  With the installation of a new phased array system called Apertif, the
instantaneous field of view of the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT)
has increased to 8.7$\,$deg$^2$. This system has turned the WSRT in to an
highly effective telescope to conduct Fast Radio Burst (FRB) and pulsar
surveys. To exploit this advantage, an advanced and real-time backend, called
the Apertif Radio Transient System (ARTS), is being developed and commissioned
at the WSRT. In addition to the real-time detection of FRBs, ARTS will localize
the events to about 1/2600 of the field of view --- essential information for
identifying the nature of FRBs. ARTS will also trigger real-time follow up with
LOFAR of newly detected FRBs, to achieve localization at arcsecond precision.
We review the upcoming time-domain surveys with Apertif, and present the
current status of the ongoing commissioning of the time domain capabilities of
Apertif.
