Media

Output

Track title and artist from Apple Music or Spotify, separated by —, with a playback state icon. Omitting the media block behaves the same as media: {}. The default source is selected automatically from the two players.

Example

{
  "id": "media",
  "type": "media",
  "media": {
    "hideWhenNotPlaying": true,
    "source": "automatic"
  }
}

This shows the selected track only while the selected source is playing. It hides the item while paused, stopped, waiting for playback, or unavailable. Set top-level text to "" for an icon-only item, or showSymbol: false for text-only output.

Configuration

Use the item-level text template to customise or hide the label. The provider options below control its data, symbols, colours, and visibility.

All fields below are inside media.

Source selection

Automatic selection prefers playing sources over paused, then stopped, then unknown sources. Within the same playback state, the most recently received update wins. A pause notification from one player does not replace another playing source.

Select music or spotify to ignore the other player for that item. Different items can select different sources while sharing the same notification tracking.

Track details and state

Paused playback retains track details when a notification omits them. Stopped playback and app termination clear that player’s track. A new title with no artist does not inherit the previous track’s artist. The separator appears only between nonempty visible fields.

Setting top-level text to "" hides all text, including fallback text.

hideWhenNotPlaying hides every state except playing. hideWhenPaused and hideWhenStopped hide those individual states and leave waiting and unavailable states visible. All three options default to false and apply to the selected source. If any enabled option matches its state, the item is hidden and takes no layout or overflow space.

Symbols accept SF Symbol names or font glyph objects. Use symbolFontWeight to set SF Symbol weight independently of text.

An item-level symbol overrides state symbols; showSymbol: false hides it regardless. Icon-only items retain the source, playback state, and known metadata in their accessibility label.

To change media, edit the configuration file. sbar set cannot change this block.

Shared item options cover styling, symbols, actions, priority, and enabled state.

Text templates

The item-level text setting supports id, value, symbol, title, artist, source, status, playing, available. See text templates for syntax and field meanings. Fields follow the selected source. Use the template to select title, artist, and separators; value keeps the default title/artist label. Playback hide rules still apply.

Updates

The provider follows playback notifications. By default, startup displays Waiting for playback until the selected source sends an update, even if it was already playing when the bar started. With hideWhenNotPlaying: true, the item stays hidden until a playing update arrives. Start or change a track to populate the item.

Refresh policies snapshot both players’ states together. Manual and interval items retain their track, state symbol, and visibility until refreshed, including after a player quits. Provider events use the default automatic selection and text. See refresh policies.

Current limits

Supports Apple Music and Spotify notifications only. No initial playback query, playback controls, artwork, or dedicated state tints.