Dynamix is a native macOS menu bar app that turns the area around the MacBook notch into a compact now-playing island. It supports Spotify and Apple Music, system volume feedback, synced lyrics, native media controls, and a desktop widget.
Dynamix is under active development. APIs and setup requirements may change.
- Compact floating player positioned in the menu bar
- Expandable playback controls and album artwork
- Spotify and Apple Music metadata and playback control
- Synced lyrics from LRCLIB
- System volume and mute HUD
- Audio-reactive waveform using a Core Audio process tap
- Native Now Playing metadata and remote commands through MediaPlayer
- Small, medium, and large macOS desktop widgets
- State restoration after sleep, lock, and user-session changes
- Automatic hiding while another app is fullscreen
- macOS 26.0 or later
- Xcode 26.6 or later
- Spotify or Apple Music
- An Apple Development team for signing the app and widget
-
Clone the repository:
git clone https://github.com/stawan15/Dynamic.git cd Dynamic -
Open
Dynamic.xcodeprojin Xcode. -
Select your development team for both the
DynamicandDynamixLockscreenWidgettargets. -
Replace the app and widget bundle identifiers with identifiers owned by your development team.
-
Configure an App Group for both targets. Forks must replace
group.stawan15.Dynamixin:Dynamic/Dynamix.entitlementsDynamic/LockscreenWidgetBridge.swiftDynamixLockscreenWidget/DynamixLockscreenWidget.entitlementsDynamixLockscreenWidget/DynamixLockscreenWidget.swift
-
Select the
Dynamixscheme and run onMy Mac.
The project can also be compiled from the command line after selecting Xcode as the active developer directory:
xcodebuild \
-project Dynamic.xcodeproj \
-scheme Dynamix \
-configuration Debug \
-destination 'platform=macOS,arch=arm64' \
CODE_SIGNING_ALLOWED=NO \
buildDynamix requests only the permissions needed by enabled features:
- Automation: reads and controls playback in Spotify or Apple Music.
- System Audio Recording: powers the audio-reactive waveform. No screen content is captured.
The core player continues to work if System Audio Recording is not granted, but the waveform will not react to playback.
After running the signed app at least once:
- Right-click the macOS desktop.
- Select Edit Widgets.
- Search for Dynamix Now Playing.
- Add the small, medium, or large widget.
The app and widget share the current track, artwork URL, playback position, and lyric timeline through the configured App Group.
Spotify does not expose its licensed lyrics through AppleScript or its public desktop APIs. Dynamix therefore queries LRCLIB using the current title, artist, album, and duration. Lyrics depend on a matching LRCLIB entry and may not be available for every track or edition.
macOS does not provide a public API for third-party apps to place custom interactive windows over the authentication Lock Screen. Dynamix publishes native Now Playing information where macOS permits and restores the floating island immediately after the user session becomes active.
The large WidgetKit design is a desktop widget with a Lock Screen-inspired appearance. It does not bypass or replace macOS authentication.
| Path | Purpose |
|---|---|
Dynamic/MediaController.swift |
Spotify and Apple Music metadata and commands |
Dynamic/OverlayController.swift |
Floating island window and SwiftUI interface |
Dynamic/SystemAudioMonitor.swift |
Core Audio process tap and waveform level |
Dynamic/SystemVolumeMonitor.swift |
System output volume and mute monitoring |
Dynamic/LyricsService.swift |
LRCLIB lookup and LRC timestamp parsing |
Dynamic/NowPlayingSystemBridge.swift |
Native Now Playing metadata and remote commands |
DynamixLockscreenWidget/ |
WidgetKit desktop extension |
Dynamix does not include analytics or advertising. Track metadata is sent to LRCLIB for lyric lookup, and artwork is loaded from the URL supplied by the active player. Playback state shared with the widget remains in the local App Group container.
Dynamix is available under the MIT License.