Now Watching Messenger 1.3

Private windows in every browser, even in background tabs

• YouTube in private/incognito windows now shows the real video title in Messenger on Edge (InPrivate), Chrome, Brave and Firefox, in any browser language
• Works even when the YouTube tab is in the background, just like normal windows
• The generic "a site is playing media" text is never shown in Messenger
• Tested on Edge InPrivate, Chrome incognito, Brave private window and Firefox private browsing, with the YouTube tab active and in the background
• Normal windows are unchanged (video title + channel name)
• No extra memory usage: browser tabs are read by a short-lived helper process

Note: in private windows the channel name is not shown, and if more than one YouTube tab is playing at the same time nothing is shown.

Users on version 1.1 or newer will be offered this update automatically when the app starts.

SHA-256: B4509B7483C49CE2A38F7C63AFA4B0C7314B2A8B6C6D901F37885F9326644597

Now Watching Messenger 1.2

Private windows support

• YouTube videos played in private windows (Edge InPrivate / incognito) now show the real video title in Messenger, instead of "A site is playing media"
• The generic "a site is playing media" text is never sent to Messenger anymore, in any language

Note: in private windows the YouTube tab must be the active tab of its window, and the channel name is not shown.

Users on version 1.1 will be offered this update automatically when the app starts.

SHA-256: 58D2F09F3BD3637BB684D00EB8938454170813C4114BCFA67875B93092613F86

Now Watching Messenger 1.1

New: automatic updates

• Checks for new versions on startup and updates itself with one click
• Downloads from GitHub Releases and verifies the SHA-256 before replacing the app

Performance

• Fixed a memory leak: memory usage no longer grows over time
• Much lower memory usage (from 100+ MB down to about 20-25 MB, stable)
• Fewer queries to Windows media controls

Note: users on version 1.0 need to download this version manually once. Future updates will be installed automatically.

SHA-256: 33288892F889008FA5CD1968076FB5BDC2537E2E93CD31DADE4A08461A6CC9CC

Now Watching Messenger 1.0

First release of Now Watching Messenger.

Shows what you're watching on YouTube or listening to on Spotify in your Windows Live Messenger 2009 status, on Windows 10 and 11.

How to use

1. Download NowWatchingMessenger.exe and run it (no installation needed)
2. In Messenger, enable "Show what I'm listening to" in the personal message menu
3. Play a YouTube video or a Spotify song

Features

• YouTube video title, with optional channel name
• Spotify as "Artist - Song"
• Enable/disable YouTube and Spotify separately
• Start with Windows
• English, Portuguese, Spanish and Russian

Note: the executable is not digitally signed, so Windows SmartScreen may show a warning on first run. Click "More info" → "Run anyway".

SHA-256: 3DF54D09421E83178440AFAEA2496CEDE15494D363ADBC9ED996324B67634D6F