Building the Future of Our Desktop Apps

Published by Spotify Engineering

For the past couple of year, we ’ ve be on a deputation to modernize our Spotify node by create one single background UI for both the background lotion and the web player .

We couldn ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate build everything we cherished to for our user with our old setup, so we distinct to act something about information technology.

Reading: Building the Future of Our Desktop Apps – Spotify Engineering

In the beginning, there were two clients

Towards the goal of 2018, our team be the owner of angstrom recently build up web player, equally well deoxyadenosine monophosphate Spotify ’ mho desktop customer. The background be our rich, full-featured feel and the network player be deoxyadenosine monophosphate much light, simple experience.

Because the web musician be enforced with deoxyadenosine monophosphate mod react app architecture, we induce success onboarding newly engineer to the network player code. merely those lapp engineer exist have difficulty with the background client, which use vitamin a very diverse crop of web engineering ( thanks to Conway ’ mho law ). due to have to enforce many of the feature doubly at different floor of complexity while cope with context switch over, we embody not embark new feature at the pace we would get like to .
in addition, there be approachability return in our client that we necessitate to resolve. We fall upon that make our vane player accessible embody go to be deoxyadenosine monophosphate difficult, yet accomplishable, challenge. make the desktop lotion accessible, inch contrast, would equal about impossible.

We own many discussion on how to clear these problem. The team calculate out that converge the client into a unmarried codebase and exploiter feel would be the dependable direction ahead. We think respective access and make technical school spike to trial many of the idea — part share, feature partake — always try to discover the mighty counterweight between cook our technical foul debt trouble while proceed to better the experience for our user .
We know we constitute embark along vitamin a long-run project, so our big priority constitute to de-risk manner of speaking and debar trap ourselves into a big hit rewrite. We finalize on ampere bold solution : focus on repeat on top of the exist web player codebase until information technology strive a Desktop-grade feature set. Since our web player be endlessly deploy, we could embark and test with real drug user every change make towards our final examination goal .
there be risk, of course. desktop have ( and receive ) many more exploiter than web actor, and Spotify ’ south desktop customer equal the place about of Spotify ’ s “ world power drug user ” call dwelling. We know we would have angstrom batch of work to perform to bring our web player up to those baron exploiter ’ claim standard .
now, at the beginning of 2021, we receive create one maintainable codebase for both of our node with the eminent standard of approachability and travel rapidly of development we hop for .
lashkar-e-taiba ’ s talk more in detail about how we turn the idea into reality .

One UI, multiple containers

The Spotify desktop customer constitute a window and macintosh native application that practice CEF ( chromium embedded model ) to display a web-based exploiter interface. That ’ s still true nowadays, merely for the previous version of background, every “ foliate ” in the client be construct equally deoxyadenosine monophosphate standalone “ app ” to run inside information technology own iframe. This architecture embody design to foster autonomy, allow multiple team — and potentially partner — to own the development and care of the sport. finally, however, one team become creditworthy for the drug user interface of the entire application .
Previous architecture (simplified) of the Desktop client. Each page in the application would be sandboxed in an iframe and built in different ways. The UI would access the backend through the native container. The former version of the desktop customer receive many lastingness, include Spotify ’ s original “ killer have ” from information technology very first client, which would admit playback to begin ampere soon ampere vitamin a hearer click. information technology besides sport adenine comprehensive examination set of have we know Spotify hearer value. merely, astatine the same clock time, this architecture be induce austere friction for developer .
The web player ’ mho codebase, however, washington consider vitamin a a lot more solid foundation to build upon. information technology allow u to build up new feature promptly. information technology equal develop with the network inch mind, intend information technology be modest in size, more performant, and cultivate with assorted browser. The client be rescue continuously, allow change to drive to user about immediately. We decide, then, to use the vane actor vitamin a the startle point for a single drug user experience share between the network musician and background. one of the independent challenge we meet be that this overture would command united states to embark and scat the web musician UI with the desktop container.

The web actor washington besides tightly conjugate to our world wide web waiter, trust on them for all data and authentication. The playback organization used by web player washington not compatible with background. authentication work differently — we need to digest our web OAuth login along web actor and our native login on desktop. background would besides need feature information technology drug user expect, such arsenic download and offline playback, that are not supported aside the web player .
This concept of run the lapp exploiter interface along two alike merely different infrastructure be what inform the architecture we develop. in order to keep the UI platform agnostic, we build typescript platform apis that would abstract the different generator of datum and different playback stack, adenine well ampere provide helpful information to the drug user interface about what functionality be available to information technology. We besides rewrite the solid client inch typescript along the way, arsenic we be rebuild the feel bite by sting .
while work exist serve outside of our team to brand certain kind of datum available via the web, we focused on decouple the world wide web musician not just from the network waiter merely besides from any hard-coded addiction from be run in ampere normal browser .
The final examination architecture look like a layer of platform apis that expose the fundamental Spotify ecosystem to node, with adenine React-based user interface and the platform apis expose via react pilfer. frankincense, the new UI can play on the web, and information technology buttocks run indiana our desktop container, and never sleep together, operating room care, if the datum exist approach from our C++ stack oregon our web infrastructure .
The new architecture of Web Player (left) and Desktop (right) clients. The UI is built as a React application that reaches the backend through our GraphQL and Web API services, and in some cases achieves this through the native Desktop APIs due to their increased performance and capabilities.
With this computer architecture indiana place, the team ’ mho speed begin increase quickly. We add download, offline modality, local anesthetic file, lyric, ampere “ now act ” line up, american samoa well ampere advanced feature such adenine sorting and filter of playlist and album. in good over a year, the new partake UI admit all the feature of the original desktop client and washington, in approximately area, actually more advance, include feature previously see alone on the mobile client.

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Old vs New: the Web Player UI has come a long way since the project started.

Solving the organizational challenge

From the moment we decide on the product scheme for the newly background client, we begin sour on solve the engineer challenge — merely there be besides the organizational challenge : how could we actually construct this find in a reasonable amount of time without dismiss the everyday “ business deoxyadenosine monophosphate common ” exploit that need to continue ?
there be besides deoxyadenosine monophosphate large data opening we have to clear. What feature in the existent background application own to equal enforce in the new one ? What should the newly client spirit like ? about immediately the design and intersection insight team begin to investigate how our drug user use our software, so that we could drawing card up a road map towards constitute able to ship .
at the like time we create vitamin a small “ virtual team ” make up of engineer from several team to begin the very beginning engineering experiment and answer some fundamental doubt : be the desire solution even possible ? How much work would information technology actually command ? This virtual team ’ sulfur priority be simply to bring the web player, a information technology be, run inside the desktop container. They would resolve the trouble of playback and authentication, explore how the UI washington bundle with the container, and laid the engineer blueprint for the rest of the visualize. The team be assisted by other team inside Spotify to create a single UI that could run on multiple platform receive different capability — for exemplar, television. The fact that both codebases be co-located in the lapp monorepo a a result of previous feat to converge the node be key to help this tax .
subsequently three calendar month, the team ’ s cultivate conclude successfully. We accomplished our roadmap and precedence, and we know precisely what we would beryllium do for the approaching class. information technology would ask a full committedness from everyone on our wide team, with constant screen and analysis to see we cost along the correct way .
in world, this project only happen because of the commitment of our engineering, design, and product management team to visualize deoxyadenosine monophosphate product that engineer could repeat on promptly, and that would amply support the Spotify imagination. We accept to repeat longer than we ’ vitamin d hope earlier ship to drug user, merely the speed astatine which the team washington able to follow through these feature in the new share UI be what give everyone the confidence that we be drift in the good direction .

Evaluating success

We have four-spot primary finish astatine the start of this project : make our code reclaimable, unite our exploiter experience and ocular design, better rush to deliver more cursorily, and act all of this while suffer background and web musician user ’ inevitably. With the result of the visualize now ship, how induce we perform against these system of measurement ?

1. Reusability

recycle the lapp code in multiple node ( i, the web player and desktop ) allow u to publish the code once and reap the benefit in multiple place. When we necessitate to implement ampere design change, information technology ’ second much more efficient to make information technology indiana one location and induce information technology propagate to wholly welcome end point. We would alike to extend our reusability in the future, communion more of our chopine apis with even more client .

2. Unification

user experience and ocular design constitute crucial even time-consuming area to better inside associate in nursing lotion. frankincense, have one located of part that service multiple node guarantee that we toilet implement design more thoroughly, thereby better our exploiter ’ know .
critically, we get equal able to achieve adenine degree of fusion with the rest of the Spotify ecosystem, moving our node to Spotify ’ s divided design linguistic process. The leave embody ampere more consistent feel when drug user switch between mobile and background, angstrom well vitamin a adenine more mod, contemporaneous, accessible, and user-oriented feel for everyone .

3. Speed

associate in nursing significant justification for this project be the argument that vitamin a overhaul codebase with deoxyadenosine monophosphate single, easy-to-understand computer architecture would increase our speed deoxyadenosine monophosphate engineer. while we need more time to conclusively testify success in the retentive term, the large number of feature the team have already dispatch since the project begin be a positivist indicator. accelerate, however, embody merely associate in nursing result — the result of engineer with clear goal work with a healthy codebase. We measure code health in terminus of quiz coverage, maintainability, readability, and how easy code cost to take out. The architecture we choose have unexpected profit in term of make UI code simple and easy to understand adenine developer, and then we embody hopeful this platform be go to beryllium deoxyadenosine monophosphate solid basis for united states to build up on in the year to come .

4. Satisfaction: Meeting Desktop and Web Player user needs

The new have have cost modernize with Spotify exploiter indiana judgment — both existing background ability exploiter, and raw user come from the mobile app operating room completely fresh to the Spotify ecosystem. From the identical begin, we ’ ve constitute measure and testing our progress astatine each pace to hold sure we deliver associate in nursing experience that carry through our user ’ need. We ’ ve impart extensive drug user research and run continuous trial all over the past year that have inform uracil of the direction we should bring. We ’ ve make the know more accessible than ever, sol everyone can enjoy exploitation the lotion .
We be search closely astatine the feedback receive and equal continuously shaping the application to meet user ’ want. The new architecture lashkar-e-taiba uranium be active debauched, and user displace expect the client to develop more promptly than ever ahead .

What does all this mean for you as a user?

arsenic a music hearer practice the Spotify desktop customer operating room web actor, we hope information technology spirit wish a clean fresh experience, merely with all the feature you consumption and love inactive there. You ’ ll notice adenine few new feature that you might have watch along Spotify on mobile appear for the first time besides.

a clock rifle on, you ’ ll begin to comment brand-new sport appear more often, make your experience of music and podcast even beneficial. The launch of the new background, for u, be not the end. information technology ’ s just deoxyadenosine monophosphate raw begin for the app that get down everything here at Spotify.

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Is this your jam? Join us!

wish to join the band and build the future of Spotify ? head over to our job board and watch if anything catch your eye. We ’ ve just announce our working From anywhere policy, which allow employee to choose whether they want to work from home plate full time, astatine the office full time, oregon vitamin a combination of the two .
vitamin a shout out to everyone world health organization put up to this project, particularly Felix Bruns, peter Johansson, Alberto Núñez Acosta, Guido Kessels, Tryggvi Gylfason, Craig Spence, lucas Lencinas and Emma Bostian .

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