Mute Spotify Ads Automatically [App]

[ctferrara]

Hey guys,

I was messing around last night with some of the applescript capabilities for Spotify and was able to come up with a nice little solution for automatically detecting and muting ads in the free version of Spotify. I think I was able to write it in the most efficient way where it's not polling Spotify every second, only when it needs to. Let me know what you think.


Here's the applescript code:

repeat
	tell application "Spotify"
		set cur_vol to sound volume
		set trackk to track number of current track
		set namme to name of current track
		set pop to popularity of current track
		set dur to duration of current track
		set pos to player position
	end tell
	
	if pop is 0 and dur is less than 31 then
		tell application "Spotify"
			pause
			set sound volume to 0
			play
		end tell
		delay dur - pos + 1
		tell application "Spotify"
			set sound volume to cur_vol
		end tell
	else
		if dur - pos is less than 30 then
			delay dur - pos
		else
			delay 30
		end if
	end if
	
end repeat

Here's a link to github GitHub

[Mephistopelus]

Hi! The link seems to be broken. Would you please upload your app again?

[br3nt]

Originally Posted by Mephistopelus

Hi! The link seems to be broken. Would you please upload your app again?

you can just the code to apple script editor and run it
I don't know how to keep it running in the background though. Make it an app and add it to start up list?


Did a dry run, caught 2 commercials in a row and then setting the volume to previous level.
Nice work!

[1member1]

No offense but I think spotify should be with ads unless you paid. this is not so bad. I listen to spotify a lot (free version) and i appriciate their free service.

I think you can find better things to do with scripting.

[br3nt]

Originally Posted by 1member1

No offense but I think spotify should be with ads unless you paid. this is not so bad. I listen to spotify a lot (free version) and i appriciate their free service.

I think you can find better things to do with scripting.

you know they still get paid for the ads right?
it's like you walking out of the area when the commercials start and get back when the song is there... you're not removing anything/altering the client

[Mephistopelus]

Thanks so much!
I've changed it a little bit, and posted to the GitHub. Here.

[br3nt]

Originally Posted by Mephistopelus

Thanks so much!
I've changed it a little bit posted to the GitHub. Here.

any changelog except making it an app and raising the duration to 40s?

[Mephistopelus]

Originally Posted by br3nt

any changelog except making it an app and raising the duration to 40s?

I've commented the script, so you can read it all yourself now

In short:

1. Added error handling
2. Now it runs every 0.5 seconds instead of 5+ seconds
3. Deleted the automatic delay in the latest "else". It misses an ad if you skip the song before it.

[br3nt]

Originally Posted by Mephistopelus

I've commented the script, so you can read it all yourself now

In short:

1. Added error handling
2. Now it runs every 0.5 seconds instead of 5+ seconds
3. Deleted the automatic delay in the latest "else". It misses an ad if you skip the song before it.

thanks for the reply!

[Mephistopelus]

Originally Posted by br3nt

thanks for the reply!

You're very welcome!

[ctferrara]

Hey guys,

Just noticed that this has gotten some attention after uploading it and never giving it a second though. Just a few things;

1) The link should work again now. I had it saved in my dropbox public folder and had removed it (thinking nobody would ever download it). I have replaced it with an updated version.


I really do suggest using Mephistopelus's version though. He got it to run invisibly somthing I had not known how to do before. That and making the startup item prompt were great. Link here. Just consider my ideas below. Thanks



2) Updated Version: Just changes a few things.

a) If you quit Spotify the app Spotimute will now quit once it realizes Spotify is closed. You don't want it running all the time using resources and clogging your dock.

b) Option to have a growl notification show reminding you if you have the music paused for more than 1.5 minutes. I find this useful when you pause for a second to talk to someone or watch a quick video but forget to resume the music.

You can change both of these functions if you want by dragging the app into AppleScript Editor and changing the first two lines:

set always_on to true
set use_growl to true

ex. set always_on to true if you want to use it as a startup item and have it never quit.

ex2. set always_on to false if you want to use it like I do. I use Keyboard Maestro to automatically open Spotimute when Spotify opens. Then when I quit Spotify, Spotimute quits too. This way it's not always open sucking up resources.

ex3. Set use_growl true/false to choose whether or not to display growl notifications when musics been paused for a while.

c) Thanks @Mephistopelus for updating it and commenting but just a few issues..

1. Changing my name? Comon man...

2. Same thing with the icon...

3. (This one's real haha) There was no need to change the pause time in the repeat loop to .3 seconds. I wrote it the original very carefully in order to avoid having it run every second..

By reading the current position in the track we can figure out how long until we test again. Granted, this could pose a problem if we tested at the start of the song and then left it alone. What if we changed the song!! Well I set it up so that if there is more than 30 seconds left in a song it just runs though again.

In short: If theres more than 30 seconds in the song left it should wait 30 more seconds to test again. If it's less than 30 seconds it waits the remaining time, checks if it's an ad, then reacts to it.

By doing so we never hear ads and we arn't looping through the AppleScript literally 200 times a minute, but more like 4 times a minute. No need for that.

If you guys have any questions, comments, or requests let me know. I'm going to subscribe to this post now (don't know why I didnt beore) so I'll get them.


Thanks again for all your support.

ps. Hilarious story about how I remembered this app. While I use the app everyday I had completely forgotten I posted it here. Well, tonight me and my buddy were watching a movie that involves hackers (Die Hard 4) and he makes a quip about him being a hacker himself, as he recently downloaded a script that mutes Spotify on ads. Low and behold, he had download my app this morning, without even knowing I made it. Small world right..