Every release has a build per system on the releases page. Spytify also needs ffmpeg, which encodes the files.

Linux

• Install the .deb (Debian, Ubuntu) or the .rpm (Fedora, openSUSE), or unpack the .tar.gz anywhere.
• It needs PipeWire 0.3.40 or later (pw-record, pw-dump) or PulseAudio (parec, pactl), a D-Bus session, and an application that exposes MPRIS, as most Linux players do.

• On PipeWire, let the graph run at 44.1 kHz as well as 48 kHz, or 44.1 kHz audio is resampled before it is recorded. Create ~/.config/pipewire/pipewire.conf.d/10-rates.conf:

  context.properties = {
      default.clock.allowed-rates = [ 44100 48000 ]
  }
  

  then run systemctl --user restart pipewire.

• The packages install a user service: systemctl --user enable --now spytifyd keeps the recorder running from login.

macOS

• macOS 14.2 or later. Open the .dmg and drag Spytify to Applications.
• The app is not notarised yet: the first time, macOS refuses to open it. Allow it in System Settings > Privacy & Security > Open Anyway.
• macOS asks once for two permissions: System Audio Recording, for the capture, and Automation, to read what is playing. If you said no, turn them on in System Settings > Privacy & Security and open Spytify again.
• Install ffmpeg with Homebrew: brew install ffmpeg. Spytify finds it in /opt/homebrew/bin and /usr/local/bin.

Windows

The Windows build is a first draft, being tested.

• Windows 10 version 2004 or later, or Windows 11. Unzip the release anywhere and open Spytify.exe.
• The zip comes with ffmpeg.exe, an LGPL build (see ffmpeg-README.txt). One installed with winget, Chocolatey or Scoop works too.
• The application must show what it plays in the Windows media controls (the volume flyout).

Choose the application

Official builds come with a default application. In a build of your own, open Settings > App > Advanced > Player, enter the application’s name (its executable, without .app or .exe), and press Save and restart spytifyd. The command line page lists the variables behind it.