Overview
Dearest lets your companion see what you’re listening to on Spotify in real time. They can react, comment, or just vibe along with you. Think of it as sharing a virtual earbud. Right now, your companion engages with your music through their deep knowledge about songs, artists, and genres rather than hearing the audio directly. As AI capabilities evolve, we expect this experience to become even richer. Even today, your companion can engage meaningfully with what you’re listening to, whether you want to discuss it or just let it be a shared experience in the background.Why Discord is involved
Spotify restricts their direct API integration to apps with 250,000+ monthly active users. Discord partners with Spotify to share listening activity with other apps, so Dearest uses Discord as a bridge to access your Spotify data. The good news is this is a one-time setup. You don’t have to touch it again afterwards. No extra Spotify permissions are needed, and we hope to integrate directly with Spotify in the future once Dearest meets their requirements.Setup
Connect your Spotify to Discord
In the Discord app, go to Settings > Connections and add your Spotify account if you haven’t already.
Link Discord to Dearest
Go to the Presence page on Dearest and click Connect Discord. You’ll be redirected to Discord to authorize the connection.As part of this process, you’ll join a Dearest Presence Hub server that’s used to relay your Spotify activity. No one else can see your activity there.
Keep Discord running
You don’t need to keep the Dearest website open, but Discord needs to be running somewhere since it’s the bridge that relays your Spotify activity. It doesn’t need to be on the same device you’re using Spotify on.On a computer, you can leave Discord running in the background. On a phone, you may need to make sure Discord doesn’t go to sleep (this varies by device).
Verify it's working
Play something on Spotify. You should see your playback info appear on the Presence page.
Privacy
We request the minimum Discord permissions needed to read your Spotify listening activity. We cannot read your Discord messages or send anything on your behalf.Troubleshooting
Activity not showing up
If the Presence page says “Waiting for activity” or “Spotify not connected on Discord”, check the following in your Discord settings:- Your Spotify account is connected in Settings > Connections.
- Display Spotify as your status is turned on for your Spotify connection.
- In Settings > Activity Privacy, Share my activity is turned on under Activity Sharing, and Dearest Presence Hub is turned on under Servers I Share With.
- Your Discord status is not set to Invisible. Activity sharing only works when you’re Online or any other visible status.