Welcome to Spotify QuickSaver! The RaspberryPi-powered Python app designed to enhance your music listening experience. It enables quick and effortless song saving with a quick button press, minimizing interruptions to your routine and keeping you focused.
I found that while working and listening to a newly discovered playlist on Spotify, I would keep finding new songs I loved and wanted to save to my library. The problem is that switching to the Spotify app every few minutes to add songs to my library was very disruptive to my workflow. This drove me to create Spotify QuickSaver. With QuickSaver, all it takes is a quick press of a button and the currently playing song gets quickly saved to your library, and to a previously specified playlist. If for some reason you change your mind about saving that song, you can easily undo the last save with the push of another button.
This allows you to effortlessly save songs while you're browsing the web, doing homework, or even on a long drive. I actually found myself constantly needing QuickSaver while I was developing it, and I'm even using it as I write this README.
Ready to give it a try? Follow the detailed guide below to get started!
Spotify QuickSaver is released under the GNU General Public License v3.0. See the LICENSE file for more details.
- Programming self-sustaining embedded systems.
- Working with Raspberry Pis and designing circuits.
- Designing very robust system architecture and learning modular software design patterns.
- Automated system startup and operation using
systemdfor seamless, headless execution. - Implemented robust mechanisms for autonomous error handling and logging.
After setting up your Raspberry Pi, make sure you have the following libraries installed:
- Python 3 | Comes with your RasPi by default
- Spotipy | Spotify API wrapper |
pip install spotipy - GPIO Zero | Raspberry Pi Circuit |
pip install gpiozero
The Python version that comes default with your Raspberry Pi should be able to run QuickSaver. If not, I recommend upgrading to Python 3.9.
To begin, you will need a Raspberry Pi capable of running an Operating System; which is any RasPi except for the RasPi Pico. It is recommended that you install a light, headless OS on the RasPi you're using, such as Raspberry Pi OS Lite. Use this tutorial from the official RaspberryPi site for installing an OS on your RasPi. Make sure to go through the OS customisation section to configure the wireless LAN (Wi-Fi) and enable SSH. The wireless LAN is absolutely required to allow QuickSaver to communicate with the Spotify API, otherwise it can't run. It's also important, in combination with enabling SSH, to allow you to connect to your RasPi wirelessly through the terminal; this is especially important if you're running headlessly (without a display) which is the recommended configuration.
Once you have a RasPi with a working OS, download this repository from GitHub. If your RasPi is running headlessly as recommended, you'll need to SSH into your Pi to access it; which means opening a terminal session on the Pi through your local network. You can use the following guide from the official RaspberryPi site to get started. Once SSHed into your Pi, use git to clone this repository to your RasPi. Then refer back to the packages section and install the required python libraries.
Open the directory (folder) you just cloned from GitHub and run the following command: rm Spotify-QuickSave_Schematic.png. This will delete the unnecessary image file that is used as a guide on the README page. Now direct your attention to the empty_config.json file. You're going to be filling in this configuration file with information about your Spotify and Raspberry Pi setup as you go through the rest of the README. Start by renaming the file to config.json.
Spotify QuickSaver uses the Spotify API, so you'll be required to create your own API keys on the Spotify Developer Dashboard; don't stress, it's pretty simple!
Follow these steps if you need help:
- Go to the Spotify Developer Dashboard and log in with your Spotify account.
- Click on the "Create an App" button and fill out the required fields.
- After creating the app, open the "Settings" tab to view your client ID and secret, you'll need them in the next step.
- Go to the Redirect URIs field and add the following
http://localhost:8888/callback
Once you have your client ID and secret, open the config.json file in the project directory and paste your client ID and secret in the appropriate spots. It looks like this:
{
"spotify": {
"client_id": "CLIENT ID HERE",
"client_secret": "CLIENT SECRET HERE",
"redirect_uri": "http://localhost:8888/callback" # <- DO NOT CHANGE THIS
},
...The Raspberry Pi setup will require you to wire 4 buttons and 3 LEDs:
- 4 Buttons:
- Toggle Like
- Save to main playlist
- Save to other playlist
- Undo last save
- 3 LEDs:
- Green (for success signals)
- Yellow (for warnings)
- Red (for errors)
You can wire the circuit however you like, as long as you include the components listed above, with each one starting from a GPIO pin and ending at a ground pin. Make sure to note the GPIO pin numbers you use as they will need to be added to the config.json file; a diagram guide is linked under the schematic picture below.
Below is a schematic of how I wired the circuit as an example that you can copy (resistors between 60Ξ© and 100Ξ© are recommended). Whether you copy my circuit or wire it your own way, DO SO AT YOUR OWN RISK, because electronics can be dangerous and you may damage your hardware if you're not sure what you're doing. It's not very difficult but it's important to do the proper research and exercise caution.
Compare your circuit to a GPIO pinout diagram to figure out the GPIO pin numbers you used, then fill them in in config.json. It looks like this:
...
"gpio_pins": {
"led_success": 0, # Green LED
"led_alert": 0, # Yellow LED
"led_error": 0, # Red LED
"button_toggle_like": 0,
"button_save_main": 0,
"button_save_other": 0,
"button_undo_save": 0
}
}You'll need to make some changes on your RasPi to allow Spotify QuickSaver to run automatically. If you haven't done so already, start by connecting to your RasPi computer by opening an SSH connection, you can refer back to this guide for help. We're going to be (1) authorizing QuickSaver to use your Spotify account, (2) setting up a service that automatically runs QuickSaver whenever your RasPi boots up, and (3) editing your Wi-Fi network list (optional).
To allow QuickSaver access to your Spotify, it needs to be authorized with your Spotify account through the OAuth login process. This authorization process only needs to happen once, on the first run of the app. While in the directory of the QuickSaver project, run the following command to start up QuickSaver for the first time: python main.py.
Once running, follow these steps:
- Copy the URL provided by QuickSaver and paste it into your browser; some terminals will allow you to
CTRL + Clickto automatically open URLs in your computer's browser. - Follow the instructions on the screen to log in and grant QuickSaver access to your Spotify account.
- Copy the URL you were redirected to from your browser's search/URL box.
- Paste the new URL into your terminal by using the shortcut
CTRL + SHIFT + V, then press enter to input it.
Now that you're authorized, all subsequent runs will not require any further action from you and will be completely automatic. You can now close the program by pressing CTRL + C, but keep the SSH session open to complete the next step.
To ensure that QuickSaver runs seamlessly and starts automatically whenever your Raspberry Pi boots up, we'll set up a systemd service. This service will manage the execution of the application in the background, providing reliable and continuous operation without the need for manual intervention.
A bash script named setup_service.sh has been provided to create the service file and set it up for you. To run the script, enter the following command: sudo ./setup_service.sh
After running the script, QuickSaver will be ready to automatically start whenever the RasPi boots up and connects to Wi-Fi.
You should've already configured the details of your Wi-Fi network when you first installed the OS on your RasPi, but you have the option to add more networks. This is important if you're going to use QuickSaver in different places with different Wi-Fi networks; your RasPi will have to have the details of any network it might use beforehand so that it can automatically connect to it when you plug it into power.
You can edit the file containing your network configuration by running the following command:
sudo nano /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.confThe file should initially look something like this:
country=US
ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=netdev
update_config=1
network={
ssid="YourNetworkSSID"
psk="YourNetworkPassword"
key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
}
To add more networks, simply copy the network={...} block and replace the SSID and password with the details of the network you are trying to add. The SSID is the name of the Wi-Fi, the same name you usually see when connecting your phone or laptop to Wi-Fi. The RasPi tries to connect to these networks in the order they appear in the file. If the first network is unavailable, it moves onto the next network block, and so on.
...
network={
ssid="1stPriorityNetwork"
psk="password"
key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
}
network={
ssid="2ndPriorityNetwork"
psk="password"
key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
}
If desired, the priority field can be used to explicitly set which network the Raspberry Pi should prefer if multiple networks are available. A higher priority value means the network is preferred over others with lower values:
...
network={
ssid="1stPriorityNetwork"
psk="password"
key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
priority=2
}
network={
ssid="2ndPriorityNetwork"
psk="password"
key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
priority=1
}
You might have noticed the following section in config.json:
...
"playlists": {
"main_playlist": "LEAVE UNTOUCHED TO ALLOW QS TO AUTO CREATE",
"other_playlist": "LEAVE UNTOUCHED TO ALLOW QS TO AUTO CREATE"
},
...Spotify QuickSaver gives you the option to pick between 2 different playlists to save to. When you run the app, QuickSaver will grab the playlist IDs of these 2 playlist options from config.json and use them whenever you save a song. If the playlist configuration in config.json is left untouched, QuickSaver will see that they are not valid playlists and automatically create new playlists on the first run of the app, then update config.json with the new playlist IDs. Once created, you can edit the names, descriptions, and images of these playlists if desired; make sure to differentiate between the main playlist and the other playlist.
You can optionally set your own playlists by pressing "Share" on the playlist in Spotify and copying the link. It should look something like this: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/<PLAYLIST_ID_HERE>?si=XXXXXXXXXXX. Copy the playlist ID from the link and paste it in the appropriate spot in config.json; note which playlist you set to main and which playlist you set to other.
The purpose of Spotify QuickSaver is to be able to easily and quickly save the currently playing song to your playlist and library with the press of a button, which I like to call a "Quicksave". When a Quicksave is triggered, the currently playing song is liked (saved to your Spotify library) and added to the playlist specified in the config file.
Below are all the functions of QuickSaver, each triggered by their respective button:
- Toggle Like: Likes/unlikes the currently playing song (in Spotify this means saving/unsaving it to your library).
- Save to Main: QuickSaves the currently playing song to the "main" playlist.
- Save to Other: QuickSaves the currently playing song to the "other" playlist.
- Undo Last Save: Undoes the last save by unliking the song and removing it from the playlist it was QuickSaved to (main or other); this can not be performed more than once at a time, you will need to save another song before being able to undo again.
QuickSaving
QuickSaver allows you to save to 2 different playlists because sometimes you might want to differentiate between your regular saves and another category of saves. A common usage would be listening to a radio of mostly one genre, like pop, so that once your listening session was over, you could move all the quicksaved songs to your pop playlist. Oftentimes, you might come across one or two songs that are not pop songs (do not match the main genre). When this happens, you can instead quicksave the song to the other playlist while keeping the main playlist strictly for pop songs. Once you're less busy after your listening session, you can add the entire main playlist to your pop playlist, and sort the few songs in the other playlist to their respective playlists.
Another common usage would be to use the main playlist for songs you 100% would like to save, while using the other playlist for songs you might save. Once you're done with your listening session, you can come back to Spotify and give the other songs a second look and decide which ones you'd like to definitely save. The ideas are endless, it's up to you to decide how you want to use the 2 playlists.
Undoing the Last Quicksave
If you change your mind about the song you just quicksaved, you can undo save to unlike it and remove it from the playlist it was saved to. Note that you can only undo one time after saving a song, meaning you won't be able to undo again until you quicksave another song.
Toggle Like
In addition to quicksaving, you can simply toggle like to save (or unsave) the currently playing song to your Spotify library, without saving it to a playlist.
Spotify QuickSaver makes use of 3 LEDs (green, yellow, red) to provide clear and immediate feedback when you press buttons, such as successful saves, errors, and warnings. Here is what each signal means based on what button triggered it:
- Toggle Like
- Green flash π’: song was successfully liked
- Green + yellow flash π’π‘: song was successfully unliked
- 3 yellow flashes π‘π‘π‘: warning, no song is currently playing to save
- Save to Main
- Green flash π’: song was successfully quicksaved to main playlist
- Yellow flash π‘: duplicate warning, song is already in main playlist
- 3 yellow flashes π‘π‘π‘: warning, no song is currently playing to save
- Save to Other (same as save to main)
- Green flash π’: song was successfully quicksaved to other playlist
- Yellow flash π‘: duplicate warning, song is already in other playlist
- 3 yellow flashes π‘π‘π‘: warning, no song is currently playing to save
- Undo Last Save
- Green + yellow flash π’π‘: last quicksave was successfully undone
- Yellow flash π‘: max undo warning, can't undo more than once in a row
Ready Lights π’π‘π΄: When the Quicksaver app starts running, it will trigger an LED sequence using all the LEDs to signal the app is up and running.
Red Error Flash π΄: Very rarely you might see the red light flash alone which indicates a critical error. This might be caused by a failed request to the API, a missing config.json file, etc. It doesn't require any intervention from you, just make sure to avoid messing with any files you haven't been instructed to change to reduce the likelihood of errors.
To avoid saving duplicate songs to playlists, QuickSaver fetches the songs in your playlists when the app first starts up and saves it to a local list. Every time you quicksave a song to a playlist, it will be compared with the local list to ensure it's not a duplicate. The local list is NOT updated throughout the runtime of the app, so if you make any changes to your playlist in the Spotify app, QuickSaver will not be aware of these changes and won't be able to prevent duplicate quicksaves of untracked songs.
So if you remove or add a song manually from Spotify while QuickSaver is running, just keep in mind that QuickSaver will not account for the change so it is up to you to consider these changes.
That's it! Now you're ready to use Spotify QuickSaver and get to jamming π§ πΆ