clickable workflow rows with hover (click to record / stop),
subtle dividers, and text-style Settings/Quit actions. Dropped the monogram
avatars and per-row buttons in favour of a cleaner, simpler look. The Settings
window picks up the same font and styling.
## [1.0.0] - 2026-06-03
First release of the Linux port. The upstream project is a macOS-only menu-bar
app (Swift/SwiftUI, CoreML/WhisperKit) that cannot run on Linux or in a
container; this is a native host tool that reproduces the workflow — focus any
text field, press a hotkey, speak, and the (optionally rewritten) text is typed
into that field.
### Added
- **Native dictation engine** (`daemon.py`): global hotkeys via pynput, each
hotkey toggles record → transcribe → optional rewrite → deliver.
- **Local transcription** via faster-whisper (`transcribe.py`); `device="auto"`
tries CUDA and falls back to CPU `int8` (CPU-only on this arm64 host).
- **Microphone recording** (`recorder.py`) through pw-record / parecord /
arecord — 16 kHz mono WAV, no Python audio bindings required.
- **Optional LLM rewrite** (`rewrite.py`) against any OpenAI-compatible endpoint
(OpenAI, or a local vLLM / llama-swap), configurable per workflow.
- **Typing into the focused window** via xdotool (`paste.py`): `type` directly
or `paste` through the clipboard; re-activates the target window first.
- **Configurable workflows** (`config.py`) in `~/.config/blitztext/config.toml`,
with five defaults (Transcribe, Nicer email, Improve text, Calm down, Add
emojis), per-workflow prompt/model/temperature overrides, and a TOML writer.
- **Control-panel window** (`gui.py`, tkinter): workflow rows with monogram
avatars, hotkey badges, per-row Record buttons, a live status dot, and a
Settings window that edits config and can Save & Restart.
- **System-tray mode** (`tray.py`, AppIndicator): macOS-menu-bar-style status
icon with a menu to trigger each workflow, Show panel, Settings…, and Quit;
shares one daemon/model/hotkey set with the window. Falls back to the window
with an install hint when PyGObject is absent.
- **CLI** (`__main__.py`): `tray` (default), `gui`, `run`, `transcribe`,
`config-path`, and `--version`.
- **Packaging**: `install.sh` (venv with `--system-site-packages`),
`requirements.txt`, and a `blitztext.service` systemd user unit.
### Notes
- Targets an **X11** session (uses xdotool); Wayland would need ydotool/wtype.
- System tray requires a one-time `sudo apt install python3-gi` (the GTK /
AppIndicator typelibs and GNOME `ubuntu-appindicators` extension are already
present on the target host).
[Unreleased]: https://github.com/mARTin-B78/blitztext-app-linux/compare/v1.1.0...HEAD
[1.1.0]: https://github.com/mARTin-B78/blitztext-app-linux/compare/v1.0.1...v1.1.0
[1.0.1]: https://github.com/mARTin-B78/blitztext-app-linux/compare/v1.0.0...v1.0.1
[1.0.0]: https://github.com/mARTin-B78/blitztext-app-linux/releases/tag/v1.0.0