Now Playing

Spotify / YouTube Music / any player: album art, karaoke lyrics, vinyl, spectrum and more.

At a glance

OutputLiveRendered by the engine and streamed over Bluetooth as its data changes (about 5–9 frames a second).

Settings19every one editable live in the studio, or by an agent with update_app_settings

ButtonsPrevious · Play/Pause · Nextstudio buttons, or app_action over MCP

Sourcenowplaying.pysrc/deskdot/apps/nowplaying.py

Settings
Setting	Type	Default	Options / range
General
Layout`layout`	choice	Karaoke	KaraokeSynced lyricsLyrics over artAlbum artArt + titleLiving artVinylArt + infoMinimalColour washSpectrum
Take over while music plays`take_over`In the playlist	on/off	On	on / off
Lyric colour`color`Current line in the Synced lyrics layout	colour	#ffd600	any colour (#rrggbb)
Accent`accent`Progress and equaliser (unless themed from art)	colour	#00ff8c	any colour (#rrggbb)
Show art when no lyrics`fallback_cover`	on/off	On	on / off
Lyrics
Lyric offset (s)`offset`Positive = earlier	number	0.3	-5 – 5
Sung colour`karaoke_color`	colour	#ffd600	any colour (#rrggbb)
Unsung colour`karaoke_dim`	colour	#5a5a78	any colour (#rrggbb)
Lyric size`font`	choice	Auto (big when it fits)	Auto (big when it fits)Big 7 pxCompact 5 px
Lyric alignment`lyric_align`	choice	Centre	CentreLeft
Display
Progress bar`show_progress`	on/off	On	on / off
Show time`show_time`	on/off	On	on / off
Time`time_mode`	choice	Elapsed	ElapsedRemaining
Scroll speed (px/s)`scroll_speed`	number	12.0	6 – 24
When nothing plays`idle_screen`	choice	NO MUSIC	NO MUSICClockLast album artNothing
Art
Art brightness`art_brightness`	number	1.0	0.2 – 1.0
Art behind lyrics`art_dim`Background level for Lyrics over art	number	0.3	0.05 – 0.7
Colours from album art`theme_from_art`Sung colour and accent follow the cover's palette	on/off	On	on / off
Pulse with the beat`beat_sync`Living art breathes with system audio (starts audio capture)	on/off	Off	on / off

render a frame to PNG (no panel needed)

$ uv run deskdot preview nowplaying --settings '{"layout":"lyrics"}' --out nowplaying.png

show it on your panel (engine running)

$ curl -X POST http://127.0.0.1:8765/api/apps/nowplaying/activate

Or ask your agent: “Show Now Playing on my panel”. It calls show_app with "nowplaying". New here? Set up DeskDot first.

A slideshow of public-domain art, nature photos, dogs, cats, foxes and ducks.

Your screen, a window, the area under the cursor, or ambient colours — live on the panel.

Reacts to whatever your PC is playing — Spotify, YouTube, games. No mic needed.

Your webcam on the LEDs — follows your face, with pop-art, neon, thermal and 1-bit looks.