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v3.0.0 - audio ads never play

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@DEV-industry DEV-industry released this 08 Aug 12:27
· 12 commits to main since this release
v3.0.0
1d8f586
This commit was created on GitHub.com and signed with GitHub鈥檚 verified signature.
GPG key ID: B5690EEEBB952194
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Learn about vigilant mode.

Version 2 blocked ads with the hosts file. That stopped working, and it cannot be made to work again: Spotify hands the client a per-region hostname at run time, so no static list can enumerate them, and ad audio now streams from audio-fa.scdn.co - the same host that serves music. There is no hostname that is only ever an ad.

This version filters by URL path instead, where the separation is still clean. Audio ads are never fetched, so the next track starts immediately rather than after thirty seconds of silence. Display ads are removed from the client's interface separately.

Installing

Download SpotifyAdsSkipper_Setup.exe below and run it. Windows will warn that the publisher is unknown - the installer is not code-signed - so choose More info -> Run anyway.

Setup explains the certificate it needs and then installs. Nothing else to do: Spotify restarts once and the app sits in the tray from then on. Right-click it for the status line; blocking (N ad requests dropped) means it is working.

You need the Spotify desktop app from spotify.com. The Microsoft Store build installs elsewhere and will not be found.

About the certificate

Spotify sends ads down the same encrypted connection as music, so telling them apart means inspecting that connection locally, which needs a certificate in your personal store. It is created on your machine and never leaves it.

It is limited by name and by purpose: it can only vouch for spotify.com, scdn.co and spotifycdn.com, and only for websites. Windows and OpenSSL both reject anything it signs for another site, for a bare IP address, or for e-mail and program signing. The private key is encrypted to your Windows account and readable only by it.

Uninstalling removes it, and so does Remove local certificate in the tray menu.

Worth knowing

  • Patching the client and intercepting its API traffic both break Spotify's Terms of Service.
  • The ad endpoints are paths, not domains, and Spotify can rename them. Ads come back until the list is updated.
  • While the app runs, traffic to Spotify's domains is decrypted on your machine - a Spotify browser tab included. Nothing is stored and nothing is sent anywhere.
  • Windows only.

Verifying the download

You do not need this to install the app. It is here in case you got the file from somewhere other than this page.

SHA-256  38742FEADFD931FECCA8873EC47F77CF7EFDCFCB09A6C7E8F475F3B2185A546C

Get-FileHash .\SpotifyAdsSkipper_Setup.exe
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