@wtfisquantum

• finally got the built-in music player working, and honestly, this might be my favourite addition to MNT so far. the idea is simple: you shouldn’t need to open spotify or another music app just to find and play the music you want. search for a track directly inside your dashboard and enjoy your music without leaving your workspace
• spent quite a bit of time researching music APIs, figuring out the integration and building the entire player experience from scratch. getting the search, track information and playback flow to work together properly took more effort than i initially expected
• designed a dedicated music player interface that fits naturally into the existing MNT aesthetic instead of looking like an external widget pasted into the dashboard
• implemented a glassmorphism-inspired UI with translucent surfaces, subtle blur effects and layered elements to give the player a more polished, modern appearance
• added a rotating circular album-art design that gives the player that classic spinning CD vibe while music is playing
• also implemented an animated audio equalizer to make the interface feel more alive and provide visual feedback during playback
• refined the component layout, spacing, typography and animations to make everything feel cohesive with the rest of the dashboard
• fixed a few remaining issues across the PWA, polished some existing interactions and made sure the new music player fits properly into the standalone app experience
• did another round of testing and cleanup to make the overall application feel more complete, with search, productivity tools, customization, RGB mode and music all accessible from one place

ngl, this took a lot longer than i expected, and i’ve now spent around 20 hours on this project, but trust me, this feature was worth it :’)

MNT started as a minimal new tab page, but it’s slowly turning into my own little personal workspace. no need to keep opening different apps for every little thing when i can bring the useful stuff together in one place.

finally wrapped up this update, fixed the remaining bugs and got everything ready in the standalone PWA. hope you enjoy using it as much as i enjoyed building it! if you get a chance to try it out, i’d really appreciate a rating and some feedback. ❤️

• continued working on the customization system and finished the custom background flow properly, so users can now add their own images and use them directly as the dashboard background
• also made sure the custom background works nicely with the existing rgb mode, so the background can still have the rgb lighting effects on top of it without breaking the overall look
• after getting the customization side working, i converted the whole project into a proper standalone PWA
• this means MNT can now be installed and used more like an actual lightweight desktop app instead of having to keep opening it through the browser every time
• added the necessary PWA setup and made sure the application can run independently while still keeping all the existing local data, preferences and customizations intact
• honestly this makes the whole idea of MNT make much more sense to me now. instead of opening a browser just to start doing everything, you can just open MNT directly and have your search, todos, shortcuts, news, map, battery info and custom dashboard all sitting there in one lightweight app
• i’m still working on a few more ideas to push this further. one of the things i’m experimenting with is adding a proper music player directly into MNT so you can play your own songs from the same dashboard instead of having to open another service every time
• basically trying to slowly turn this from a new tab page into a small personal desktop workspace :D

there’s still a lot more i want to add, but the standalone PWA setup feels like a pretty big step for the project. more features coming soon :)

Started working on a new godmode feature for the dashboard, basically taking the customization side of the new tab a step further and giving users much more control over how everything looks

• also went back to the existing rgb mode and improved it with smoother transitions and better color handling so it feels more like an actual ambient rgb setup instead of just a simple color effect
• the biggest thing i worked on this time was a custom background uploader. built the uploader from scratch so users can pick their own image and use it directly as the new tab background
• instead of relying on a server or uploading the image somewhere externally, the selected image is converted to base64 and stored locally in the browser, which means the background stays available even after closing and reopening the new tab
• spent quite a bit of time making the loading process efficient so larger background images don’t make the whole dashboard feel slow or unusable. the image is loaded directly from local storage and rendered back into the background whenever the page starts
• added the required state handling around uploading, replacing and restoring the custom background so switching between the default background and a personal image doesn’t break the rest of the dashboard
• honestly this was probably the most fun feature i’ve built for MNT so far. seeing the entire dashboard transform just by dropping in a custom image makes it feel much more like an actual personal workspace rather than just another new tab page :)
• i’m also working on another part of the godmode system where users will be able to customize individual cards, backgrounds and other visual parts of the dashboard through a dedicated sidebar
• the sidebar customization system is still in progress, but the basic structure is already being worked on and i’m hoping to make the whole dashboard feel almost completely customizable in the next few updates

there’s still a lot more to build around this, but honestly MNT is starting to become way more interesting than what i originally planned it to be :D

• added a fun little rgb mode to the new tab because why not :)
• the idea is to make the dashboard blend in with your rgb setup, so if you have rgb lights on your keyboard, mouse or pc, you can match the new tab’s colors with them and get that full rgb setup vibe
• kept it as a purely visual feature with some subtle color effects so it still feels like the same minimal dashboard underneath
• honestly added this mostly because it looked cool and i wanted to have a little fun with the project :D

• went a little overboard with this one and spent quite a lot of time improving the project after getting feedback that it could use a bit more depth and functionality
• expanded the news section so it no longer shows just a single article. added a proper news carousel with navigation controls, indicators and multiple stories that can be browsed directly from the dashboard
• getting the carousel to fit naturally into the existing minimal design was actually more annoying than expected. had to rework the layout, add the bottom indicators and build separate previous/next controls without making the section feel too heavy
• added subtle fade-in animations while switching between news stories so the content transitions feel smoother instead of changing instantly
• replaced the old Leaflet background tile layer after the previous provider’s API access stopped working due to an expired key. switched the project over to a different tile source and reconfigured the map so the location-aware background keeps working
• spent some time testing the map again after the tile provider change and made sure the new layer still works properly with the existing location detection and background setup
• added one of the more personal features to the dashboard too: a small laptop battery status panel in the top section that shows the current battery percentage, charging state and other available battery information
• the idea was pretty simple because my laptop’s battery is absolutely cooked and drains way too quickly 😭 so now i can just glance at the new tab and immediately see how much battery i have left and whether it’s charging
• also polished a bunch of smaller UI details around these features, cleaned up some component logic and made sure the new additions still fit the original minimal design instead of turning the dashboard into a completely overloaded interface
• spent the remaining time testing the updated dashboard and fixing small rendering and animation issues that came up while putting everything together

there’s actually another feature i’m working on right now which i’m pretty excited about, but i’ll save that one for the next devlog. hopefully i can get it finished soon and add it to the project properly :)

and yes, the ultimate goal is still getting that macbook somehow, so apparently even my new tab page is now part of the grind :)

• Continued polishing the dashboard and worked on making the dynamic background experience more reliable
• Improved the Leaflet map integration and fixed the issue where map state and configuration were not being persisted properly between sessions
• Added local persistence for the relevant map and user preferences so the new tab experience can retain its previous state instead of resetting everything on every reload
• Refined several existing components and cleaned up their internal logic to make them easier to reuse across the dashboard
• Improved the styling of the search section, shortcuts and other dashboard elements with better spacing, typography and alignment
• Made a few adjustments to the background map so it stays visually subtle while still providing the location-aware effect behind the interface
• Fixed some small state and rendering issues that appeared when switching between different sections and reopening the new tab
• Added a few minor interaction improvements across the dashboard and cleaned up some leftover CSS and component logic
• Spent some time testing the complete flow with fresh sessions and existing local data to make sure the application behaves consistently in both cases
• Overall, focused this session on making the existing features feel more polished, persistent and reliable rather than adding another major feature

Continued working on the existing lookup system and made a few more improvements to both the frontend and backend

• Expanded the WHOIS integration further and added more of the raw registry information into the processed response
• The WHOIS section can now surface details such as the inetnum/IP range, network name, organization, country, abuse contact, admin and technical contacts, ASN, route and origin AS, along with the relevant registry information
• For example, an APNIC response can now expose information like the 2.2.2.2 - 2.2.255.255 address range, organization details, abuse mailbox, AS55836 route information and the corresponding network contacts instead of showing only basic IP metadata
• Refined the WHOIS parsing and presentation so the large responses are filtered and displayed in a much more readable format
• Worked on the backend again to make the lookup pipeline more reliable and prepared the system for the bigger location and website-tracking direction i’m planning to take this project towards
• Ran into another unexpected issue with the map tile provider, which recently started requiring an API key for requests even though the same setup had been working without one before. since buying a key isn’t really an option for this project, i’m currently looking into alternative tile providers that can work reliably without introducing another paid dependency
• Also ran into a few deployment issues while putting the updated backend and frontend online, but tracked them down, fixed the server-side and frontend build issues and got the complete application deployed successfully
• Did a final pass over the lookup flow, WHOIS data rendering and the rest of the interface to make sure everything was working together properly

and that’s basically it for this version. the WHOIS system is now fully integrated and the project is live again. i’m also working on turning this into something more useful than just an IP lookup tool, with a proper location and website tracking workflow planned for the next few updates. :)

• Continued working on the WHOIS integration and completed the main lookup flow, with the returned data now being properly processed and rendered inside the application
• Fixed an issue where some WHOIS responses contained special characters and percentage-encoded values that were being rendered directly as text, causing formatting issues. Added filtering and cleanup so these values are handled properly before reaching the UI
• Improved the overall WHOIS presentation with better typography, spacing and visual hierarchy so the large amount of returned information feels easier to scan
• Added more useful WHOIS information, including relevant registration and contact details that could help when looking for the appropriate organization or ISP contact for reporting network-related issues
• Made a few improvements to the Leaflet map experience as well, particularly around map spanning and tile loading performance
• Switched the map tile delivery to a faster CDN to reduce loading delays and make the interactive map feel more responsive
• Started experimenting with a proper theme toggle for the application. The initial approach uses CSS filters to test the dark/light transition, although image and color inversion still causes a few visual issues that need to be cleaned up
• The next step is to replace the experimental theme approach with a more reliable implementation and polish the remaining edge cases

also started thinking about the bigger direction of the project. instead of keeping it purely as an educational IP intelligence experience, i’m considering turning it into an actual service that people could use for real networking, IP intelligence or troubleshooting workflows. still exploring the possibilities, but i think there could be something much more useful to build on top of what is already here.

• Started expanding the lookup experience beyond the existing Geolocation, System Context and Network sections by working on a complete WHOIS lookup system
• Researched how WHOIS data is structured and what kind of information can be extracted from IP registration records
• Explored and tested multiple APIs for retrieving WHOIS information and worked through the deployment and integration requirements
• Ran into a few CORS-related issues while testing the external services, so I spent some time debugging the requests and figuring out a reliable way to access the data from the frontend
• Eventually deployed my own API layer to handle the WHOIS requests and integrated that service into the application
• Started successfully retrieving WHOIS information for the searched IP addresses, including registration and network-related details
• Began designing the new WHOIS section so the returned information can be presented in a clean and readable way instead of dumping the raw API response
• Added the initial UI structure and data components for organizing the different WHOIS fields and making the information easier to understand
• Tested the complete flow from IP lookup - WHOIS API - processed response - formatted UI and fixed a few issues along the way

there’s still more i want to do with the WHOIS section, especially around organizing and explaining some of the returned fields, but the core lookup and integration are now working properly and the next step is mostly about polishing the experience.

• Expanded the project by introducing a personal productivity layer, making it more than just an IP intelligence dashboard. Started building features that users can actually interact with every day instead of only performing IP lookups.

• Implemented a complete Todo Manager where users can:

  • Create new tasks
  • Edit existing tasks
  • Mark tasks as completed with visual feedback
  • Delete completed or unnecessary tasks
  • Persist everything locally so tasks remain available even after refreshing or reopening the application

• Designed the todo interface to blend naturally with the rest of the application, keeping the same cards, spacing, typography and interaction patterns so it feels like a native part of the dashboard rather than an additional widget.

• Added a customizable Homescreen Shortcuts section that allows users to save frequently visited websites directly inside the dashboard. The feature supports:

  • Adding custom shortcuts
  • Editing existing shortcuts
  • Removing shortcuts
  • Local persistence using browser storage so every user’s personalized workspace is restored automatically

• Refined the component architecture behind these new modules to keep the codebase modular and easier to extend with additional dashboard widgets in future updates.

• Improved the visual consistency across the entire application by revisiting spacing, typography, borders, hover effects and component alignment. Focused on making every section feel like part of one cohesive experience instead of multiple independent pages.

• Reworked the dashboard background by replacing static visuals with a dynamic location-aware experience. The application now automatically fetches the user’s current public IP, determines the approximate location and renders the corresponding Leaflet map directly in the background.

• Fine-tuned the map presentation so it acts as a subtle visual element rather than distracting from the main interface, creating a cleaner and more immersive experience while still giving each user a unique background based on their own location.

• Performed another round of UI polish, bug fixes and responsiveness improvements to ensure the newly added dashboard features work smoothly across different screen sizes and integrate seamlessly with the existing lookup workflow.

• This update mainly focused on transforming the project from a simple networking utility into a more customizable and interactive dashboard while preserving the educational and technical foundation of the original idea.

• Wrapped up the final release and deployed the latest version to Vercel
• Updated the live deployment URL, README and project documentation to reflect all of the latest changes
• Added a few final educational sections explaining:
  • How geographic coordinates are determined from an IP address
  • Why IP lookups are usually so fast
  • How integer IP conversion works behind the scenes
  • The expected accuracy of different pieces of IP metadata
• Created a dedicated accuracy comparison table so users can easily understand which fields are highly reliable and which are only approximate
• Fixed a handful of deployment-related issues that appeared during the production build before successfully publishing the updated version
• Cleaned up the remaining codebase, pushed the final commits and verified the complete lookup flow one last time
• The project is now live with both the interactive lookup experience and the in-depth networking documentation working together in a single interface

really happy with how this turned out! if you get a chance to try it out, i’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback. there are already a few more ideas planned for future updates, so this definitely won’t be the last release :)

• Continued expanding the networking documentation by adding a dedicated section on Autonomous Systems (ASNs) and Border Gateway Protocol (BGP)
• Researched how internet routing actually works beyond simple IP ownership and documented the relationship between IP addresses, IP prefixes, ASNs and Internet Service Providers
• Added step-by-step explanations showing how routers determine the correct destination network instead of routing directly to individual IP addresses
• Built a visual flow diagram illustrating the complete lookup pipeline:
  • IP Address
  • IP Prefix
  • Origin Autonomous System
  • ISP / Organization
• Simplified several networking concepts into beginner-friendly explanations while keeping the technical details accurate
• Refined the typography, spacing and content hierarchy to improve readability across the documentation page
• Continued maintaining design consistency by reusing existing components and styling patterns throughout the blog
• Spent additional time validating routing examples and ASN information to ensure the documentation reflects real-world networking concepts as closely as possible
• This section now serves as the foundation for explaining how global internet traffic is routed before moving into more advanced networking topics

Continued expanding the What’s Your IP Human documentation with a few more in-depth networking concepts

• Researched Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) and added a dedicated section explaining how global IP address allocation works
• Collected the official names, logos and branding assets for each registry and integrated them into the page to make the content more visual and easier to follow
• Added another section covering WHOIS records, explaining what they are, what information they contain and how they’re commonly used during IP lookups
• Designed new information grids and data cards with consistent borders, icons and spacing to improve readability while maintaining the overall design language of the application
• Fixed the documentation flow so every section now references the currently searched IP address instead of placeholder values, making the explanations feel much more contextual and easier to understand
• Started documenting the fundamentals of Autonomous Systems (ASN) and BGP routing, laying the groundwork for explaining how IP traffic is routed across the internet
• Spent some time experimenting with different approaches for visualizing networking concepts, including Mermaid diagrams, React Flow, and pure CSS-based layouts before deciding on the final direction
• Continued refining the overall design consistency so the documentation feels like a natural extension of the main application rather than a separate page
• More interactive diagrams and networking sections are planned once the final visualization approach is finalized

• Wrapped up the remaining implementation work and cleaned up the entire codebase
• Fixed the remaining UI and CSS issues across the application
• Finished integrating all remaining React components and connected them with the existing data flow
• Completed the Leaflet map implementation and finalized the interactive location view
• Polished the overall lookup workflow to ensure everything works smoothly from search to map rendering
• Deployed the project to Vercel
• Ran into a deployment issue during the first build, tracked it down and resolved it, then successfully deployed the application
• Experimented with a clean light theme after deployment, but it didn’t feel quite right for the overall design
• Designed and implemented a complete dark theme and decided to make it the final look of the project
• Added the final polish, tested the complete application and verified that everything works as expected

finally calling this one done! hope you all enjoy using it, and if you get a chance to check it out, i’d love to hear what you think :)

spent some time giving the project a final polish before calling it done. cleaned up a few remaining ui inconsistencies, refactored parts of the component structure and simplified some of the rendering logic to make the codebase a bit easier to maintain.

also fixed a handful of small bugs around ip lookups, improved error handling for invalid inputs and polished loading and transition states throughout the application. made a few tweaks to spacing, typography and responsive layouts so everything feels more consistent across different screen sizes.

finished by doing another full pass over the project, removing some leftover code, improving overall stability and verifying the complete lookup workflow one last time before shipping.