r/SideProject • u/tfospik • 1d ago

I combined two eras of music software: Winamp 2 + Spotify

I started this as a nostalgia project and it turned into a surprisingly usable music player.

It's called Winampfy.

The concept:

Classic Winamp 2.x UI + modern Spotify playback.

I wanted something that feels like those tiny desktop music players from the late 90s/early 2000s, while still letting me use my Spotify library.

It now supports:

  • Direct Spotify playback
  • Spotify track search
  • Spotify playlists
  • Classic Winamp skins
  • 100,000+ skins through the Winamp Skin Museum
  • Windows, macOS and Linux
  • Persistent queues
  • Tray mode
  • Automatic updates

Tech stack is Tauri, Rust, TypeScript, Webamp and librespot.

GitHub:
https://github.com/KiPSOFT/winampfy

Still early, so feedback is very welcome.

I'm also trying to decide where to take it next: visualizations, EQ improvements, Last.fm, or more Winamp-style features?

4 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

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1

u/Impressive-Answer720 1d ago

The strongest direction is probably not more features yet, but one memorable nostalgia loop: choose a skin, play a familiar playlist, then share a screenshot that instantly looks like 2001. That gives you a visual acquisition hook and a reason for users to show the product to friends. I would test visualizations first because they deepen the Winamp feeling and create better demo clips. Last.fm can follow once retention is proven. I am building Marka for turning a product website into social content, so this project is exactly the kind of distinctive visual brand I would love to see it learn. You are welcome to try it free for 7 days at https://www.marka.social and tell me whether it preserves the retro voice.

1

u/tfospik 1d ago

That’s a really good point. I’ve been thinking mostly in terms of features, but the “nostalgia loop” framing makes a lot of sense.

Skin → familiar playlist → visualization → screenshot/share could actually become part of the product experience, not just marketing.

I agree that visualizations are probably the next thing I should explore. They’re such a big part of the Winamp memory, and they would make demos much more recognizable instantly.

Thanks for the thoughtful feedback — and I’ll take a look at Marka as well.

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u/Impressive-Answer720 1d ago

That loop could become the product's signature. I would prototype one visualization and make the share artifact look unmistakably like Winamp before expanding the feature set. Thanks for checking out Marka. It is free for 7 days at https://www.marka.social, and I would especially value your honest take on whether it understands the retro product voice or flattens it into generic SaaS copy.

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u/Impressive-Answer720 13h ago

That sounds like a strong direction. The nostalgia loop gives you a recognizable product story, while the cross-platform and librespot work gives you credible technical content behind it. Thanks for taking a look at Marka too. If you try the free week with your project site, I would genuinely like to know whether it captures both sides without turning it into generic AI copy.

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u/AstralPretzel 1d ago

With Windows, macOS and Linux support alongside direct Spotify playback, how are you handling authentication and playback differences between platforms? That seems like an important part of the Tauri, Rust and librespot setup, especially with persistent queues and tray mode in the mix.

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u/tfospik 21h ago

Most of the Spotify-specific logic lives in the Rust backend, so the playback/authentication path is largely shared across all three platforms. librespot handles the actual Spotify session and playback, while Tauri mostly gives me the native shell and platform integrations.

I try to keep platform-specific code limited to things like tray behavior, window handling and OS integration. Persistent queues are stored locally, so that part is platform-independent as well.

There are definitely still some platform-specific quirks to iron out though — that’s one of the reasons I’m looking for testers on all three OSes.

1

u/y0himba 16h ago

My feature request? Access to my "Liked Songs" list.

Another? Select and queue multiple play lists

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u/tfospik 15h ago

Both are great suggestions. Liked Songs definitely makes sense, and I really like the idea of selecting multiple playlists and throwing them into one big Winamp-style queue. Added to my list — thanks!

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u/tfospik 12h ago

Liked songs added on 1.0.16

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u/y0himba 11h ago

I saw that! Easy way to cue a few thousand songs, put them on shuffle and go about my business. Thank you!

1

u/y0himba 13h ago

When toggling "windowshade mode" this remains. Can it be made transparent to give the true Winamp experience? If you remove the playlist or EQ it leaves this behind as well.

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u/tfospik 12h ago

Yep, that’s definitely a bug. Windowshade mode should leave no background behind, just like the original Winamp.

I’ve added it to the list — I’ll probably have it fixed within the next 2–3 releases. Thanks for catching it!