Harmony is a sleek desktop music player for Windows, Mac & Linux that handles regular music files and online streaming services like Spotify.
If the fact that it’s built using the Electron development framework doesn’t put some of you off then the fact it’s keenly inspired by the look and layout of iTunes just might!
I’m a ‘function’ guy, and can easily look past the cloyingly Apple aesthetic.
For the rest of us it’s a decent stab at creating a cross-platform music player that’s open-source and integrates with a number of online streaming services.
Harmony gets a choir of online music streaming services singing from the same lyrics sheet, integrated and accessible through one app — sort of like Nuvola Player 3 for Ubuntu, but in a unified interface.
Limitations of the Spotify API means that you don’t get to peruse the full catalog of songs. Once you sign in with your Spotify account you’ll be able to search, filter and play tracks in your personal playlists, as well as those that you have favourited — but only the metadata will be fetched from Spotify. The actual music track will be streamed from YouTube (!).
SoundCloud integration wasn’t playing nice for me when I tried Harmony — edit: this has now been fixed — and as I have 2-factor authentication set up on my Google account I was unable to try the Google Play Music integration. If you try it do share your thoughts/experiences in the comments.
Harmony 0.2.x (beta) Features
- Play tracks from SoundCloud & Spotify
- Play local music tracks
- Ubuntu sound menu integration
- Native desktop notifications on track change
- Optional ‘coverflow’ interface (beta)
- Last.fm scrobbling
- Keyboard controls
Harmony also has a variety of simple shortcuts for controlling playback when the app is in focus:
Space– Play/PauseNorCtrl + Right– Next trackPorCtrl + Left– Prev trackL– Like track (LastFM)Ctrl + F– Search
You can download the latest release of Harmony for Ubuntu from the project’s GitHub page:
The following notice will make zero sense to you if you’re part of 75% who come across articles on this site organically and/or don’t read every article posted chronologically.
For those about to moan, whinge or complain: if Electron apps aren’t your thing, that is totally cool. If trying new music players for Linux isn’t your thing, also cool. The nature of blogging is such that, as I write about one sort of app, so it motivates someone else to email me another other, similar app, as is the case here.
My inbox is just as welcoming to non-Electron, non-music players. So if you know of any promising new native desktop projects don’t be shy in letting me know about them so that I can write about something other than Electron apps.
Tip via Peter S.