What's Happening?
A persistent timeline strip that pins your day to the top of your screen. Your schedule comes to you — not the other way around.
Windows Mac OS Linux User GuideAbout This App
What's Happening? is a free, open-source desktop application that displays your upcoming calendar events as a persistent timeline strip pinned to the top of your screen. It is designed for people who want ambient schedule awareness without switching windows or checking a separate calendar app.
Why Google Calendar access is needed: The app requests read-only access to your Google Calendar data (https://www.googleapis.com/auth/calendar.readonly) so it can retrieve your events and display them on the timeline. Authorization is handled entirely through Google's standard OAuth 2.0 flow — no passwords are ever seen by What's Happening?
How your data is used: Calendar event data is fetched directly from Google's servers to your local machine and is never transmitted to or stored by Gutstein Security Works LLC or any third party. Credentials are kept in your operating system's secure credential store. See the Privacy Policy below for full details.
Features
Your day, always in frame.
Always-on Strip
A slim bar lives at the top of your primary display, above all other windows — perpetual awareness without alt-tabbing to a calendar.
Events Come to You
Time flows right-to-left toward the fixed "Now" indicator. Events approach; you don't hunt for them. Countdowns turn amber, then red when transitions are near.
Google Calendar Sync
Connects via standard OAuth2. Your calendar data flows directly from Google to your machine — never through our servers.
Smart Hover
Hovering an event stabilizes its hit-zone so you can click JOIN or OPEN without accidentally triggering adjacent events.
Customizable
Dark, light, or system theme. 8, 12, or 24-hour view windows. Per-calendar visibility. Font scaling. All in the gear menu.
Efficient
Calendar syncs every 5 minutes; countdown updates every second. Animations pause during idle periods to keep resource use minimal.
How It Works
Up and running in minutes.
Download & Install — grab the latest release from your app store and install.
Sign in with Google — the standard OAuth2 flow opens in your browser. No passwords touch What's Happening?
Pick your calendars — choose which calendars appear on the strip via the gear icon.
Watch the day unfold — the strip sits at the top of your screen and your schedule flows toward you in real time.
Privacy Policy
Gutstein Security Works LLC ("we," "our," or "us") provides the What's Happening? application. We are committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring you have a positive experience when using our app.
1. Data Accessed
What's Happening? requests read-only access to your Google Calendar data via the https://www.googleapis.com/auth/calendar.readonly scope. This allows the app to retrieve:
- Calendar event titles, start and end times, and locations
- Meeting URLs (e.g., Google Meet or Zoom links) embedded in event descriptions
- The list of calendars associated with your Google account
The app does not access your Google contacts, email, Drive files, or any data outside of calendar events.
2. Data Usage
Calendar data retrieved from Google is used solely to render the timeline strip on your screen. Specifically:
- Event details are displayed on the timeline strip in real time.
- Meeting URLs are used to populate the JOIN button for quick access.
- No calendar data is analyzed, profiled, or used for any purpose other than display.
All calendar data is stored and processed locally on your device. It is never uploaded to, consumed by, or processed by any remote service, including any service operated by Gutstein Security Works LLC.
OAuth tokens issued by Google are used exclusively to authenticate requests to the Google Calendar API on your behalf.
3. Data Sharing
We do not share your Google user data with any third party. Calendar event data flows directly from Google's servers to your local machine. It is never transmitted to Gutstein Security Works LLC servers, advertising networks, analytics providers, or any other external party.
4. Authorization Method — PKCE & the Happening Proxy
What's Happening? uses PKCE (Proof Key for Code Exchange, RFC 7636) combined with a minimal stateless proxy to authorize with Google Calendar without embedding a client_secret in the app binary. The proxy acts solely as a secret injector during the OAuth token exchange — it is stateless, stores nothing, and has no access to your calendar data. A random state token generated per sign-in guards against CSRF attacks.
See the full technical explanation and authorization flow diagram ›
5. Data Storage & Protection
What's Happening? stores the minimum data necessary for operation, entirely on your local device. No calendar data is ever transmitted to or stored by any remote service.
- OAuth access & refresh tokens: Stored using flutter_secure_storage, which delegates to your operating system's native secure credential store — Keychain on macOS, Credential Manager on Windows, and libsecret / Secret Service on Linux. Tokens are encrypted at rest by the OS and are never written to plain-text files or app-level storage.
- Calendar event cache: A short-lived in-memory cache is used to avoid redundant API calls between the 5-minute sync intervals. No event data is persisted to disk.
We do not operate any servers that receive or store your Google user data.
6. Data Retention & Deletion
Because all data is stored locally on your device, you are in full control of its lifecycle:
- OAuth tokens: Revoke access at any time from your Google Account permissions page. Uninstalling the app also removes locally stored tokens.
- Cached event data: Held in memory only for the duration of the app session; cleared automatically when the app exits.
We retain no copies of your data on our end, so there is nothing for us to delete on your behalf. If you have questions about the local data stored by the app, contact us at happening@gs.works.
7. Third-Party Services (Google APIs)
What's Happening? uses Google APIs to display your calendar information. Authentication is handled entirely through Google's standard OAuth 2.0 flow — no passwords are ever seen by What's Happening? Use of Google APIs is also subject to Google's Privacy Policy.
8. Permissions
The app may request the following permissions to function:
- Internet Access: Required to sync with your calendar providers.
- Launch at Startup: Optionally used to ensure your timeline is available when you log in.
9. Changes to This Policy
We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be reflected by updating the "Last Updated" date at the top of this policy.
10. Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at: happening@gs.works
Terms of Use
What's Happening? is free, open-source software distributed under the GNU General Public License v3.0. By downloading, installing, or using this software, you agree to the terms of the GPLv3.
Your Rights
- Use — Run the software for any purpose.
- Study — Access and inspect the source code.
- Share — Distribute copies of the software.
- Modify — Improve the software and distribute your modified versions.
Your Obligations (if you redistribute)
- You must make the complete source code available under the GPLv3.
- You must preserve all copyright and license notices.
- Any modifications must also be released under the GPLv3 ("copyleft").
No Warranty
This software is provided "as is," without warranty of any kind, express or implied. Gutstein Security Works LLC is not liable for any damages arising from the use of this software. See sections 15–16 of the GPLv3 for the full disclaimer.
Full License Text
The complete GPLv3 license text is included in the LICENSE file in the source repository and is also available at gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.
Contact
Questions about licensing or terms? Reach us at happening@gs.works