Perch
A tiny Spotify player
in your Mac's menu bar.
Perch stays on top of your other windows and sticks to the edges of your screen, and wherever you drop it, it picks a look that fits.
Free and open source · macOS 14 or later · Spotify for now, Apple Music is on the way
Where you drop it picks the look
On an edge, a pill
Drop it on a side or the bottom of the screen and it turns into a slim pill with the song and the controls.
In a corner, a tile
Push it into a corner and you get a tile with the album art up front (the controls show up when you point at it).
In the middle, a card
Leave it anywhere in the middle and it's a card, with a progress bar and big buttons.
In the menu bar, a deck
Drag it up into the menu bar and it hangs there as a deck, which looks a bit like Winamp. Whenever you want it off, just pull it down again.
Out of the way when you need the room
Swipe it into the edge
Swipe two fingers into the edge and the pill tucks away, like clearing a notification. Only a sliver of the album art stays out, and it slides back out when you point at it (or you can set it to always show the album art).
Then if you pull the tucked art taller (or pinch it open), you get a slim tab with the song title running up it. Pull it wider instead and the pill comes back.
Card, or just the art
The card has a small button in its corner that shrinks it to just the album art, and the same button on the art brings the card back. You can also just pinch it on your trackpad.
Set it up your way
Click the bars in the menu bar and you get the menu. There you can pick a fixed look if you'd rather not use Auto, and choose whether Perch sticks to the closest wall or stays where you drop it. And if you right-click the bars, Perch hides completely (the bird leaves the icon until you bring it back).
There are 11 bright accent colors too, plus one that takes its color from the album art. You can also pick light or dark, turn on Reduce motion, and right-click the player itself for quick settings.
Long titles scroll
When a song title doesn't fit, it scrolls, so you never get half a name.
One-click updates
Perch checks GitHub once a day, and Update in the menu swaps in the new version. Since it keeps the same signature, macOS doesn't ask for the Spotify permission again.
Light or dark
Perch follows your Mac, or you pick one in the menu. In dark mode the deck keeps its old dark look.
Free and open source
Perch is free and MIT licensed, and all the code is on GitHub.
How to install it
- Download the DMG from the latest release, open it and drag Perch onto Applications.
- Open Perch. macOS says it can't be opened because it isn't from an identified developer, so close that message.
- Go to System Settings → Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway next to Perch. You only do this once.
- Play something in Spotify and let Perch control it when macOS asks.
After that, Perch updates itself from the menu.
Questions
Why does macOS say Perch "can't be opened"?
Perch is a free side project, which is why it isn't signed through Apple's paid developer program. So you confirm it once in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway. To be fair, the code is public on GitHub, and you can build it yourself.
Why does it want to control Spotify?
That's how Perch plays, pauses and skips songs. The last step of the tutorial asks for it, so macOS only asks once, and updates keep that permission.
Does it work with Apple Music?
Not yet. For now it's Spotify only, but Apple Music support is on the way.
What do I need?
Just a Mac with macOS 14 or later and the Spotify app.
Does it cost anything?
No, Perch is free and open source (MIT). If you like it, you can support me on Ko-fi.