Screensleeves album art screensaver as a standalone app

Screensleeves has been a popular screensaver for a number of years, but the security changes in the new Mojave OS may make its functionality impossible.

Over the years people have suggested that it could be a free-standing app rather than a screensaver. This comes with some advantages - eg you can keep it minimised and floating above other windows in the corner of the screen when it's not in full screen mode.

This may be the only way to keep the screensaver alive. I've been experimenting with the idea, ironing out some issues related to the change, and using it. I have to say that I like it very much.

Here's a very quick peek at what all this means.

New theme in Screensleeves

Welcome to the new 'Ambience' theme.

It goes against the idea of a screensaver a little to have a static coloured background (I've been toying with the idea of adding a little 'Ken Burns' to the background, but this would have little benefit if the album cover is fairly homogenous in colour.)

But there is a fade to black and repositioning of the album cover and details every 30 seconds, which existing users will be familiar with. And if you're listening to individual tracks rather than complete albums or audiobooks, then there's no problem as the coloured background will change significantly every few minutes. Plus as now, when the music stops you either get a black screen or random artwork (whichever you choose) so no problem there.

Above all, it just looks so cool. I'm so excited about it and love using it.

[Update] This theme is now available in Screensleeves Pro v5.1.  You can download and use the Pro version without paying, just certain Pro features will be disabled before you obtain a key.

Screensleeves not working with Spotify 1.0.1.xxx

Problem: After the recent update Screensleeves no longer recognises that Spotify is playing.

[edit 20 Mar 2015 - the most recent update 1.0.2.6.xxx still contains the problem]
[edit 21 Apr 2015 - 1.0.3.x doesn't seem to seem to have this particular problem. Some users are finding a different problem, although for some users things are working fine and we're not clear yet whether the newer problem is related to a version of spotify or a version of OSX]

Reason: Applescript is broken in this version of Spotify. I'm sure it's an oversight on their part, not a permanent removal. There are helpdesk calls open and I'm hoping that they will fix and release an update soon.

Workaround: This hack. The post assumes a certain level of knowledge, so in case you need it, here are the steps with images.

1. find your Spotify app in your Applications folder. Right-click / control-click and choose 'show package contents:

2. Browse and find the info.plist file within the Contents folder.

 3. Open this file in a suitable app - if you have an xml or plist editor, great, if not, TextEdit will work fine. Find the line  <string>Spotify.sdef</string> and add 'applescript/' as shown below. Save the file.

4. I found that this only worked after a restart. Note that this could break the code signing of the app and so depending on your security levels you may be asked to allow Spotify access to things or even to allow Spotify to run. 

5. If Spotify updates itself (which it does frequently) and they haven't fixed this problem in the next update, then you may have to go through these steps again.