Finally, Background Computer Use

Alter can work alongside you now :)

AuthorAuthor

Samuel ROY & Olivier Legris
July 03, 2026

Hey everyone,

We are thrilled to announce a game-changing new feature: Background Computer Use.

Until now, using AI to interact with your screen often meant pausing your own work. Not anymore. With Background Computer Use, Alter can now interact with your machine and handle complex tasks in the background while you continue working on other things.

Always know what Alter is doing

Background Computer Use is displayed by default as a Picture-in-Picture window so you can always keep an eye on what Alter is doing.

Pocket Calculator

Taking control of your experience


We’ve built a suite of settings to ensure this is seamless and secure:

  1. Browser Selection: You can choose which browser Alter uses (we recommend a separate one from your main browser for better organization).

  2. Privacy & Security: You can explicitly block specific apps—like your password manager—to ensure your most sensitive data remains private.

  3. Customizable Preview: Choose between a large or small preview window to keep an eye on Alter's progress without it getting in your way.

The magic of

Help us evolve
Background Computer Use is at the bleeding edge of technology. To help us make it perfect, we’ve added a "Show Trace" option. If something doesn't work as expected, please export the trace and send it to us. Your feedback is the fastest way for us to improve the system.

Cheers,
Olivier & Sam

Full Changelog

New Features & Enhancements

  • Background Computer Use: New tool that lets Alter operate apps in the background while you keep working — with a live preview card, dedicated agent browser with self-cleaning tabs, and optimizations for apps like Discord and Spotify.

  • Ask Anything defaults: Computer use, Flow, and Ask User are now default tools for new sessions.

  • Edge Bar: Inner-edge placement and updated reveal-distance logic for the activation hotspot.

  • QuickHub: Now the default interface for new users; respects fullscreen position preference.

  • Task sharing & export: Share task traces and export task chat as markdown.

  • Transcripts: Duration shown on ready transcript task cards.

  • AppSense: Re-enabled CEF and Qt access; waits for web areas before attaching.

  • Scroll tool: Millisecond timing support.

  • New models: GLM 5.2, Deepseek V4 Flash & Pro, Minimax M3, Cerebras Gemma 4 31B