Let me preface this post by stating, somewhat cheekily, that I would rather not use Electron apps where possible (for the same reasons most of you wouldn’t).
But, in the face of no alternative I am willing to suck it up and use them.
And so it is with TIDAL Hi-Fi, an Electron-based music player that, to my knowledge, is the easiest way to stream music from TIDAL on Linux outside of a web browser (TIDAL’s web-player works in most web browsers but lacks integration with the underlying OS).
“Easiest” is the important qualifier in the above sentence as other TIDAL-supporting apps are available on Linux.
My old go-to was a TIDAL CLI app (no longer works), and while Clementine-fork Strawberry offers (unofficial) Tidal streaming (and is quite good at it, I hear) you need to generate a client ID and API token to use it — which is a bit of a hassle.
Which is why TIDAL Hi-Fi is so appealing: it’s a no-fuss way to listen to TIDAL on Linux. Download, login, hit play, and you’re done.
TIDAL Hi-Fi Electron App
As mentioned, TIDAL Hi-FI is an Electron-based wrapper for the official TIDAL web player. That web player supports (using the Widevine DRM plugin) the music streaming service’s High & Max audio quality, which is neat.
But this goes further.
TIDAL Hi-Fi adds in a number of ace features one would expect of a modern Linux music player, including MPRIS support, track change notifications, and media key integration.
It’s also able to hook up to Discord to relay your track status; scrobble tracks to ListenBrainz; offers various themes so you can personalise is appearance; and is able to general service-agnostic sharing links so you can share tracks with friends without them being directed to TIDAL to play it.
By default the app displays a menu bar by default which does look “meh” on Ubuntu but it’s easily hidden (gayer which you can access the settings dialog by pressing ctrl + = ).
TIDAL Hi-FI app features:
- Support for high and max quality audio
- Themeable
- MPRIS player controls
- Track change notifications
- Media key support
- Discord RPC
- Web API
These are in addition to the many features that the official Tidal web client already supports, like playlists, charts, music videos, etc.
Download Tidal-HiFi for Linux
Keen to tune in? You can download the unofficial TIDAL Hi-FI app in a variety of Linux package formats including an .appimage, 64-bit .deb, and a .snap.
You’ll find the latest installers(s) on the the project’s GitHub releases page (where macOS and Windows installers are also provided, should you want them).
You can install TIDAL Hi-FI from Flathub.
Installation is painless but once running there are some rough edges to be aware of.
On Ubuntu 22.04 LTS I found the UI incredibly slow the first time I ran it (seems GPU related). This made logging in take longer than I was expecting. Once in, I quit the app and restarted it and, hurrah, the performance was fine from there out.
Also, in my testing, the app doesn’t show an application icon in the Ubuntu Dock or in the application grid (I used the .deb installer, other formats may vary). Also, when MPRIS support is enabled it adds a duplicate MPRIS presence (visually messy but not a functional impedance) without album art.
Summary
I mainly listen to music using Spotify (on a free account, using the official Linux app) despite the fact I have access to a premium Tidal subscription (via a family plan). But the lack of Linux client means I rarely use it. The web-based player is fine but it’s it’s not “app-y” enough for me.
This app changes that.
If you or someone you know want sot use TIDAL on Ubuntu check out this unofficial desktop app.
Despite some rough edges (and an Electron-sized elephant in the room) the apps delivers on the simple “download, log in, and listen” experience most of us want. Plus, it’s updated regularly with fixes and new features and as an open-source project development is collaborative.