Name: WebWatcher
Author: IVG Design

This page describes every control in the WebWatcher Settings window: what it does, its default, and when to change it. Settings apply to the whole app. Options that belong to one watcher, such as its check interval or its notification text, are in the watcher options reference.

#Open Settings

Click the WebWatcher icon in the menu bar.

Watchers are listed at the top. Add Watcher, Check All Now, Settings... and Quit are below them.

You seethe popover. Settings... is near the bottom.
Click Settings....

You seethe Settings window. It is one scrolling list of groups: General, Permissions, Defaults, Notifications, Gmail, Data and About.

A change takes effect as soon as you make it. Done closes the window; there is no separate save step.

#General

The General group controls how WebWatcher starts and how it opens pages.

Setting	What it does	Default	When to change it
Launch at login	Registers WebWatcher as a login item so it starts with your Mac.	Off.	Turn it on if you rely on watchers every day. Watchers only run while the app is running.
Show badge in menu bar	Stores your preference for a count on the menu bar icon.	On.	See the note below.
Reuse existing browser tab by domain	When you open a watcher's page, WebWatcher switches to a tab that is already on the same domain instead of opening a new tab.	On.	Turn it off if you keep several tabs of one site open and want the watcher's exact page in a tab of its own.

#Permissions

The Permissions group shows whether macOS lets WebWatcher do its job, and gives you a button to fix each permission. For what each one is for and how to grant it, see Permissions.

Control	What it does
Open System Automation Settings	Opens the Automation list in System Settings, where you allow WebWatcher to control Safari.
Refresh	Reads the permissions again. Use it after you change something in System Settings.
Notifications	Shows whether macOS allows WebWatcher to post notifications. The button reads Fix when it does not and Open when it does.
Safari Automation	Shows whether WebWatcher may send Apple Events to Safari. The button reads Check until the permission is granted.
Default browser Automation	The same check for your default browser, named in the row, such as Google Chrome Automation. The row is shown only when your default browser is not Safari.

#Defaults

The Defaults group holds two pickers.

Setting	Options	Default
Default check interval	15 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute, 2 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes or 30 minutes.	30 seconds.
Page load delay	2, 3, 5, 10 or 15 seconds.	2 seconds.

Both values are saved but not applied by the current build, as the note under General explains.

#Notifications

The Notifications group chooses which service shows your notifications.

#Deliver notifications via

Option	What it does	Choose it when
Herald when available	Sends each notification to Herald while Herald is running, and to macOS when it is not. This is the default.	You use Herald, or you might later. Without Herald the result is the same as the other option.
macOS notifications	Always uses Notification Center, even while Herald is running.	You want WebWatcher's banners to stay in Notification Center.

The status line under the picker tells you which path is in use right now:

Status line	Meaning
"Herald: running (port 47321)"	Herald answered. The port number is the one Herald listens on and can differ on your Mac.
"Herald not running — using macOS notifications"	Herald did not answer, so notifications go to macOS.

See Herald delivery for what Herald adds.

#Open System Notification Settings

This button opens the Notifications pane of System Settings. Banner style, sounds and grouping for macOS notifications are set there, not in WebWatcher.

#Gmail

The Gmail group lists the Google accounts WebWatcher can read and how often it asks Gmail for new mail. You need it only if you use Gmail sender watchers.

#Accounts

Each connected account is one row.

Control	What it does	Default
Status line	Shows "Monitoring", the unread count such as "3 unread", "Not connected — reconnect in Settings", or "Error:" followed by the reason.
Switch	Pauses or resumes checking this account without removing it.	On.
× button	Removes the account from WebWatcher.
Notify for every new email	Notifies you about every message that reaches this account's Inbox, not only mail from the senders you set up watchers for.	Off.
Reconnect	Appears only when the account has an error. It runs the Google sign-in again for the same account.

#Add Gmail Account and Poll interval

Control	What it does	Default
Add Gmail Account	Opens Google's sign-in page in your browser. See Sign in with Google.
Poll interval	Sets how often WebWatcher asks Gmail for new mail: 30 seconds, 1, 2, 5 or 10 minutes. One value applies to every account. The picker appears once an account is connected.	1 minute.

#Advanced: use your own Google OAuth client

This row expands to show which Google OAuth client WebWatcher signs in with. Most people never open it. Use it if you build WebWatcher yourself, or if you prefer your own Google Cloud project. The steps are in Sign in with Google.

Control	What it does
Import client JSON…	Reads the client file you downloaded from Google Cloud Console.
Enter manually…	Opens a sheet with Client ID and Client secret fields, for when you have the values but not the file.
Import	Appears when WebWatcher finds a client file in your Downloads folder, and imports that file.
Remove	Deletes your client so WebWatcher goes back to its built-in one.

#Data

The Data group shows where your watchers are stored and has two maintenance buttons.

Control	What it does
Config location	Shows the folder that holds your watchers: `~/Library/Application Support/WebWatcher/`.
Open Config Folder	Opens that folder in Finder. Copy `watchers.json` from it to back up your watchers.
Clear Saved Cookies/Sessions	Deletes the website data stored by WebWatcher's own web view. It does not sign you out of anything in Safari, and it does not delete watchers.

Data and privacy lists every file the app writes.

#About

The About group shows the app's name and its version. Quote that version when you report a problem.

#If it does not work

What you see	Cause	Fix
A Permissions row does not read Granted after you allowed it.	The window read the status before you changed it.	Click Refresh.
The status line reads "Herald not running — using macOS notifications".	Herald is not open.	Open Herald. WebWatcher uses it from the next notification.
Add Gmail Account is dimmed, with "This build has no Google client configured — see Advanced below."	You are running a build without a Google OAuth client.	Import one under Advanced: use your own Google OAuth client.
An account reads "Error:" and a Reconnect button appears.	Google ended the session. This happens every 7 days if your own OAuth client is in Testing mode.	Click Reconnect and sign in again.