Saturday, June 15, 2013

[How To] Make Spotify look more native in Ubuntu

Spotify Logo
A few weeks ago I published an article about my favorite music, and of course I also clearly showed that I love to use Spotify as my streaming music service, and Pandora for internet  radio. For folks that are running Ubuntu, I've found a theme made by designer Michael Tunnell that should make Spotify look a lot more native in Ubuntu's Unity interface.

The design, called "Ubuntu Ambiance for Spotify," is what it says: it is Spotify themed for Ubuntu's Ambiance Unity theme. There's also a Radiance tray icon, but a Radiance theme hasn't been released yet and is still in the works.
Here's what Spotify looks like once the Ambiance theme has been installed. Note the monochrome icon in the notifications area at the top. I took this picture in Unity 2D. I'm also glad to say that this theme is fully compatible with Unity 2D on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS.
Here's what Spotify looks like after installing the Ambiance theme
I tried my best to blur out the ad on the right, but the blurring might have been a little too much on the edges. Sorry for that!
How to Install
Installing the Ambiance theme for Spotify really isn't difficult. Michael Tunnell actually created instructions on how to install his theme, and also keep the default Spotify theme in case you want to keep it as a back up.