Want to see what music is playing and control it from your panel? This chapter covers the Media Player block and how to connect it to your music apps on Linux.
The Media Player block shows information about the currently playing media (music, video, podcast) and lets you control playback with buttons. It works with any app that supports the MPRIS standard on Linux — including Spotify, VLC, Firefox, Chrome, and many more.
- Cover art — album artwork from the current track
- Title — song or video name
- Artist — performer or channel name
- Progress bar — how far through the track you are
- Control buttons — previous, play/pause, next, volume down, volume up
The Media Player block has two control modes. Choose the one that fits your setup:
This is the automatic mode. OmniPanel-go connects to your Linux desktop's media system (D-Bus) and automatically finds any media player that's running.
What you get:
- Real-time updates when the song changes
- Cover art from the media player
- Play/pause/next/previous buttons that control the actual app
- Progress bar that moves as the track plays
Requirements:
- Linux desktop (KDE Plasma, GNOME, etc.)
- A media player that supports MPRIS (most modern players do)
- MPRIS enabled in
config.json(see below)
This mode sends keyboard media keys (like the Play/Pause button on your keyboard) to control media. It works on any operating system but requires the media app to respond to keyboard shortcuts.
What you get:
- Buttons that simulate keyboard media keys
- Works on Windows, macOS, and Linux
- No automatic data updates — you set title/artist/cover manually
Open config.json and add or update the mpris section:
{
"mpris": {
"enabled": true,
"poll_interval": 1000
}
}enabled: Set totrueto turn on MPRIS monitoringpoll_interval: How often to check for updates, in milliseconds (1000 = 1 second). Minimum is 500ms.
Restart OmniPanel-go after changing this setting.
Open any MPRIS-compatible media player:
- Spotify (desktop app)
- VLC (any platform)
- Firefox or Chrome (with media playing)
- Rhythmbox, Audacious, Clementine, and many others
- Open the Editor
- Find the Media category in the block library (🎵 icon)
- Drag the Media Player block onto your workspace
- Click the gear icon to open settings
- Set Control Mode to
mpris - Toggle on the features you want (cover art, title, artist, progress bar)
- Save the panel
Open your panel in a browser. When you play music in your media player, the block should automatically show the title, artist, and cover art. The control buttons should work to play, pause, skip, and adjust volume.
If you have multiple media players running at the same time (for example, Spotify and VLC), OmniPanel-go shows small tabs overlaid on the cover art area. These tabs let you choose which player the block displays and controls.
How it works:
- When only one player is running, no tabs are shown — the block just shows that player
- When two or more players are running, tabs appear at the top of the cover art
- Each tab shows the player's name (e.g., "Spotify", "VLC media player")
- Click a tab to switch to that player — the cover art, title, artist, and progress bar will update immediately
- The active tab is highlighted so you can see which player is currently selected
- If you close a player that was selected, OmniPanel-go automatically switches to another available player
Example: You have Spotify playing music and VLC playing a video. The tabs show "Spotify" and "VLC media player". Click "VLC media player" to see and control the video instead. The control buttons (play, pause, next, etc.) will now affect VLC instead of Spotify.
| Setting | What It Does | Example Values |
|---|---|---|
| Control Mode | How the block gets data and sends commands | mpris (auto), keyboard (manual) |
| Show Cover | Show or hide the cover art area | On / Off |
| Cover Image | Manual image URL (keyboard mode only) | https://... or leave empty |
| Show Title | Show or hide the track title | On / Off |
| Title | Manual title text (keyboard mode only) | "My Song" |
| Show Artist | Show or hide the artist name | On / Off |
| Artist | Manual artist text (keyboard mode only) | "Artist Name" |
| Show Progress | Show or hide the progress bar | On / Off |
| Progress Value | Manual progress 0-100% (keyboard mode only) | 0 to 100 |
| Font Size | Text size | 8 to 24 |
| Background Color | Block background | Any color |
| Button Color | Control button color | Any color |
| Button Active Color | Button hover/active color | Any color |
| Text Color | Title and artist text color | Any color |
| Border Color | Block border color | Any color |
| Border Radius | Corner roundness (0-100) | 0 (sharp) to 100 (round) |
Some browsers (Chrome, Firefox) store cover art in temporary files that the block can access through a proxy. If cover art isn't showing:
- Make sure MPRIS is enabled in
config.json - Check that your media player is actually playing something
- Try a different media player — some don't expose cover art via MPRIS
In MPRIS mode:
- Make sure your media player is running and playing
- Check the server logs for MPRIS errors
- Some players need to be "active" (have a window open) to accept commands
In Keyboard mode:
- Make sure the media app responds to keyboard media keys
- Check that the keyboard keys are mapped correctly in the block settings
This means OmniPanel-go can't find any MPRIS players on your system:
- Make sure
mpris.enabledistrueinconfig.json - Restart OmniPanel-go after enabling MPRIS
- Start a media player (Spotify, VLC, etc.)
- On KDE Plasma, make sure the "Media Player" widget can see your player
Any application that implements the MPRIS2 D-Bus interface will work. Common ones include:
| Player | Cover Art | Controls | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spotify (desktop) | Yes | Full | Best experience |
| VLC | Yes | Full | Works great |
| Firefox | Yes | Full | Via Plasma Browser Integration |
| Chrome/Chromium | Sometimes | Full | Cover art depends on site |
| Rhythmbox | Yes | Full | GNOME default |
| Audacious | Yes | Full | Lightweight player |
| Clementine | Yes | Full | Feature-rich player |