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[Feature suggestion] Windows 10/11 Music Info integrated into NowPlaying plugin

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Cariboudjan
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Joined: May 12th, 2019, 8:55 am

[Feature suggestion] Windows 10/11 Music Info integrated into NowPlaying plugin

Post by Cariboudjan »

Screenshot 2021-07-12 011046.png
Screenshot 2021-07-12 001440.png
Saw this addon a user created. Very handy but buggy and limited by its design.
Link: https://forum.rainmeter.net/viewtopic.php?f=128&t=37088

Would be nice for the NowPlaying plugin to be able to pull this data from Windows.

Additionally I think the MediaKey plugin should be combined with the NowPlaying plugin, with PlayerName=MediaKey serving the same function.
MediaKey: https://docs.rainmeter.net/manual/measures/mediakey/

PlayerName=MediaKey should be able to get track information from Windows 10/11 per the screenshot above using PlayerType=Artist, PlayerType=Title, and PlayerType=Cover

Example:

Code: Select all

[MeasureCover]
Measure=NowPlaying
PlayerName=MediaKey
PlayerType=COVER

Argument for why this is a good idea: Simplifies the entire NowPlaying compatibility problem by piggy-backing on Windows 10/11 instead of trying to grab the information from a specific user-specified program. Instead grabs the information from the last focused media-playing window the OS detects. Does not need to be a specific program. Play/Pause/Previous/Next buttons work with most players. Can control things like YouTube and other browser-based content. Album art can be grabbed from Spotify and other incompatible players. Forward compatible with future software. Compatibility with future software not dependent on Rainmeter Developer upkeep. Users would not need to manually change their PlayerName= parameter when switching between different media players. Process is done automatically when the user switches programs. More or less set-it-and-forget-it all-in-one solution that will work for 99% of people. Specific programs can still be chosen if the user wants more options like progress, song duration, shuffle, repeat toggles, etc. but 99.99% of people only care about play/pause/previous/next song title/artist and album art which the MediaKey option can provide.

Alternatively, I would say keep the MediaKey and the NowPlaying plugins separate, but expand the MediaKey plugin's functionality to include song title/artist information and cover photo.
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