r/truespotify • u/LargeModGames • 11h ago
Third Party App I made an open-source Spotify app that doesn't use the Web API: no rate limits, no developer app, one sign-in
spotatui started as a continuation of spotify-tui, the terminal Spotify client that stopped being maintained. It now also has a desktop app.
The main difference from other third-party Spotify apps: it doesn't use Spotify's Web API or a developer app at all. Most third-party players go through the Web API, often with a shared app, so all their users share one quota and run into rate limits. spotatui talks to Spotify through librespot instead, so there's no shared quota and you sign in once by confirming a code in your browser.
What it does:
- Plays Spotify itself as a Connect device, so the official app doesn't need to run. You can move playback to your phone or other devices too.
- Home, album and artist pages, your library, synced lyrics, a queue panel and a device picker.
- A Stats page with your top artists, albums and tracks, and this week's top five.
- A full terminal version on the same core, with the pitch visualizer from spotify-tui.
About the look: the desktop app is deliberately close to the official client for now. That way I can easily see which features are still missing and work toward full parity. After that, full customization is coming. The terminal version already has themes.
Honest notes:
- Spotify Premium is required.
- It's not an official Spotify app. It uses librespot, the open-source library that spotifyd and ncspot have used for years.
- The desktop app is a preview, and the installers aren't signed yet, so Windows and macOS can show a warning.
Free and open source (MIT): https://github.com/LargeModGames/spotatui
Downloads: https://github.com/LargeModGames/spotatui/releases/latest
Feedback is welcome, especially about features you miss compared to the official app.
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u/Numerous-Georg 10h ago
Cool project! Unfortunately, librespot refuses to support playing offline (totally understandable why they don't), which I need.
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u/LargeModGames 10h ago
the terminal version does have support for local (offline) files already. I plan to add that to the GUI as well. To be clear, that's for your own music files, not offline Spotify downloads. Those aren't possible with librespot.
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u/Numerous-Georg 8h ago
Good! I think some other alternative clients don't even have that.
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u/LargeModGames 8h ago
Thanks! It can also play from a Navidrome/Subsonic server and Qobuz (which does allow lossless) in the same queue, if you ever keep your music somewhere else.
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u/Moonshiner_no 11h ago
What is the benefits of running this vs the official Spotify app?
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u/LargeModGames 11h ago
for the desktop app right now, not a lot yet. It's a preview and I'm going for parity with the official app first. The extras today:
- Lua plugins, in the desktop app and the terminal version
- A Stats page with your top artists, albums and tracks whenever you want, not once a year
- A terminal version that's very light and fully keyboard-driven, with themes, the spotify-tui visualizer, and a CLI you can script (skip, like or queue from a hotkey)
- Discord status, and builds for Linux on ARM, where there's no official Spotify app
- It's open source, so you can see exactly what it does and it uses less RAM vs the official Spotify app
If the official app works well for you, there's no real reason to switch yet. It's mostly for people who want a terminal client or more control, and full customization comes to the desktop app after parity.
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u/Deckard01_01 9h ago
Add Bit perfect with if not added and PEQ. Then you will have the one and onle app for all!
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u/LargeModGames 9h ago
Thanks! Neither is in yet. For lossless, the terminal version already plays Qobuz, local FLAC files and Subsonic. Spotify itself stays lossy (Ogg Vorbis 320) because of how third party playback works. Bit perfect output and a PEQ with AutoEQ presets are good ideas though, I'll put them on the list.
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u/dugazima 11h ago
Ain't a day pass that someone doesn't make a Spotify client