Earlier this year, Spotify underwent a significant redesign on Windows 11. In addition to the redesign, one of the recent updates improved how the music streaming platform handles links on Windows 11. After the update, the Spotify app automatically opens the open.spotify.com links.

Up until recently, when you opened Spotify links shared by your friend, the Windows 11 app opened the web browser and then offered an option to open the Spotify app. This happened because the Spotify app lacked support for “protocol handlers”. After a recent update, Spotify for Windows has finally registered itself as the handler for specific URLs.

This means when you click a link starting with spotify: or open.spotify.com, Windows knows to open the Spotify app instead of a web browser. It is possible for any web app to feel more native on Windows 11 by registering them as handlers for specific protocols or file types.

It’s a pretty neat change that makes Spotify feel more native to Windows 11. If you open Spotify links, the song will automatically and immediately be highlighted in the Spotify app.

Sounds good, right? There’s actually a way to manually add registry keys to register a protocol handler.

Here’s an example:

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTmyapp]
@="URL:MyApp Protocol"
"URL Protocol"=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTmyappshell]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTmyappshellopen]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTmyappshellopencommand]
@=""C:\Path\To\MyApp.exe" "%1""

The above code shows off how we register handlers for specific URLs. In the above code, we’re instructing Registry Editor to modify HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT with a new key for a protocol (e.g., myapp). We’re also setting the default value to a name for the protocol (e.g., MyApp Protocol).

Then, we’re adding a shell key under this new key. Finally, the code adds an open key under the shell key and sets the default value of the command key to the path of your app, followed by “%1” (e.g., “C:PathToMyApp.exe” “%1”).

This is basically how Spotify has registered itself as a protocol handler to feel more native on Windows 11.

Speaking of Spotify on Windows 11, it’s now on par with macOS version, with features like a mini player available to everyone. To access the mini player, all you need to do is click the player icon (rectangle with a small rectangle), and you’ll see a player above the system tray.

According to references spotted by Windows Latest, the mini player will soon feel more native on Windows 11 with Mica/Fluent Design touch, but it’s unclear when the feature will be rolled out in the stable version.

Do you like the recent changes to Spotify on Windows 11? Let us know in the comments below.

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