MNT ~ Minimal New Tab

• 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

• 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 a number of remaining fixes and gave the overall interface another round of polishing
• Refined the search bar with a cleaner layout and improved interactions to make searching feel more natural
• Finalized the cyclic search engine toggle and ensured switching between providers works reliably
• Improved parts of the backend logic and cleaned up the codebase to make future development easier
• Continued implementing a few upcoming features, including the taskbar workflow and additional new tab interactions
• Expanded the search functionality inside the new tab experience and polished the overall user flow
• Switched the project typography to Rubik and made several CSS refinements for a cleaner, more modern appearance
• Updated and reorganized the project README with setup instructions, features and screenshots
• Finished another complete testing pass, fixed a handful of minor bugs and cleaned up leftover code
• Finally reached a point where the project is ready to publish 🚀

really happy with how this version turned out. i’ve still got a bunch of ideas i want to experiment with, but for now it’s time to ship and start collecting feedback before working on the next set of features :)

• Integrated the news fetching system using the Inshorts API to retrieve the latest technology news dynamically
• Connected the frontend with the API layer and implemented the initial data fetching workflow for displaying fresh headlines
• Refined the overall interface with several UI improvements, tweaking the layout and styling to give it a cleaner, more “new tab” inspired appearance
• Polished the CSS across multiple sections to improve spacing, visual consistency and readability
• Added persistent search engine preferences using localStorage, allowing the selected search provider to remain the default even after reopening the application
• Improved state initialization so previously saved preferences are restored automatically on page load
• Performed another round of cleanup and minor refinements while preparing the remaining features for the next development session

• Continued building the projects reusable UI foundation by implementing a few additional shared components and polishing their styling for a more consistent look and feel
• Built the primary search section that will act as the core interaction point of the application
• Implemented support for multiple search engines, including:
  • Google
  • DuckDuckGo
  • Bing
• Added the corresponding search URL generation logic for each provider so queries are routed correctly
• Developed a cyclic search engine selector that loops through the available providers with each click instead of relying on a traditional dropdown
• Refined the component state management to ensure the active search engine updates seamlessly throughout the interface
• Started integrating the external API that powers the application’s backend workflow and completed the initial implementation along with part of the request handling logic
• Cleaned up the surrounding code while preparing the remaining API integration for the next development session

started setting up the project from scratch today using the latest version of vite and cleaned out all the default boilerplate to keep the codebase lightweight. configured tailwindcss and organized the initial project structure so everything is ready for building the actual application.

after getting the foundation in place, i started designing and implementing a few reusable ui components that will be used throughout the project. built things like a digital clock component, pill badges, section headers and a few other shared elements while focusing on keeping the design clean, consistent and easy to extend. this should make building the rest of the interface much faster as the project grows.