15 ms·

Unofficial Google Play Music Desktop Client

99 points by dcschelt 11y ago

pjmlp 11y ago
> Never again will you have to hunt through your tabs to pause your music, or stop listening to your favourite song because Chrome is guzzling up all your RAM.. > Dev Requirements > Node.js (Recommend 4.2.x) Yeah, right....
- SeriousM 11y ago
  What's the problem with the requirements?
  - phamilton 11y ago
    OP is challenging the claim that node will be more memory efficient than Chrome.
    - bpicolo 11y ago
      Perhaps more importantly, Electron is literally Chromium.
- Veratyr 11y ago
  Yeah, that's an odd claim considering that it's built on Electron, which is Chromium-based.
oxplot 11y ago
> Never again will you have to hunt through your tabs to pause your music Not exactly the same thing, but in Chrome, you can enable "Tab audio muting UI control" in chrome://flags which allows you to click the speaker icon on tabs that play music to mute it. Click again to unmute. Very handy for when you get a phone call!
- esailija 11y ago
  FWIW there is a standard in the works (Media Session [1]) that will enable various use cases[2] for web app users to control with media keys, headphone buttons, from lock screen, notification area, ducking for phone calls etc 1. https://mediasession.spec.whatwg.org/ https://mediasession.spec.whatwg.org/ 2. https://github.com/whatwg/mediasession#use-cases https://github.com/whatwg/mediasession#use-cases
- mintplant 11y ago
  Firefox has the same thing, enabled by default.
  - JupiterMoon 11y ago
    The lack of this by default is something that has annoyed me whenever I have been forced to use chrome.
    - terinjokes 11y ago
      To didn't enable a setting in Chrome, yet this still works for me, and has for a while.
pen2l 11y ago
Heyyyyyy ... http://i.imgur.com/VucG9gy.png http://i.imgur.com/VucG9gy.png ... That's basically Spotify (desktop application). The resemblance being so high makes this a little iffy, and suggests this project won't stay up (at least in its present form) for too long. That said, why hasn't Google yet created a desktop application for Google Play Music? It's mind-boggling to me. I would love to ditch Spotify (primarily because 1) I don't like its searching/discovery UI, and 2) its desktop application is slow and buggy as well)
- on_and_off 11y ago
  >That said, why hasn't Google yet created a desktop application for Google Play Music? I don't understand the need (and I guess that Google does not either). Is it because you need an offline mode ? That's the only addition I can think of. With the play music chrome extension, the website responds to media keys, so outside of a dedicated app icon in the tray (even though the miniplayer has one), I don't see what a desktop app would bring.
  - esailija 11y ago
    Even without extensions, those things are possible or will soon be possible[1] on the web out of the box (except tray icon but persistent notification with actions can be done to achieve something similar). 1. https://github.com/whatwg/mediasession#use-cases https://github.com/whatwg/mediasession#use-cases
  - JoBrad 11y ago
    You can also play your local music with apps like Spotify. No desktop client is a huge issue for me.
    - lern_too_spel 11y ago
      The only reason Spotify needs the ability to play local music is to play music that is not on Spotify. Most other services, including this Google one, let you upload your collection to play on any device.
cespare 11y ago
> Never again will you have to hunt through your tabs to pause your music, > Supports media keys (play, pause, stop, next, previous) A relatively recent Chrome feature that many aren't aware of is the ability of extensions and apps to use Chrome- or desktop-wide (global) hotkeys. So if you're using the Google Play Music extension, you can, for example, hook it up to your media keys and it will work even when Chrome isn't focused. Go to chrome://extensions/ and scroll down the Keyboard shortcuts to learn more. (I'm sure that there are many other reasons people prefer desktop apps, but this was the big one for me.)
- Inversechi 11y ago
  There is an extension that enables this for multiple music sites too: http://www.streamkeys.com/ http://www.streamkeys.com/
- kyrra 11y ago
  There are also extensions that helps with this. If you have media keys it allows you to use those regardless of focus. Plus you can get popups on song change or other various settings. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/prime-player-for-google-p/npngaakpdgeaajbnidkkginekmnaejbi?hl=en https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/prime-player-for-g...
- chrisper 11y ago
  If you install the official GPM extension, you will be able to use the media keys.
colindean 11y ago
This is looking good, but Radiant Player is the current king of Google Play Music on OSX. https://radiant-player.github.io/radiant-player-mac/ https://radiant-player.github.io/radiant-player-mac/ brew install Caskroom/cask/radiant-player
- Cyph0n 11y ago
  The difference is that Radiant requires Flash as far as I read.
  - matwood 11y ago
    Last I checked so did the Google Play website player.
    - moberemk 11y ago
      You should check again; it's tucked under the labs section but there's an HTML5 audio player available as a Flash alternative. Doesn't work in Safari though.
      - matwood 11y ago
        Ah, I was using Safari. Thanks!
  - iamdave 11y ago
    Yeah just yesterday I was looking for something to play Google Music through on my new MBP, found Radiant, saw it required Flash and proceeded to move on. I'm on a 14 day trial of Gear Player, which seems nice but seems lacking for how I interact with my music. It works well enough, has album art views, something I do want as a feature, but Radiant has a nicer overall UI (IMO), has a mini player that I can tuck away in the corner somewhere, and has the ability to add new playlists within the app. Installing flash is that much of a dealbreaker for me.
- rhodysurf 11y ago
  Radiant looks a little more native too
jrcii 11y ago
Check out my favorite media player, cmus. It's a light weight iTunes alternative for command line.
corndoge 11y ago
Literally just a webview in an X window. This is not a 'desktop app'. This is bastardized web.
- konfou 11y ago
  That doesn't make it any less useful--even though I find it a bit unnecessary. To note, that a program like that can be made within 10 minutes in Visual Studio (there is a video on Yt for a similar one integrating Fb Messenger).
- oneeyedpigeon 11y ago
  When does a 'desktop app' become a 'bastardised web' (sic). Is it when it communicates via http? When it renders HTML? Lots of apps that you may be running (e.g. iTunes, the Mac app store) do this. If it's well integrated with the host OS, I don't see what the problem is; would you rather it weren't cross-platform, or it used another cross-platform framework, or it were several separate codebases?
  - pjmlp 11y ago
    > When does a 'desktop app' become a 'bastardised web' When it is a chrome over a gigantic web view instead of properly making use of native UI widgets. > iTunes, the Mac app store Both good examples on how not to do it, specially on Windows.
  - kuschku 11y ago
    Give me a native app that uses native widgets, works with native toolkits, and can be themed with my Qt theme. Give me a native app that feels native, that looks native, and that is native. Any included WebView to display content is an instant "nope" criterium, because the WebView content won't be themeable or look or feel native.
- deelowe 11y ago
  Get off my lawn!
jzelinskie 11y ago
I noticed the tray icon for this in OSX isn't black. It would seem more native if it matched.
Roritharr 11y ago
No Chromecast Support. Non-Starter for me.
- unfocused 11y ago
  That was the first thing I went to find as well. It's too bad.
- dcdevito 11y ago
  My thoughts exactly.
mark_l_watson 11y ago
I encourage all open source projects so this is cool. That said, I just open Play Music in a new Chrome window, not a tab, and use the keyboard to switch between Chrome Windows and other apps. Easy enough. I also sometimes have my iPad Pro running music while I work on my laptop.
JoBrad 11y ago
I was a little surprised that the download was 50Mb, but this app is very well done. Really like the theming options.

99 points by dcschelt 11y ago

pjmlp 11y ago

> Never again will you have to hunt through your tabs to pause your music, or stop listening to your favourite song because Chrome is guzzling up all your RAM.. > Dev Requirements > Node.js (Recommend 4.2.x) Yeah, right....

SeriousM 11y ago
What's the problem with the requirements?
- phamilton 11y ago
  OP is challenging the claim that node will be more memory efficient than Chrome.
  - bpicolo 11y ago
    Perhaps more importantly, Electron is literally Chromium.
Veratyr 11y ago
Yeah, that's an odd claim considering that it's built on Electron, which is Chromium-based.

oxplot 11y ago

> Never again will you have to hunt through your tabs to pause your music Not exactly the same thing, but in Chrome, you can enable "Tab audio muting UI control" in chrome://flags which allows you to click the speaker icon on tabs that play music to mute it. Click again to unmute. Very handy for when you get a phone call!

esailija 11y ago
FWIW there is a standard in the works (Media Session [1]) that will enable various use cases[2] for web app users to control with media keys, headphone buttons, from lock screen, notification area, ducking for phone calls etc 1. https://mediasession.spec.whatwg.org/ https://mediasession.spec.whatwg.org/ 2. https://github.com/whatwg/mediasession#use-cases https://github.com/whatwg/mediasession#use-cases
mintplant 11y ago
Firefox has the same thing, enabled by default.
- JupiterMoon 11y ago
  The lack of this by default is something that has annoyed me whenever I have been forced to use chrome.
  - terinjokes 11y ago
    To didn't enable a setting in Chrome, yet this still works for me, and has for a while.

pen2l 11y ago

Heyyyyyy ... http://i.imgur.com/VucG9gy.png http://i.imgur.com/VucG9gy.png ... That's basically Spotify (desktop application). The resemblance being so high makes this a little iffy, and suggests this project won't stay up (at least in its present form) for too long. That said, why hasn't Google yet created a desktop application for Google Play Music? It's mind-boggling to me. I would love to ditch Spotify (primarily because 1) I don't like its searching/discovery UI, and 2) its desktop application is slow and buggy as well)

on_and_off 11y ago
>That said, why hasn't Google yet created a desktop application for Google Play Music? I don't understand the need (and I guess that Google does not either). Is it because you need an offline mode ? That's the only addition I can think of. With the play music chrome extension, the website responds to media keys, so outside of a dedicated app icon in the tray (even though the miniplayer has one), I don't see what a desktop app would bring.
- esailija 11y ago
  Even without extensions, those things are possible or will soon be possible[1] on the web out of the box (except tray icon but persistent notification with actions can be done to achieve something similar). 1. https://github.com/whatwg/mediasession#use-cases https://github.com/whatwg/mediasession#use-cases
- JoBrad 11y ago
  You can also play your local music with apps like Spotify. No desktop client is a huge issue for me.
  - lern_too_spel 11y ago
    The only reason Spotify needs the ability to play local music is to play music that is not on Spotify. Most other services, including this Google one, let you upload your collection to play on any device.

cespare 11y ago

> Never again will you have to hunt through your tabs to pause your music, > Supports media keys (play, pause, stop, next, previous) A relatively recent Chrome feature that many aren't aware of is the ability of extensions and apps to use Chrome- or desktop-wide (global) hotkeys. So if you're using the Google Play Music extension, you can, for example, hook it up to your media keys and it will work even when Chrome isn't focused. Go to chrome://extensions/ and scroll down the Keyboard shortcuts to learn more. (I'm sure that there are many other reasons people prefer desktop apps, but this was the big one for me.)

Inversechi 11y ago
There is an extension that enables this for multiple music sites too: http://www.streamkeys.com/ http://www.streamkeys.com/
kyrra 11y ago
There are also extensions that helps with this. If you have media keys it allows you to use those regardless of focus. Plus you can get popups on song change or other various settings. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/prime-player-for-google-p/npngaakpdgeaajbnidkkginekmnaejbi?hl=en https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/prime-player-for-g...
chrisper 11y ago
If you install the official GPM extension, you will be able to use the media keys.

colindean 11y ago

This is looking good, but Radiant Player is the current king of Google Play Music on OSX. https://radiant-player.github.io/radiant-player-mac/ https://radiant-player.github.io/radiant-player-mac/ brew install Caskroom/cask/radiant-player

Cyph0n 11y ago
The difference is that Radiant requires Flash as far as I read.
- matwood 11y ago
  Last I checked so did the Google Play website player.
  - moberemk 11y ago
    You should check again; it's tucked under the labs section but there's an HTML5 audio player available as a Flash alternative. Doesn't work in Safari though.
    - matwood 11y ago
      Ah, I was using Safari. Thanks!
- iamdave 11y ago
  Yeah just yesterday I was looking for something to play Google Music through on my new MBP, found Radiant, saw it required Flash and proceeded to move on. I'm on a 14 day trial of Gear Player, which seems nice but seems lacking for how I interact with my music. It works well enough, has album art views, something I do want as a feature, but Radiant has a nicer overall UI (IMO), has a mini player that I can tuck away in the corner somewhere, and has the ability to add new playlists within the app. Installing flash is that much of a dealbreaker for me.
rhodysurf 11y ago
Radiant looks a little more native too

jrcii 11y ago

Check out my favorite media player, cmus. It's a light weight iTunes alternative for command line.

corndoge 11y ago

Literally just a webview in an X window. This is not a 'desktop app'. This is bastardized web.

konfou 11y ago
That doesn't make it any less useful--even though I find it a bit unnecessary. To note, that a program like that can be made within 10 minutes in Visual Studio (there is a video on Yt for a similar one integrating Fb Messenger).
oneeyedpigeon 11y ago
When does a 'desktop app' become a 'bastardised web' (sic). Is it when it communicates via http? When it renders HTML? Lots of apps that you may be running (e.g. iTunes, the Mac app store) do this. If it's well integrated with the host OS, I don't see what the problem is; would you rather it weren't cross-platform, or it used another cross-platform framework, or it were several separate codebases?
- pjmlp 11y ago
  > When does a 'desktop app' become a 'bastardised web' When it is a chrome over a gigantic web view instead of properly making use of native UI widgets. > iTunes, the Mac app store Both good examples on how not to do it, specially on Windows.
- kuschku 11y ago
  Give me a native app that uses native widgets, works with native toolkits, and can be themed with my Qt theme. Give me a native app that feels native, that looks native, and that is native. Any included WebView to display content is an instant "nope" criterium, because the WebView content won't be themeable or look or feel native.
deelowe 11y ago
Get off my lawn!

jzelinskie 11y ago

I noticed the tray icon for this in OSX isn't black. It would seem more native if it matched.

Roritharr 11y ago

No Chromecast Support. Non-Starter for me.

unfocused 11y ago
That was the first thing I went to find as well. It's too bad.
dcdevito 11y ago
My thoughts exactly.

mark_l_watson 11y ago

I encourage all open source projects so this is cool. That said, I just open Play Music in a new Chrome window, not a tab, and use the keyboard to switch between Chrome Windows and other apps. Easy enough. I also sometimes have my iPad Pro running music while I work on my laptop.

JoBrad 11y ago

I was a little surprised that the download was 50Mb, but this app is very well done. Really like the theming options.