Spotify is my favorite music streaming app, mainly because its discovery algorithm is second to none. But there’s one thing the macOS app doesn’t do that I’d like (and that third-party apps used to do, but have apparently since languished): tell me what’s playing.
I spend most of my working day with music in the background. Spotify is behind a dozen windows somewhere, and unless I consciously click on it, I have no idea what song just started. Sometimes I hear something and think: what is this? then forget to check because I’m busy with something else. By the time I remember it, three songs have passed and it’s gone.
Yes, I know the iOS app shows a Now Playing widget. And yes, Control Center on the Mac technically shows media information. But neither of them notify me when a new song starts. I don’t want to check something. I want it told to me.
So I built Play now Notification.
What’s going on now? Would you actually like to report?
It is a simple menu bar app. When a song changes in Spotify, you’ll get a native macOS notification: song title, artist, and album artwork. That’s it.
Click on the musical note icon in your menu bar and you will see the current song. There’s a switch to turn notifications on or off if you need to concentrate. The app doesn’t touch your Dock, open windows, or collect data. It sits there quietly until there is something worth telling you about.
Why a standalone app?
I looked at existing solutions. Some browser extensions try to solve this for the web player. A few apps bundle this into larger “Spotify Enhancer” packages with features I don’t need. I wanted something that did exactly one thing and did it natively with Swift.
The result is small, fast, and about as minimal as you can get while still being useful.
What’s next
Version 1.0 addresses the core application: notifications when numbers change. I have ideas for future updates, like play buttons in the menu bar, the ability to skip or pause a notification, maybe a toggle to start at login. But they will come gradually, if and when I find the time to implement them.
Get it
Now Playing Notify is available for free on the Mac App Store and you can find more information about it at the homepage of the project.
It requires macOS 13 (Ventura) or later and the Spotify desktop app.
If you have any problems or have feedback, you can reach me here.
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