Orpheus

Native macOS Pandora client built on pianobar. Spiritual successor to Hermes, which doesn't run on modern macOS anymore.

Menu-bar presence, Now Playing widget, media-key control, notifications, station list, thumbs / tired / bookmark, history, auto-resume of last station, and an experimental pause-on-quit / resume-on-launch mode.

Screenshots

The window progressively hides content as you shrink it, so it can sit anywhere from a full now-playing card down to a small transport strip.

Full — album art, song, artist, album, transport, and progress.

Condensed — art hides, metadata and controls remain.

Minimal — just the transport row and progress bar.

Menu bar — Now Playing title, quick actions, and the full station list one click away.

Install (personal use)

git clone git@github.com:wweaver/orpheus.git
cd orpheus
brew install pianobar xcodegen
./scripts/install.sh

scripts/install.sh builds Release, drops Orpheus.app into ~/Applications/, and launches it. After that, find it via Spotlight (⌘Space → "Orpheus"), the Dock, or Launchpad like any other Mac app.

To rebuild after pulling new code:

git pull
./scripts/install.sh

Requirements

• macOS 13 Ventura or later (Intel or Apple Silicon).
• An active Pandora account.
• pianobar installed on the dev machine (brew install pianobar). Plan 3 in docs/superpowers/plans/ describes how to bundle it inside the .app for distribution; that work is parked because this is a personal-use build.

Project layout

App/                    Xcode app target — SwiftUI views, menu bar, prefs.
Packages/PianobarCore/  Swift Package — all logic, full test suite.
scripts/                Build/install helpers (install.sh, make-icon.sh).
docs/superpowers/       Design spec, implementation plans, QA checklists.

Development

brew install xcodegen
xcodegen generate
cd Packages/PianobarCore && swift test     # 32 tests
open ../../PianobarGUI.xcodeproj           # to develop in Xcode

The Xcode project filename is still PianobarGUI.xcodeproj and a few internal Swift types (PianobarGUIApp, the PianobarCore package) keep the original working title — only externally visible identity (display name, window title, menu items, install path) changed to Orpheus.

Status

Plans 1 and 2 are complete; Plan 3 (packaging — bundle pianobar, sign, notarize, DMG, Sparkle auto-update) is written but not executed because distribution to other users would need an Apple Developer account.

Open docs/superpowers/plans/ for implementation history.

Why "Orpheus"?

Greek myth's legendary musician played the lyre, often loud enough to charm trees and rivers. Same naming family as Hermes — fitting for the app filling its shoes — and a music-flavored nod that doesn't trade on Pandora's brand.