RDP Heartbeat v2.0 Released — Rewritten in Native WinUI 3, All-New Visual Gallery
2026-05-15
Tags: Windows · RDP · Announcement · Products
The first version of RDP Heartbeat was written in Python. The goal was simple: place a breathing dot on screen so you can tell at a glance whether your RDP session is still alive. We wrote a post about how it came to be.
After using it for a while, the limitations of a Python desktop app — visual polish and resource usage — became hard to ignore. So we rewrote the entire app from scratch in native WinUI 3. Today, RDP Heartbeat v2.0 is released.
What Changed?
Native WinUI 3 Rewrite
No more Python + Tkinter. The new version is built on the WinUI 3 framework from the Windows App SDK — a genuine native Windows 11 app. Memory and CPU usage are significantly lower, animation frame rates are more stable, and the overall look is more consistent.
Visual Gallery
v1 had only a single-color breathing dot. v2 adds two new visual modes:
- Colorful Presets — 8 built-in dynamic gradient effects (Aurora, Neon, Dawn, Glacier, and more) with flowing, soap-bubble-like colors.
- Multi-Color Gradient — Define a custom list of colors, and the dot smoothly transitions between them.
If you prefer a single color, the original mode is still there.
Theme Switching
Light, Dark, and Follow System appearance modes are now supported. The settings window adapts to your desktop style.
Stability Improvements
The underlying redraw and anti-freeze mechanism has been re-optimized for more reliable long-term operation.
What Stayed the Same
The core idea hasn't changed: small, quiet, unobtrusive. Always on top, click-through, system tray with silent operation, auto-start on boot — all still here.
No internet connection, no data uploads, no telemetry. A purely local tool.
If you used the old version, this update is a noticeable upgrade. If you haven't tried it yet, v2 is a great place to start.