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How is Javascript used within the Spotify desktop application?

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Re: How is Javascript used within the Spotify desktop application?

#91
post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Check out the Arch Linux wiki on this. Spotify apparently plays nicely with the rest of your desktop and you should be able to set up media key short cuts. Or maybe just use the Clementine add on?

I made a script that plays/pauses Spotify through dbus, which I usually execute by opening dmenu. :) My keyboard has media keys, but I thought I would prefer short textual commands to having to move my hand to the upper right of my keyboard (and probably miss the key if I wasn't looking?).

Yeah media keys are annoying and not present on lots of keyboards. You could map this script via your window manager to something like special-F5 through to special-F8 to back-play/pause-stop-forward...

Re: How is Javascript used within the Spotify desktop application?

#92

Nice technical read, but to be honest, the moment I find another app that does what I need I will gladly leave Spotify behind. Apart from the general slugginess of the app, the number of features that have been removed over the last couple of months is staggering. Just some examples, in case someone from Spotify in a position to fix this is reading this: * Searching in playlists was removed * Searching in local files…

Doesn't disabling "Set the same volume for all tracks" in advanced prefs disable normalization?

Re: How is Javascript used within the Spotify desktop application?

#93

Nice technical read, but to be honest, the moment I find another app that does what I need I will gladly leave Spotify behind. Apart from the general slugginess of the app, the number of features that have been removed over the last couple of months is staggering. Just some examples, in case someone from Spotify in a position to fix this is reading this: * Searching in playlists was removed * Searching in local files…

Doesn't disabling "Set the same volume for all tracks" in advanced prefs disable normalization?

Yes it did, but they removed that option, at least in the Mac OS X version of Spotify.

[edit] Apparently it has been added again in 1.0.5.x, but I'm not getting that update yet...

Re: How is Javascript used within the Spotify desktop application?

#94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get it's sarcasm, but the problem is that computers are not so fast yet. Developer vs computer time trade-off works only when software already works reasonably well. Which is not the case.

Back in Windows 98 days, it took a few seconds to load a screen of a native app sometimes. Now our computers are orders of magnitude faster, and webapps can still take a few seconds to load a screen. Progress?

Both yes and no.

The thing that hadn't changed is humans - it was and it's still acceptable for an application to take a second or another to load.

Technical details had changed, but I can't really judge if those changes were drastically innovative or we're just redoing the same shit over and over, and can't tell if world has gone better or worse. I guess such judgements are highly subjective.

Re: How is Javascript used within the Spotify desktop application?

#95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn't disabling "Set the same volume for all tracks" in advanced prefs disable normalization?

Yes it did, but they removed that option, at least in the Mac OS X version of Spotify. [edit] Apparently it has been added again in 1.0.5.x, but I'm not getting that update yet...

It's there for me, in version 1.0.5.178.g885b099b on OS X.

Re: How is Javascript used within the Spotify desktop application?

#96
post #5

I have a feeling that's not the case for the Linux version. It looks completely different than other platforms and is also build against Qt libraries.

From the two computers I've used with spotify clients on the Linux version is far snappier and more responsive (as in responds to commands sometime within the current minute) than the OSx version.

According to their blogs etc the main purpose of the Linux version is internal use by spotify developers working on Linux workstations - it is only released to the public because, "why not?". I wonder if this is why the Linux version is 'behind' the windows/OSx versions but actually works better. I.e. they dogfood it more but don't feel the need for constant UI 'improvements'.

Re: How is Javascript used within the Spotify desktop application?

#97
post #23
post #8

I got a HDPI display for my windows machine a few days ago. What I am wondering now is why Spotify doesn't support this? If it runs on chromium, which does support hdpi displays, why doesn't spotify? I have I have to choose for a really small spotify client or a real blurry one. Reading this, it would not seem to hard to make it work. It works fine on OSX.

I can't speak for Windows, but HiDPI Spotify works great on OS X. http://i.imgur.com/8mGbvnV.png

I know, I use it on OSX too, so thats why I was wondering why it doesn't work on windows? It seems to be built on the same system.

Re: How is Javascript used within the Spotify desktop application?

#98
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Winamp is just the best piece of software ever written, ever. I still lament the fact that it doesn't run properly on Linux.

xmms, audacious, etc. When I went from win -> nix so many years, all I wanted was a music player with the interface that of winamp2. xmms gave that and I was happy. But then I discovered mpd+ncmpcpp. Really great if you have large music collections, have been using it since.

Ah, thank you. ncmpcpp looks great (and I imagine I can connect it to an mpd instance running on a separate computer), but it's really important for me to not have a window in my alt+tab list.

I'll try XMMS, I have tried it before but it never "clicked". I'll give it another shot, thanks!

Re: How is Javascript used within the Spotify desktop application?

#99
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

xmms, audacious, etc. When I went from win -> nix so many years, all I wanted was a music player with the interface that of winamp2. xmms gave that and I was happy. But then I discovered mpd+ncmpcpp. Really great if you have large music collections, have been using it since.

Ah, thank you. ncmpcpp looks great (and I imagine I can connect it to an mpd instance running on a separate computer), but it's really important for me to not have a window in my alt+tab list. I'll try XMMS, I have tried it before but it never "clicked". I'll give it another shot, thanks!

It's so weird for me to be talking like this.

You see, I was a very avid fan of winamp(2) about 10 years ago. Nothing else came close. Then onto linux, xmms did the trick (as all I needed was a winamp2 replacement). Then as my collection grew, my priorities change, I was after speed. So mpd was thing. In the past few years I haven't had a personal collection, now it's more often listening to music on grooveshark/youtube. After grooveshark went down, I got spotify (paid subscription), and I find myself being _stunned_ how bad, how slow, how ugly, how anti-UX it is. I think I may go back to having the collection on my HDD once again with mpd as that is still really fast. But that'll be difficult, as I'm often on the go and want to listen to stuff on my cell phone (where spotify is okay actually).

Re: How is Javascript used within the Spotify desktop application?

#100
post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah, thank you. ncmpcpp looks great (and I imagine I can connect it to an mpd instance running on a separate computer), but it's really important for me to not have a window in my alt+tab list. I'll try XMMS, I have tried it before but it never "clicked". I'll give it another shot, thanks!

It's so weird for me to be talking like this. You see, I was a very avid fan of winamp(2) about 10 years ago. Nothing else came close. Then onto linux, xmms did the trick (as all I needed was a winamp2 replacement). Then as my collection grew, my priorities change, I was after speed. So mpd was thing. In the past few years I haven't had a personal collection, now it's more often listening to music on grooveshark/yout…

I have exactly the same experience as you. My solution is Google Music, where I basically just upload all my own music and I can listen to it on my phone. It's a bit of a hassle to keep the two synced, but not as much hassle it is to be listening to music in a browser window that takes up loads of RAM, as if playing an mp3 is some intractable problem.
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