VisualThing v0.2.8

Changelog

0.2.8 — 2026-10-26

• Rename the GitHub repository to VisualThing while preserving the musicthing internal app ID.
• Add confirmed two-finger controls in Beat Runner, Beat Fighter and Beat DJ: vertical swipes adjust background sensitivity; horizontal swipes cycle palettes.
• Cover the entire screen, including surrounding DeskThing controls and gestures split across the app boundary.
• Apply palettes during the swipe, retain gesture ownership when a finger lifts first, and prevent accidental clicks or character changes.
• Save background settings independently for each mode and show clearer confirmation labels.
• Keep ControlThing optional and preserve one-finger interactions.
• Optimize fighter sheets for device resolution and predecode all six fighters during idle time to reduce switching stutter.

0.2.7 — 2026-10-26

• Rename the public app to VisualThing; preserve the musicthing app ID and existing update URLs.
• Replace all six Beat Fighter characters with the approved super-deformed illustrated cast.
• Add dedicated sweep, roundhouse, spin, jump, duck, recovery and quiet poses, plus katana attacks.
• Add fifty illustrated objects in shuffled rotation, with slicing, shattering, bouncing, spilling, springs, portals and domino reactions.
• Embed small approved ready poses and retain the last loaded character during decoding; remove the old vector fallback.
• Lower the fighter spectrum backdrop opacity to 50 percent, with local waveform landing ripples and audio-driven impact effects.
• Keep lyrics and character selection on screen; provide an embeddable options page for configured ControlThing hosts.

0.2.6 — 2026-10-26

• Synchronize Spotify pause/resume with character quiet modes, including group scenes, runners and fighters.
• Expire stale audio frames and prevent delayed playback polling from overriding a newer pause event.
• Forward native Spotify song-state updates to MusicThing.
• Keep startup compatible with Car Thing’s Chromium 69; add a regression check without globalThis.

0.2.5 — 2026-10-26

• Add Deadpan, Zest and Chiseled with distinct bodies, facial artwork and quiet activities.
• Redesign AFK with the supplied gamer reference, mixer pose B and keyboard quiet pose D.
• Remove redundant DJ prefixes from character display names while preserving saved IDs.
• Refresh the twenty-five-character galleries; Guest Set and Dance Party remain last.

0.2.4 — 2026-10-26

Add DJ Croak & Dagger (royal frog) and DJ AFK (gamer), with distinct bodies, native vector heads, quiet activities and participation in Guest Set/Dance Party. Refresh the galleries for twenty-two DJ choices; existing selections retain their IDs.

0.2.3 — 2026-10-26

Rename DJ Scream to DJ Scare and Full Crew to Dance Party. Remove Bubble Pop’s stray hair stroke above her head. Refresh character galleries.

0.2.2 — 2026-10-26

• Keep visualizer scenes proportional and centered in fullscreen and Spotify preview.
• Prevent Spotify’s optional liked-status lookup from blocking track metadata during rate limits. The integration omits automatic liked-status retrieval while retaining explicit like actions.

0.2.1 — 2026-10-26

Fix DeskThing’s song metadata handler stopping when artwork is already locally proxied. Titles, artists and playback state continue updating, without repeatedly proxying the same image. Includes modern/legacy regression coverage.

0.2.0 — 2026-10-26

• Add Neon Stage, Beat Fighter and Beat DJ, bringing the collection to eight visualizers.
• Add six fighters, twenty DJ choices, unique runner bodies and illustrated galleries for every effect and character collection.
• Add Chrome & Gold’s five additional set routines: headphone check, crossfader sweep, double scratch, overhead clap and robot wave.
• Add DJ Couture, DJ Mellow, DJ Scare, DJ Ibiza and DJ Glitch; shared-table robot duo, Guest Set and an eight-character Dance Party scene.
• Add expressive performance gestures and individual silence activities, varied fighter targets and katana choreography.
• Keep live Spectrum Waves behind fighters; remove static arena scenery and walking ground.
• Add a compact character dropdown while preserving tap-to-cycle. Move the music-note lyrics toggle left of the name.
• Separate Runner, Fighter and DJ pace; preserve selections across Spotify preview, fullscreen and menu returns.
• Improve icon controls, gesture isolation, spectrum styling and Spotify return navigation.

0.1.0 — 2026-10-26

First public release: five audio-reactive effects; seventeen Beat Runner characters with unique environments and silence animations; independent runner-speed and skyline controls; Spotify preview integration; compact/fullscreen player layouts; timed lyrics and an optional current/next-line visualizer overlay; queue, recent-history and speaker pages. Visualizer gestures and buttons are isolated from Spotify's automatic side-panel handlers.

Includes a backed-up, repeatable client/Spotify integration installer, setup and privacy notes, dependency notices, runtime/source archives and a separate DeskThing latest.json asset. Tested on Apple Silicon/macOS 13+, DeskThing Server 0.11.17, client 0.11.2. Protected music-video playback is unavailable on the tested Car Thing browser.

VisualThing v0.2.7

Changelog

0.2.7 — 2026-10-26

• Rename the public app to VisualThing; preserve the musicthing app ID and existing update URLs.
• Replace all six Beat Fighter characters with the approved super-deformed illustrated cast.
• Add dedicated sweep, roundhouse, spin, jump, duck, recovery and quiet poses, plus katana attacks.
• Add fifty illustrated objects in shuffled rotation, with slicing, shattering, bouncing, spilling, springs, portals and domino reactions.
• Embed small approved ready poses and retain the last loaded character during decoding; remove the old vector fallback.
• Lower the fighter spectrum backdrop opacity to 50 percent, with local waveform landing ripples and audio-driven impact effects.
• Keep lyrics and character selection on screen; provide an embeddable options page for configured ControlThing hosts.

0.2.6 — 2026-10-26

• Synchronize Spotify pause/resume with character quiet modes, including group scenes, runners and fighters.
• Expire stale audio frames and prevent delayed playback polling from overriding a newer pause event.
• Forward native Spotify song-state updates to MusicThing.
• Keep startup compatible with Car Thing’s Chromium 69; add a regression check without globalThis.

0.2.5 — 2026-10-26

• Add Deadpan, Zest and Chiseled with distinct bodies, facial artwork and quiet activities.
• Redesign AFK with the supplied gamer reference, mixer pose B and keyboard quiet pose D.
• Remove redundant DJ prefixes from character display names while preserving saved IDs.
• Refresh the twenty-five-character galleries; Guest Set and Dance Party remain last.

0.2.4 — 2026-10-26

Add DJ Croak & Dagger (royal frog) and DJ AFK (gamer), with distinct bodies, native vector heads, quiet activities and participation in Guest Set/Dance Party. Refresh the galleries for twenty-two DJ choices; existing selections retain their IDs.

0.2.3 — 2026-10-26

Rename DJ Scream to DJ Scare and Full Crew to Dance Party. Remove Bubble Pop’s stray hair stroke above her head. Refresh character galleries.

0.2.2 — 2026-10-26

• Keep visualizer scenes proportional and centered in fullscreen and Spotify preview.
• Prevent Spotify’s optional liked-status lookup from blocking track metadata during rate limits. The integration omits automatic liked-status retrieval while retaining explicit like actions.

0.2.1 — 2026-10-26

Fix DeskThing’s song metadata handler stopping when artwork is already locally proxied. Titles, artists and playback state continue updating, without repeatedly proxying the same image. Includes modern/legacy regression coverage.

0.2.0 — 2026-10-26

• Add Neon Stage, Beat Fighter and Beat DJ, bringing the collection to eight visualizers.
• Add six fighters, twenty DJ choices, unique runner bodies and illustrated galleries for every effect and character collection.
• Add Chrome & Gold’s five additional set routines: headphone check, crossfader sweep, double scratch, overhead clap and robot wave.
• Add DJ Couture, DJ Mellow, DJ Scare, DJ Ibiza and DJ Glitch; shared-table robot duo, Guest Set and an eight-character Dance Party scene.
• Add expressive performance gestures and individual silence activities, varied fighter targets and katana choreography.
• Keep live Spectrum Waves behind fighters; remove static arena scenery and walking ground.
• Add a compact character dropdown while preserving tap-to-cycle. Move the music-note lyrics toggle left of the name.
• Separate Runner, Fighter and DJ pace; preserve selections across Spotify preview, fullscreen and menu returns.
• Improve icon controls, gesture isolation, spectrum styling and Spotify return navigation.

0.1.0 — 2026-10-26

First public release: five audio-reactive effects; seventeen Beat Runner characters with unique environments and silence animations; independent runner-speed and skyline controls; Spotify preview integration; compact/fullscreen player layouts; timed lyrics and an optional current/next-line visualizer overlay; queue, recent-history and speaker pages. Visualizer gestures and buttons are isolated from Spotify's automatic side-panel handlers.

Includes a backed-up, repeatable client/Spotify integration installer, setup and privacy notes, dependency notices, runtime/source archives and a separate DeskThing latest.json asset. Tested on Apple Silicon/macOS 13+, DeskThing Server 0.11.17, client 0.11.2. Protected music-video playback is unavailable on the tested Car Thing browser.

MusicThing 0.2.6 — Reliable startup and pause animations

Fix MusicThing getting stuck at “Connecting to Mac audio” on the Car Thing’s Chromium 69 browser. The playback synchronizer now starts without globalThis, with a regression test for that environment.

Spotify pause/resume now drives character quiet/performance states directly, including group scenes, runners and fighters. Stale audio frames expire, and delayed polling cannot override a newer pause event. The integration forwards native Spotify song-state updates to MusicThing.

Validation: 91 automated checks, runtime/source archive checks and matching DeskThing store checksums. Private reference portraits and screenshots are not included in this release.

MusicThing 0.2.5 — Meme trio and AFK redesign

Add Deadpan, Zest and Chiseled with distinct vector heads, body silhouettes and coffee/joke-notes/mirror-check quiet activities. Twenty-five choices now participate in the picker and rotating group scenes.

Redesign AFK around the supplied gamer reference: bald forehead, sparse messy side hair, small glasses, irregular stubble, gray-and-black shirt, broad build and hairy forearms. Use approved pose B (scratch and central mixer) during music and pose D (keyboard) during quiet mode.

Remove redundant DJ prefixes from display names. Preserve saved character IDs, alphabetical ordering, Guest Set and Dance Party at the end, and the eight-character Dance Party cap. Update illustrated active/quiet galleries.

87 automated checks pass. Updated client files installed and verified on the connected Car Thing.

MusicThing 0.2.4 — Royal frog and AFK gamer DJs

Add two DJs, bringing the picker to twenty-two choices:

• DJ Croak & Dagger: approved royal-frog direction with three-quarter face, crown, purple-and-gold jacket, chain and a gold-polishing quiet activity.
• DJ AFK: broad gamer build, gray-and-black shirt, glasses, scruffy hair and headset, with a keyboard/energy-drink quiet activity.

Both have native vector heads and distinct bodies, participate in Guest Set and Dance Party, and appear in alphabetical selection without changing existing saved character IDs. Guest Set and Dance Party remain last. Refreshed character and quiet-mode galleries.

85 automated checks pass; installed and verified client files on the connected Car Thing.

MusicThing 0.2.3 — DJ Scare and Dance Party

Rename DJ Scream to DJ Scare and Full Crew to Dance Party. Dance Party remains last in the character list, after Guest Set. Saved character choices retain their original IDs.

Remove Bubble Pop’s stray hair stroke above her head. Refresh the illustrated character galleries. All 84 automated checks pass.

MusicThing 0.2.2 — Responsive song titles and proportional visuals

Keep visualizer artwork proportional and centered in fullscreen and the original Spotify preview, rather than stretching a fixed canvas to fill the available space.

Fix the remaining song-title stall: Spotify’s optional liked-status request could wait through a long rate-limit delay before publishing playback metadata. The integration removes that automatic secondary lookup from the metadata path. Explicit like actions remain available; automatic heart-state retrieval is omitted.

84 automated checks pass. On the connected device, Spotify resumed emitting song metadata and the client logged receiving updates after installation. Includes backed-up Spotify server integration for supported installs.

MusicThing 0.2.1 — Spotify song-label updates

Fix the bottom Spotify song title remaining at “Loading Song Name” when artwork is already locally proxied. Skip only the redundant artwork rewrite and continue updating title, artist and playback state.

Includes modern and legacy client handlers and regression coverage. All 82 automated checks pass. Reinitialize MusicThing and push/restart the staged client to apply to an existing installation.

MusicThing 0.2.0 — Eight visualizers and the full character collection

0.2.0 — 2026-10-26

• Add Neon Stage, Beat Fighter and Beat DJ, bringing the collection to eight visualizers.
• Add six fighters, twenty DJ choices, unique runner bodies and illustrated galleries for every effect and character collection.
• Add Chrome & Gold’s five additional set routines: headphone check, crossfader sweep, double scratch, overhead clap and robot wave.
• Add DJ Couture, DJ Mellow, DJ Scream, DJ Ibiza and DJ Glitch; shared-table robot duo, Guest Set and an eight-character Full Crew scene.
• Add expressive performance gestures and individual silence activities, varied fighter targets and katana choreography.
• Keep live Spectrum Waves behind fighters; remove static arena scenery and walking ground.
• Add a compact character dropdown while preserving tap-to-cycle. Move the music-note lyrics toggle left of the name.
• Separate Runner, Fighter and DJ pace; preserve selections across Spotify preview, fullscreen and menu returns.
• Improve icon controls, gesture isolation, spectrum styling and Spotify return navigation.

Illustrated visualizer and character guide

Validation: 81 automated checks, local build and runtime/source archive verification. Apple Silicon macOS 13+, DeskThing server 0.11.17 / client 0.11.2.

Install the runtime ZIP through DeskThing; latest.json supplies store metadata. The source ZIP is for development.

v0.1.0

Changelog

0.1.0 — 2026-10-26

First public release: five audio-reactive effects; seventeen Beat Runner characters with unique environments and silence animations; independent runner-speed and skyline controls; Spotify preview integration; compact/fullscreen player layouts; timed lyrics and an optional current/next-line visualizer overlay; queue, recent-history and speaker pages. Visualizer gestures and buttons are isolated from Spotify's automatic side-panel handlers.

Includes a backed-up, repeatable client/Spotify integration installer, setup and privacy notes, dependency notices, runtime/source archives and a separate DeskThing latest.json asset. Tested on Apple Silicon/macOS 13+, DeskThing Server 0.11.17, client 0.11.2. Protected music-video playback is unavailable on the tested Car Thing browser.