Spotify Frame

Turn an old Android photo frame into a dedicated Spotify now-playing display with a Raspberry Pi backend.

An old Android 4.2.2 digital photo frame is a pretty bad tablet, but it makes a great always-on now-playing screen.

This project keeps the frame as a thin Java client, moves Spotify auth and control to a local backend, and turns forgotten hardware into a clean wall-or-desk display.

Looping demo showing working pause and skip controls on the frame.

Android 4.2.2 minSdk 17 Java only Raspberry Pi backend Spotify Connect

Why This Repo Gets Attention

• real hardware, not a mockup
• old Android 4.2.2 device reused instead of a new tablet
• Raspberry Pi backend with Spotify Connect support
• fullscreen kiosk-style UI with touch pause and skip
• no AndroidX, no Kotlin, no WebView, no Spotify secrets on-device

If you like Raspberry Pi builds, Spotify hacks, weird Android salvage projects, or physical side projects with a clean UI, that is exactly what this repo is.

Overview

Spotify Frame is a thin Android client plus a small LAN backend.

The idea is simple:

• keep the old frame dumb and stable
• keep Spotify auth off the Android device
• render clean, readable now-playing UI from across the room
• let a Mac or Raspberry Pi handle the real logic

This project started on an old 1024x600 Wi-Fi photo frame with ADB access, a weird OEM launcher, and just enough hardware left to be useful.

In Action

• real hardware photo of the converted frame
• demo clip of touch pause and skip controls working on-device
• clean fullscreen layout built for distance readability

Build Your Own

You can reproduce this project if you have:

• an old Android device or photo frame with Wi-Fi
• ADB access
• a Mac, Linux box, or Raspberry Pi for the backend
• a Spotify account
• a local network shared by the backend and the frame

Best-fit devices:

• old Android tablets
• digital photo frames with Android underneath
• screens that are too weak for a modern Spotify client but still good at rendering one focused view

Why It Is Interesting

Most now-playing projects take the easy route:

• modern tablet
• web app
• full Spotify client on-device

This one does the opposite:

• Android 4.2.2
• no AndroidX
• no Kotlin
• no WebView
• one Java Activity
• local HTTP only

That constraint is the whole point. It turns a nearly useless device into a focused, always-on display.

What It Does

• fetches now-playing data from a local backend every few seconds
• shows title, artist, album, state, progress, and cover art
• runs fullscreen in a kiosk-style layout
• keeps the screen awake
• works with raspotify/librespot on a Raspberry Pi
• supports touch controls when Spotify account permissions allow it

Search-Friendly Summary

This is a Spotify now playing display built from:

• an old Android 4.2.2 photo frame
• a Java-only Android client
• a Flask + Spotipy backend
• Raspberry Pi / raspotify / librespot
• local HTTP API endpoints for metadata, control, and cover art

Architecture

flowchart LR
    A["Spotify app / Spotify Connect"] --> B["Raspotify / Librespot"]
    B --> C["Event bridge"]
    C --> D["Flask backend"]
    D --> E["/api/now"]
    D --> F["/api/control"]
    D --> G["/cover.jpg"]
    D --> H["/health"]
    E --> I["Android frame client"]
    F --> I
    G --> I

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Hardware Context

Current target setup:

• old Android photo frame
• Android 4.2.2
• screen 1024x600
• adb access
• Raspberry Pi backend on the same LAN

The Android app is intentionally a render-only client. Spotify credentials, token refresh, cover caching, and playback state live on the backend.

Project Structure

app/       Android client
backend/   Flask backend, Spotipy integration, librespot event bridge
gradle/    Gradle wrapper files
docs/      README assets

Quick Start

1. Run the backend

python3 -m venv work/.venv-backend
source work/.venv-backend/bin/activate
pip install -r backend/requirements.txt
cp backend/.env.example backend/.env
python backend/authorize.py
python backend/run.py

For Raspberry Pi + raspotify, see backend/README.md.

2. Build the APK

./gradlew -PspotifyFrameBackendUrl=http://192.168.1.50:8000 assembleDebug

3. Install and launch

adb install -r app/build/outputs/apk/debug/app-debug.apk
adb shell am start -n com.janek.spotifyframe/.MainActivity

If you want the most interesting setup, use a Raspberry Pi running raspotify as the dedicated playback backend and keep the frame as a simple LAN display client.

Stack

• Android SDK 17
• Java
• Flask
• Spotipy
• raspotify / librespot
• HttpURLConnection
• org.json.JSONObject

Current Status

Already working:

• Android 4.2.2-compatible display client
• local backend with Spotify auth
• album art caching
• fullscreen now-playing UI
• progress rendering
• touch playback controls
• Raspberry Pi deployment

Still worth improving:

• stronger resilience when router IPs change
• cleaner first-time setup flow
• smarter fallback behavior for missing playback state
• optional voice control / wake-word mode
• better real-world photos of the hardware
• cleaner “clone this exact setup” guide for other people

Design Constraints

The app deliberately stays minimal:

• no Spotify secrets on Android
• no /system modification required for the normal APK flow
• no heavy UI framework
• no modern compatibility stack unless truly needed

That keeps the frame lightweight and makes the system easier to reason about when something on the network changes.

Notes

• This repo does not include live Spotify tokens, local .env files, APK outputs, or extracted OEM system backups.
• Cover art and playback data are served over LAN, so the backend host matters.
• If playback is controlled from a different Spotify account than the one authorized for control, display can still work while touch controls may be limited.

Backend Details

API contract, Raspberry Pi setup, and backend-specific notes live in backend/README.md.

If You Found This Useful

• star the repo
• fork it for your own old-screen build
• open an issue if you want to adapt it to another Android frame or tablet