Hardwareby apeschock · GitHubCode · mod
Spotify's dead Car Thing becomes a desk assistant
DeskThing swaps the Car Thing's stock software for a community OS that runs Spotify, local audio, Discord and GIF apps. Every button can be remapped. It's a v0.9 beta.
Build sheet
- Device page
- Spotify Car Thing →
- Device
- Spotify Car Thing
- Platform
- Chromium web app
- Companion
- Desktop app
- Status
- Community project, v0.9 beta
Can I build this?Beginner · AI 4/5 · $0
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- AI-buildability
- 4/5
- Time
- An evening
- Cost
- $0
Mostly software on a device you already own, with a flashing step that is guided by a video and an installer.
Parts
Tools
computer for flashingUSB cable
Starter prompt
Based on "Spotify's dead Car Thing becomes a desk assistant" on Afterware: https://afterware.xyz/p/spotify-car-thing-rebuilt-as-a-desk-assistant
I have a Spotify Car Thing flashed with a custom image. Write a small web app for its Chromium browser that shows the current track title, artist and album art, with buttons for play, pause, skip and previous. Send the controls to a companion script on my computer that calls the Spotify Web API. Keep the layout readable on a 800x480 touchscreen.
Estimates based on the original write-up. How AI-buildability is scored. Building with an AI assistant? Connect it to Afterware (free MCP server).
Story
Spotify killed the Car Thing, but its little screen and dial still have work to do. DeskThing replaces the stock software with an alternative OS. The device runs a Chromium-based web app and talks to a desktop companion app on your computer. That app installs apps, manages and updates the display, and maps button presses to whatever functions you want.
The apps come from the community. Spotify control brings album art and podcast support. Another app handles local audio for anything playing on your machine. LyrThing shows lyrics, and an image viewer puts uploaded GIFs on the screen.
Installing takes some care. The repo warns against pulling the main branch. Grab the installer from the project website instead, and follow the video walkthrough. If you'd rather hack on it, development uses Node and an Electron-style src/main, preload and renderer layout.
Resources · 5
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