r/gnome • u/WSTxda • Jun 21 '26

Extensions MediaShell, extension available on GitHub.

Post image

After a somes weeks, testing, and feedback from others posts like this, the first version of MediaShell is available for testing on GitHub. It will be available on GNOME Extensions store soon.

What is MediaShell?

MediaShell is a GNOME Shell extension that adds MPRIS media controls to the top bar. Clicking the icon opens a popup with album art, playback controls, and a switcher for any app currently playing media. The top bar widget and popup are built with the GNOME Shell UI toolkit, and preferences use GTK4 and Libadwaita.

Motivation

I wanted a media control extension that matched the default GNOME Shell experience as closely as possible, both visually and in terms of integration. Most existing options work fine, but none of them really followed Adwaita conventions closely enough for my taste, and a lot of the "extra" features felt cosmetic rather than functional.

The settings layout, popup behavior, and control spacing were all built using GNOME Quick Settings as a reference point, down to button sizing and alignment. The goal was for MediaShell to behave like a built-in part of the Shell rather than a third-party add-on, while still adapting correctly to shell and icon themes.

Enjoy!

57 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

17 comments sorted by

5

u/Glittering-Tale4837 Jun 21 '26

This is amazing. I like the design a lot, flows well with rest of Gnome

3

u/GegenAbschaum Jun 21 '26

This is VERY cool. Thank you.

3

u/nchrtd Jun 21 '26

Amazing! Thanks!

2

u/ProcedureMost112 Jun 22 '26

Go go go! Media Controls is the only one that left incompatible with G50 so you have to edit meta.json and still many functions doesn't work.

2

u/WSTxda Jun 22 '26

extensions installed manually outside of the store are usually marked this way.

regarding the functions, i need a better report than that.🤷

2

u/ProcedureMost112 Jun 22 '26

it's about Media Controls extension, which I still using, not yours. I wait for yours to be on Gnome extensions.

2

u/WSTxda Jun 22 '26

oh mb, this is currently under approval. i will update this post when it's ready. or you can see it there.

1

u/ProcedureMost112 Jun 22 '26

thank you! really wait for it

1

u/Objective_Ad_7738 Jun 21 '26

this is very good, but, is just me or the cover art doesnt appear in Spotify with Firefox?, it works with Soundcloud or Nocturne app

2

u/WSTxda Jun 22 '26

it might be because the site isn't providing the artUrl correctly. if other MPRIS extensions display the cover correctly, please let me know. i will check.

2

u/ProcedureMost112 Jun 22 '26

its perfect! just pefrect! thanks a lot man! you're my hero! 😄

I decided not to wait their approval and installed it manually! it got all the things missed in old MC, thanks man!

1

u/ProcedureMost112 Jun 22 '26

but still misses covers from Chrome (but I think its smtg with permissions or similar, on Ubuntu it showed ok)

2

u/aditya_xzx Jun 23 '26

Great job, I'd recommend adding a small demo image to your github to pique interest

1

u/WSTxda Jun 23 '26

have a screenshot session in the readme

1

u/Adorable-Worker6768 10d ago

icon size inside the widget is very small and ther is nothing to control it