We are going to explain to you how to install the Spotify website as a PWA application on your computer. Progressive web applications (PWA) are a method with which even if your PC does not have a specific application available for a service, you can make your web page behave as such. For this you will need a browser compatible with this technology. We are going to use Chrome but you have others like Firefox or Edge that also support them.
In this article we are going to start with the simple process of installing the Spotify PWA, which you can do directly from your web player. Later we will tell you how to configure Chrome to allow you to use the playback control keys on your keyboard in the PWAs you use with it. The result is a web application with a much more modern design than the web client that you can download, but with fewer options.
How to install Spotify Web as Chrome’s WPA
The process of installing the Spotify website as a PWA or progressive website is extremely simple. First you have to enter the web player at open.spotify.com and log in. Once you do, click on the option Install app that you will see in the left column. This button will always appear right above your profile name, so even though it now appears to be pretty much in the middle of the column, if you max it out it could go down to the left.
When you click on the button, a window will open in which Chrome asks you if you want to install the application. In this dialogue, click the Install button that appears in blue, and the web will be installed as if it were a conventional application.
When installed, the application will show a shortcut on the desktop that will open it as if it were a standalone app. Although really, like all PWAs, it is really an instance of your browser, in this case Chrome, but you can also do it with any other that has support for PWAs.
In fact, if you click on the button with the three dots (1) you will be able to see some options of your browser. Among these options, You will have to Uninstall Spotify in case you want to remove the PWA (2) at some point.
As you can see in this last screenshot, the difference between both interfaces is quite remarkable. On the left you can see how the PWA has a larger and more elegant lettering design. However, The PWA does not have some important options how to improve the sound quality if you are Premium or use local files.
Activate support for multimedia keys
In Chrome you can activate the support for the multimedia keys of your keyboard in case it has keys to control reproductions. To do this, open the browser and type the command chrome: // flags to enter the Chrome experiments screen, where you can activate options that are not yet available in the browser settings.
Once in flags, use the search engine in this section to search for the term hardware-media-key-handling (1), which will show you as the only result the option we are looking for. On the right, click on the box where it says Default and select the Enabled option to activate it (two). This will make Chrome recognize the control keys on your keyboard when you are in a multimedia session.
Then, use the search engine in this section to search for the term enable-media-session-service (1), which will show you two results. In them, go to the Media Session Service option and set it as Enabled (two). When you make the changes, you will have to restart the browser and that’s it, Chrome will recognize the multimedia sessions thanks to the second option and will allow you to use the multimedia control keys on your keyboard thanks to the first.
