Desktop version

[tonypee]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the awesome work! Just wondering - would it be possible to have the app work as a desktop app - and visualize for all audio - eg. spotify? This is probably hard since you wouldnt have access to the audio stream? Just wondering, love your work otherwise

[afreakk]

Thanks :)
Yeah, im not sure, I havent researched how to do that.
I guess we would need some sort of container to put the html and js in, and hopefully that container has some cross platform way of accessing audio.
I know you can pretty easily access audio on linux through pulseaudio, but it would be nice having it cross platform.
Rewriting the whole thing in a different language would also be cool though, as were not constrained to javascript here, we could have better performance :)

(the javascript here is like 5-6 years old anyways, not that pretty to look at, but it works)

[VeGas-Gh0st]

id love to see this also, this is an amazing plugin thank you

[cjmh0101]

Would also love to see this. This feature would allow you to change tracks using spotify/amazon etc but without the party audience seeing you do it.

[99zql]

I agree, maybe getting it to work on the wallpaper, the effects are crazy good for wallpapers

[afreakk]

Good news — this is now possible as of v12.2.1 (live on the Chrome Web Store). The extension now has a Microphone / system audio capture source. Combined with your OS's audio routing, it visualizes desktop audio from Spotify, YouTube, games — anything that plays through your speakers. No standalone desktop app needed; the browser already has the audio plumbing.

How it works

1. Open the extension's settings and flip Capture source to Microphone / system audio. Grant the extension microphone permission if prompted.
2. Route your desktop output into Chromium's audio input, using whichever tool your OS provides (one-time setup):
   • Linux (PulseAudio/PipeWire): open pavucontrol → Recording tab → while the visualizer is active, find the Chromium entry (it only appears in this list once the visualizer is capturing) → change its input from your real mic to Monitor of <your output device>.
   • Windows: Sound control panel → Recording → right-click → Show Disabled Devices → enable Stereo Mix → set it as Chromium's input device.
   • macOS: install BlackHole or Loopback, route your system output into it, then set it as Chromium's input.

Per-app routing is possible on Linux too — see the readme for the null-sink recipe (lets you visualize Spotify only, while other apps stay out).

Feedback welcome — especially on Windows and macOS, since my testing was Linux-only.