Dark Flat Skin

A skin for jivelite with a slightly different look and extra information on the Now Playing screen (ratings, status icons, audio meta data, lyrics).
Based on JogglerSkin (piCorePlayer, SqueezePlay) and WQVGAsmallSkin (SB Touch).

For devices running piCorePlayer, SqueezePlay and SB Touch¹.

⚠ IMPORTANT - only applies to SqueezePlay on Windows and Linux:
please read the FAQ on Windows/Linux BEFORE installing the skin.

⬅️ Back to the list of all plugins

Features

• display more information on the Now Playing screen(s):

  • ratings

  • status icons

    • = is lossless²
    • = has lyrics
    • = has a custom start/stop time that the CSST plugin can use
    • = is a remote track

  • audio meta data (content type, bitrate, sample rate/size)

  • NowPlaying screen with lyrics (SqueezePlay and piCorePlayer)
    

• easy way to install and uninstall the skin using an installer applet
  

• colored track title if the track's comment tag contains a user-specified keyword
  

• slightly different look (flat, dark)
  

This skin comes with the usual VU meters and the default spectrum visualizer. If you're more interested in VU meters and spectrum visualizers, there are other skins, e.g. what blaisedias has created (see LMS forum post).

Settings are here: Settings > Screen > Now Playing and Settings > Screen > Dark Flat Skin.

Screenshots³

Grid skin (home menu) - piCorePlayer only

Installation

First you install the skin installer applet which you will then use to install the skin.

#1 - Get the installer

• Make sure that your LMS and your device have internet access.
  

• Go to Settings > Advanced > Applet Installer.
  

• Select and install the Dark Flat Skin Installer. To complete the installation:
  

  • piCorePlayer: restart jivelite by using the Quit button.
    

  • SqueezePlay: quit and restart SqueezePlay manually.

  • SB Touch: your device will reboot automatically.
    
    

#2 - Install the skin

⚠ IMPORTANT - only applies to SqueezePlay on Windows and possibly Linux:
this step requires admin privileges.
Please read the corresponding FAQ article on SqueezePlay on Windows/Linux BEFORE you proceed.

• You should see a new menu item called Dark Flat Skin Installer.
  

• Follow the menu instructions. And the end:

  • piCorePlayer: jivelite will restart automatically. Does not require a pCP reboot.
    

  • SqueezePlay: quit and restart SqueezePlay manually.
    

  • SB Touch: your device will reboot automatically.
    
    

#3 - Enable the Dark Flat Skin

• Go to Settings > Screen > Select skin to enable the Dark Flat Skin.

• Read the FAQ on this page.

Updating to a newer version

• ⚠ Uninstall the old version first.

• Then install the latest version.

Uninstalling the skin

⚠ IMPORTANT - only applies to SqueezePlay on Windows and possibly Linux:
this step requires admin privileges.
Please read the corresponding FAQ article on SqueezePlay on Windows/Linux BEFORE you proceed.

• Enable a different skin first.

• Go to Settings > Advanced > Uninstall Dark Flat Skin and follow the menu instructions.

  • piCorePlayer: jivelite will restart automatically. No reboot necessary.
    

  • SqueezePlay: quit and restart SqueezePlay manually.
    

  • SB Touch: your device will reboot automatically.
    
    

Manual install

If your installer failed or does not work for some reason, you can just copy/move the files to the correct locations.

You need to locate the 2 applet folders:

• the user applet folder for user-installed applets, the path ends with squeezeplay/userpath/applets/
  

• and the jive applet folder with the preinstalled applets, the path ends with share/jive/applets
  
  

Now to some copying and moving:

• in the user applet folder: create a folder called DarkFlatSkin
  

• in the jive applet folder: copy the images folder from the JogglerSkin applet folder (SqueezePlay, piCorePlayer) or the WQVGAsmallSkin applet folder (SB Touch) to the DarkFlatSkin folder in the user applet folder
  

• copy the 2 lua files and strings.txt from the DarkFlatSkin folder in this repository to the DarkFlatSkin folder in the user applet folder
  

• move the image files from the DarkFlatSkin/images folder in this repository to the corresponding folders in the DarkFlatSkin/images subfolders in the user applet folder
  

• in the jive applet folder: rename the 2 lua files in the NowPlaying applet folder (e.g. add _ORG_ to the name) and then copy the 2 lua files and strings.txt from the NowPlaying folder in this repository there.
  

• in the jive applet folder: rename the ClockApplet.lua file in the Clock applet folder and copy the corresponding file from this repository there.
  

FAQ

»I've used the Applet Installer to install/update the Dark Flat Skin Installer but there's no menu item with this name.«

The most likely reason is that you had a previous version of Dark Flat Skin on your device. Before you install a new/updated version, please uninstall the previous version first: Settings > Advanced > Uninstall Dark Flat Skin.

»I can't open the Screen > NowPlaying > NowPlaying Views menu.«

This is a jivelite quirk that's not tied to any skin in particular. Just enter the NowPlaying screen using the top right note icon. Then go back and try again. That usually solves it. If not, make sure that you have selected a player and that this player is connected.

»How do I switch to next NowPlaying screen from the lyrics NowPlaying screen?«

You need to click/touch the track title in the title bar. The lyrics (text) cannot be used for that because you can scroll up or down in the song lyrics using click-hold/touch-hold.

»I've selected a different VU meter design but it still displays the old one.«

⚠ IMPORTANT - only applies to SqueezePlay on Windows and possibly Linux:
this step requires admin privileges. Please read the corresponding FAQ article on Windows/Linux BEFORE you proceed.

For guaranteed success:

• SqueezePlay: restart SqueezePlay.
  

• piCorePlayer: use the Quit button to restart jivelite.
  

• SB Touch: reboot your device.
  
  

Works sometimes:

• Go to Settings > Screen > NowPlaying > NowPlaying views.
  

• Deselect the analog VU meter view.

• Exit the menu.

• Then reenter the menu and select the analog VU meter view again.

»SQUEEZEPLAY on WINDOWS and LINUX«

WINDOWS:
Installing and uninstalling the skin and changing the VU meter design require admin privileges on Windows, i.e. you need to `run SqueezePlay as admin` to install, uninstall or change the VU meter design.

The installer has to rename files in and copy files to the NowPlaying and Clock applet folders in the protected jive applet folder. And on Windows, creating symbolic links (to change the VU meter design) seems to require admin privileges too.

LINUX:
It probably depends on where you've installed SqueezePlay. The installer requires write permissions (755) to rename files in and copy files to the NowPlaying and Clock applet folders in the jive applet folder.
If you install the skin using sudo, it will install the userpath skin files in the root user's home folder. And nobody wants to run SqueezePlay as root all the time.
So either the installer can write to the jive applet folder or you simply install the applet (files) manually.

»SB Touch: after a reboot the device seems to fall back to the WQVGAsmallSkin skin. Selecting the Dark Flat Skin doesn't stick.«

The SB Touch knows 3 different skins settings: Touch Skin, Remote Skin, and just ”Skin”. The GUI menus will let you change the Touch and the Remote skin type but not the type “Skin“ which resets to WQVGAsmallSkin after every reboot.
However, it's easy to fix:

• go to Settings > Screen > Select skin > Touch Skin
  

• select WQVGAsmallSkin
  

• and then select Dark Flat Skin again.
  
  

It's a trade-off: Dark Flat Skin is a stand-alone/separate applet that's easy to install/uninstall. But that causes quirks like this one. It only happens after a reboot. So decide for yourself if you think it's worth it.

»I've manually deleted some files/folders on my device. Now it's stuck in a jivelite restart loop (pCP, SB Touch) or falls back to a tiny screen skin.«

If you have manually deleted the skin files/folders instead of using the uninstaller, jivelite will still try to load the (missing) Dark Flat Skin. You need to change the selected skin value in the SelectSkin.lua settings file to a skin that's still installed, e.g. JogglerSkin or WQVGAsmallSkin (for SB Touch) and reboot your device.

»piCorePlayer: I've enabled the analog VU meter and spectrum visualizer NowPlaying views but when I toggle through the NowPlaying views, these two are missing.«

The VU meter and spectrum visualizer are only displayed if the device running jivelite is also a local player (e.g. if you have SqueezeLite running on your pCP device).

»The Applet Installer doesn't show me the latest applet version.«

Provided that the latest version has been picked up by the repository and that your server and your device have internet access, it's probably a caching problem.
Usually one or a combination of the following helps: restart LMS, reload the Settings > Plugins page, reboot your device.

Reporting a new issue

If you want to report a new issue, please fill out this issue report template.

If you'd like me to make small changes to the skin, please test the new changes on your device/OS first and then create a pull request with the changes here.

If you use this applet and like it, perhaps you could give it a ⭐ so that other users can discover it (in their News Feed). Thank you.

Footnotes

1. I don't own SB Touch devices. So I can't work on the SB Touch version. For known issues on SB Touch devices, please see the FAQ. ↩

2. Some status icons like the HQ/lossless icon require a version of LMS that includes the d0e5722 commit. I will remove this notice as soon as the stable bug fix branch (8.3.x) supports this too. ↩

3. The screenshots might not correspond to the current UI in every detail. ↩