Is There a Spotify Widget for Mac? What Works Instead
There's no official Spotify widget for Mac. Compare five ways to keep the song in view: iPhone widgets, the menu bar, the Miniplayer, apps and wallpapers.
Quick answer: no. Spotify doesn't make a desktop widget for macOS, so Edit Widgets won't list one from the Mac app. You can still keep the current song in view: add your iPhone's Spotify widget to the Mac, show Now Playing in the menu bar, open Spotify's own Miniplayer, install a mini player app, or put what's playing on your wallpaper.
Widgets came to the Mac desktop with macOS Sonoma, so it's natural to look for a Spotify desktop widget. The only Spotify widget the gallery can list is the one your iPhone supplies. The five alternatives differ mostly in where they sit, above your windows or behind them, and in how much of the song you see.
Option 1: add your iPhone's Spotify widget to the Mac
macOS Sonoma and later can put widgets from your iPhone on the Mac desktop. You need a Mac on macOS 14 or later, an iPhone on iOS 17 or later with Spotify installed, the same Apple Account on both, and the iPhone nearby or on the same Wi-Fi network.
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On the Mac, open System Settings › Desktop & Dock and, under Widgets, turn on Use iPhone widgets.
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Right-click an empty part of the desktop and choose Edit Widgets.
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Search for Spotify. Widgets that come from the phone are marked From iPhone.
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Drag the widget onto the desktop.
Everything about it depends on the phone. When the iPhone is away the widget can't update, not every iPhone widget works on a Mac, and clicking one can send you to the phone to continue. Like any desktop widget, it also sits behind your windows, so you only see it when the desktop is clear. If Spotify doesn't appear in the gallery at all, check that the toggle is on, that Spotify is installed on the phone and that both devices are signed in to the same Apple Account.
Option 2: show Now Playing in the menu bar
macOS has a built-in Now Playing control that works with Spotify, Apple Music and anything else that plays audio. On macOS 26 Tahoe, open System Settings › Menu Bar, find Now Playing and set it to always show. On macOS 14 and 15 the same option is in System Settings › Control Center.
Click the icon and you get the song, the cover and playback controls. The same Now Playing tile sits in Control Center, and the play and skip keys on a Mac keyboard work with Spotify as well, so you can pause without hunting for a window. It's built in and costs nothing. The catch is that it stays an icon until you click it, so the song itself is never on screen.
Option 3: Spotify's Miniplayer, the official mini player
The closest thing to a widget from Spotify itself is the Miniplayer, which arrived in the desktop app for Mac and Windows in 2024. It's a small window with the cover, the song and playback controls that stays on top of your other apps. You can resize it from a card with the artwork down to a slim strip with a thumbnail and the buttons.
To open it, play something, then click the Miniplayer button at the bottom right of the Spotify window, next to the volume slider. Clicking the cover or the song title takes you back to the main window.
It launched as a Premium feature, so a free account may not show the button; if you pay and still can't see it, update Spotify and relaunch it. Because it floats above everything, it also covers a corner of whatever you're working on, and now and then you'll move it to reach something underneath.
Option 4: a third-party mini player app
Apps such as Sleeve put a small now playing card on the desktop, with the cover, the title and controls, for Spotify and Apple Music. Depending on the app and its settings, the card floats above your windows or stays down on the desktop like a widget. Other apps live in the menu bar and show the song's title as text, which is the one thing the built-in Now Playing icon can't do.
Mini player apps are the most flexible choice and the most work, since each one is another app to install and keep updated. For the widget feel, pick one that can sit at desktop level, so it waits behind your work instead of floating over it.
Option 5: put what's playing on your wallpaper
Wallper's music layouts turn the whole desktop into a now playing screen: the cover, the title and the artist of the current Spotify song, updated with every track. There's nothing to place or resize, and it never covers your work, because it sits behind your windows.
Artwork is the most widget-like layout: the cover in the middle with the title and artist under it, set like Apple Music. Record puts a large turning record at the edge of the screen with the song beside it, and Type shows only the title and artist, set large. There are nine more in the music wallpaper guide, from a turntable to Lyrics, which runs the words of the current song in time with the music; the lyrics wallpaper guide explains how.
To set it up, install Wallper, open its Settings (⌘,), click the Media Sync tab, switch on Turn on Media Sync, choose a layout and play something in Spotify. It follows the Spotify web player too, which Wallper counts as Browser. Spotify sends a song's title a moment before its cover, so the layout redraws when the artwork lands, and when you pause, the wallpaper holds still on the last song. The full walkthrough is in how to put Spotify on your Mac wallpaper.
The trade-offs are the reverse of the Miniplayer's. You see the song in the gaps between windows and whenever you clear the desk, and a full-screen app hides it completely. Wallper also runs one thing on the desktop at a time, so starting one of its playlists or setting a wallpaper by hand switches the music off, and turning the music back on stops the playlist. It needs macOS 14.6 or later, and after a 7-day free trial it's a one-time purchase.
Spotify widget alternatives compared
| Option | Where it sits | Shows the cover | In view while you work | What you need |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| iPhone's Spotify widget | On the desktop | Yes | When the desktop is clear and the iPhone is nearby | macOS 14, an iPhone with iOS 17 and Spotify |
| Now Playing | Menu bar and Control Center | After a click | As an icon | Nothing extra |
| Spotify Miniplayer | A small window above your apps | Yes | Always, on top of your work | The Spotify app; Premium when it launched |
| Mini player app | On the desktop or floating, depending on the app | Yes | Depends on its settings | A third-party app |
| Wallper music wallpaper | The whole desktop, behind your windows | Yes, full screen | Between and behind your windows | Wallper, macOS 14.6 or later |
Which one should you use?
If your iPhone is always on the desk, start with its widget. It's free and takes a minute to set up, though it's also the one most likely to go stale, because it can only update while the phone is around.
If you mainly want to pause and skip without switching apps, the menu bar item and the keyboard's media keys cover it, with nothing to install. Add Spotify's Miniplayer when you want the cover and the buttons in view all the time and don't mind a small window over your work. A mini player app makes sense when you care how the card looks, or when you want the song's title written in the menu bar.
A music wallpaper suits you if you'd like to see what's playing without giving up any screen space, and you enjoy the desk changing with the music. It works alongside the others, so nothing stops you keeping the menu bar control and a music wallpaper at the same time.
The same options for Apple Music
Apple Music users have nearly the same choices. The menu bar control works the same way, and in place of Spotify's Miniplayer the Music app has its own MiniPlayer window. Wallper's layouts follow Apple Music exactly as they follow Spotify, and with both apps open the wallpaper follows whichever one is playing. The Apple Music wallpaper guide covers the album art layouts in more detail.
Read next
Spotify's lyrics disappear as soon as you switch windows. This guide shows three ways to keep them on screen while you work:
Spotify Lyrics on Mac: How to Keep Them on Your Desktop
Spotify lyrics on Mac vanish when you switch apps. Keep them on screen with a floating window or a lyrics wallpaper, and fix lyrics that aren't showing.
