Hi guys, many thanks for all your responses - sorry I've not checked back in a long while!
I can upload the original files if you want, but my interests have shifted away from autohotkey (into neural networks [R/SLUS] and parallel processing [OpenMP/MPI/CUDA]). As such, the code is in need of a major overhaul given the changes to both AHK_L an Spotify over the past year - indeed I set up a licensing framework within the application to prevent use when it's not been updated for too long/obsolete.
I'd be delighted to assist, but would require developers within the community with a good measure of both time and determination to get the code up to scratch. Let me know below if anyone's interested in taking over.
I will re-up the links should the community wish to tinker:
Last source update - for developers only (end-users please be patient):
http://www.mediafire...9kpxifcc44i11aq
Many thanks.
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Features
> Skips Spotify's audio ads without any user intervention
> Spotify playback controls available through unobtrusive (and draggable) mini UI
> Control master volume via mouse
> Detects Spotify window closure, opening, minimisation etc and handles in all those situations
> Automatic software updates
> Portable - put it on a flash drive and run it on any computer
Download / Source
Version 0.110503.151500
Changelog
License
Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
Usage
Run Stopify, and just play songs in Spotify as normal - easy.
Double click tray icon to toggle show/hide.
Hotkeys: Ctrl+Shift+...
...Mouse Scroll (MButton) Click/Scroll Down/Scroll Up or ...Q/W/E: (master) mute/volume down/volume up
...Z/X/C: previous/toggle play/next song
...A/S: shuffle/repeat
...D/F: Spotify volume down/volume up
Compatibility
> Compatible with Vista but most features will probably still work in XP. Not supported or anything less.
> Written in AHK_L
Known Issues
> Cosmetic - tab control with listview not allowing backgroundtrans
About
Everybody loves Spotify but hates the ads, so I thought I'd give it my shot at developing something to bypass the ads over Christmas, which also gave me an excuse to finally get into AHK_L. I'd been using hotkeys for a while now (something I proposed a while ago here) but always wanted a more comprehensive solution. All the other solutions I came across, like NASpotify, uses banned lists or muting but didn't really manage to let you completely forget about the ads. Stopify, it's name for now, detects when a track nears the end of play and switches songs before ads kick in, allowing you to completely forget about ads and concentrate on the music.
For those that object to ad-blocking, I think this best captures the motivation for this project:http://www.autohotke...=45291&start=23
I think it's more morally equivalent to turning your eyes away from a billboard.Muting the spotify ads is morally equivalent to illegally downloading the music in the first place, so why bother getting Spotify if you're going to do that?!
Lots of things were done in a rush (often for the quick fix) and are still to be done:
To Do
> Better compatibility with XP
> Apply mute if ad does play
> Detection of username, allowing for profile-specific settings
> Options window, including custom hotkeys and startup with windows
> Look into possibility of removing graphical ads also
> Improve code structure and design for performance improvements
> Clean up source code and add more comments
> Better icon
> If anyone would like to suggest a better name, I'm all ears - "Stopify" was just what I decided to call the script file when it was first saved.
Thanks for your interest.