DeskThing is a free and open source application that breathes new life into Spotify's discontinued Car Thing accessory by transforming it from a Spotify controller for cars into a desktop device that controls a wide variety of applications running on your PC.
It's one of a number of tools that have come out of the Car Thing hacking community in the wake of Spotify's announcement that it will end support for the accessory in December. A series of recent updates to DeskThing make it an even more useful desktop PC companion.
Dammit Jeff (YouTube) In a nutshell, DeskThing consists of two parts: a desktop app that runs on your computer, and a Chromium-based website that loads up on your CarThing, allowing you to interact with PC apps using the little accessory.
There's even an app store that allows you to install Weather, Discord, or even Spotify apps so that you can view data on the little display and use the included dials and on-screen buttons to control those apps. There's also a Windows Media app that allows you to interact with local media by viewing album arts and controlling playback over a wired connection (without relying on Bluetooth).
Controls are also configurable, so you can use any button for any action.
DeskThing v0.9.0-beta was recently released, and the developer says it's a major overhaul with a simpler app view, support for reordering apps from the desktop graphical user interface, and support for hiding sensitive details. There are also new device management features including an auto detect and auto configure feature that should make it easier to connect and disconnect a CarThing to a computer.
You can find instructions for setting up and configuring DeskThing at GitHub (and in a how-to video posted by DeskThing). But if you just want to see it in action, YouTuber Dammit Jeff has a pretty good demo of a recent build:
Ultimately the goal is to expand DeskThing functionality so that a CarThing can be used as a display/controller for a wider range of apps and devices (including Android phones), but those features are still works in progress.
via Hacker News and Dammit Jeff (YouTube)
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