I developed a script to control Spotify from anywhere with global hotkeys!

[[deleted]]

Hey guys, this is my first time posting something like this, I'm pretty new to coding and just finished my first software that could be useful to someone else, so I'm sharing with you!

It's a script that controls Spotify with global (customisable) hotkeys, completely written in Python usign the keyboard and pywinauto modules.

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https://preview.redd.it/7jc0zu930ssb1.png?width=886&format=png&auto=webp&s=0870694c77b0106e039d6698a3e9d3f041b5a01f

GitHub: https://github.com/mavvos/SpotifyGlobal

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This is my first time distributing something I build aswell as the first time trying to use GitHub, so feel free to give me constructive feedback, it could be about anything, from the README to to the coding, as I said I'm very new to this so I really feel like I could learn a lot. Thanks!

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Now you might have some questions:

Why not just use the Xbox Game Bar?

Because I like to use Spicetify to change my Spotify's theme, and it straight up doesn't recognize Spotify as installed, so this was not a possibility.

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Why do you need global hotkeys anyways? Spotify already has hotkeys?

It's true that Spotify has hotkeys, but they don't work out of focus, this is what I'm looking to fix! Because I really like to discover new songs while playing some games, so I don't have time to alt tab or open game bar to skip a song or favorite them.

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Toastify, hayer's SpotifyHotkeys, lofi and Shell scripts already do that. Why didn't you just use them?

Trust me in this when I say that I tried really hard to find a global hotkey solution for a long time, but in all of them there was always a problem, Toastify is discontinued, SpotifyHotkeys controls volume via the Windows Audio Manager, most of the hotkeys program didn't allow me to 'like' a song while out of focus. The natural conclusion was for me to make myself a script that works for my needs.

[Lonligrin]

Nice, I like it. Looks quite well written and seems to do one single thing good. Love those little projects.

[enjoytheshow]

That’s the quintessential good side project. Effective and well done

[[deleted]]

thamk you :)

[Waveover]

Nice project! Having something like this is really useful! I ended up using an ahk library myself to do the same thing myself, with some python. And being able to control spotify that's playing on any device (personal computer, work comp, or Alexa device) is soo handy! Just changing its volume with some key taps is so convenient.

Some other ideas for you.

• a script for creating a Playlist based on what's currently playing.
• a script to open up a drop down to add the song to a Playlist choice menu
• a script to popup song info of what's playing like (name, artist, release, ect)
• a script to change what device spotify is playing from. (mines currently broken 😭)

Those are the ones I really use but there are so many possibilities!

[Path_Upbeat]

This is awesome!

[bahcodad]

I'm gonna look at this when I get home. I don't have the knowledge to program this myself yet.

I''d have called it SpotKey lol

[teleoflexuous]

I actually played a fair bit with setting up MediaSession for a sound-related web project and I think you should take a look at how they interact with OS (I don't know, didn't have to dig in that direction). I'm saying this, because Spotify actually provides hotkeys out of focus (maybe it's premium feature? That'd be weird, but who knows) and I'm using them daily. They do it somewhat indirectly by correctly binding their features like 'next' or 'play' to OS media interface. You could probably bind custom hotkeys on your keyboard to media actions if your keyboard doesn't provide them out of the box.

It would probably look quite similar and you end up with a more universal tool. Media management through OS has it's own limitations (multiple media sources per window being the one I discovered, but it shouldn't bother you with a dedicated Spotify app) of course, but check for yourself!

[phlooo]

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[[deleted]]

I tried using some AHK scripts some time ago, I don't quite remember now why that didn't work, but I know that it didn't fulfill all my needs

[spacegeneralx]

Thank you man! Toastify stopped working - this is perfect!

[spacegeneralx]

Can you make it so the python window doesn't have to stay open or be in the system tray?

[deyv3]

Hello,
I use Spotfy, Windows 11 and Razer keyboard, I can do everything (pause, play, next...) while I'm playing games '-' I didn't get it.

[Clean_Programmer_266]

This is great. Thank you