Case Study
AlgoSound
Cross-platform desktop application for zoned audio monitoring
- Platform
- Desktop Applications
- Year
- 2026
01 / 02 — Station dashboard
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Screenshots come from the real applications. Sensitive names, identifiers, and credentials are redacted.
01What it does
Monitors fire station audio: captures from multiple Windows audio input devices, routes and encodes streams, watches live levels per zone, triggers station alerts, and keeps a cloud-synced record of activity for both operators and admins.
02What I built
- Electron main process with an embedded Next.js server, preload IPC bridge, and structured file logging
- Multi-input audio capture via a native Node addon (naudiodon2) with device selection and routing configuration
- Live zone monitoring, recordings library, activity feed, device and PoE device management, and admin areas
- Cross-platform packaging: Windows (NSIS + portable), macOS (dmg + zip with microphone permission), Linux (AppImage + deb)
- 24/7 operation hardening: power monitor, power-save blocker, daily maintenance tasks, and crash logging
03Key engineering work
- Native module rebuild pipeline (@electron/rebuild) for the audio addon across platforms
- Security rules for Firestore, storage, and database, with user isolation documented
- Realtime control and multicast flow for distributing audio to zones
- A retention system for recordings and careful level calibration (documented -45dB fix)
04Challenge / Solution
Challenge
A browser cannot access raw multi-device audio input, but the app still needed a modern web UI and cloud sync.
Solution
Electron wraps an embedded Next.js server for the UI while the main process owns native audio capture and IPC, giving web-grade UX over desktop-only capabilities.