Lyricify App: Scrolling Lyrics for Spotify, Apple Music and Any SMTC Player on Windows

Which of the four Lyricify builds matches your player

The repository ships more than one application, and the README's first table is the decision point. Lyricify 4 is Spotify-only, and the README states that constraint twice, once as a heading claim and once in bold: "Lyricify 4 仅支持 Spotify". Lyricify Fusion, renamed from Lyricify Lite starting at version 1.3.0, targets every application that has hooked into Windows SMTC. Lyricify Mobile covers iOS, iPadOS, macOS, Android and Windows, and the README lists it as intended for Spotify users. Lyricify 3 is the legacy branch and is marked EOL, meaning no new features, no bug fixes and no updates. The rename note explains the reasoning: Lyricify 4 and Lyricify Lite were positioned as parallel products, and once Lite absorbed many Lyricify 4 features the word Lite misrepresented it. If you last used this project under the name Lyricify Lite, you are looking at Fusion.

How the SMTC path works and why it decides what Fusion can display

Lyricify Fusion does not talk to each music service's API. It reads whatever media session Windows exposes through SMTC, the system media transport controls layer, and the README lists the players it has seen there: HyPlayer, LyricEase, Apple Music, QQ Music, NetEase Cloud Music UWP, Kugou, Foobar 2000 and Groove Music. That architecture is the source of both Fusion's reach and its ceiling. Any player that publishes a session can be covered without a per-service integration, which is why the list spans Chinese streaming clients, a desktop music player and Apple's app in one build. The same design means Fusion can only render what the session carries, and it cannot add service-specific behaviour for a player that does not surface it. Lyricify 4 is the opposite trade: a single service, Spotify, with the deeper feature set the README groups under lyric rendering, duet lyrics, the Dynamic Lyrics Island, desktop lyrics, vertical lyrics, fullscreen lyrics and highlighted lines.

Installing Lyricify 4 and getting lyrics on screen

The README points Windows users at the Microsoft Store badge for each build, and the release table carries tagged versions such as 4.3.52-release. There is no source build procedure in the README, so the Store listing or the release tag is the distribution channel. After installing, the first real check is whether lyrics appear against a track that is actually playing in Spotify. The README's usage guide lives at docs.lyricify.app rather than in this repository, so the exact menu labels are documented there. The commands below only open the pages the README links, they do not install anything.

# Open the Microsoft Store listing for Lyricify 4 (Spotify users)
https://apps.microsoft.com/store/detail/9P4WB75RHWCH

# Open the Microsoft Store listing for Lyricify Fusion (SMTC players)
https://apps.microsoft.com/store/detail/9NLTPSV395K2

What you should see is the Store page for the matching build, with the publisher and the current version. The README warns that only the Microsoft Store copy is officially published and asks users to report anyone selling the software elsewhere. If you cannot complete a Store purchase, the README says you can support the project through the tipping options listed under Menu, About inside the app.

Linux, macOS and the Wine route the README describes as fiddly

Lyricify 4 and Lyricify 3 are Windows applications. The README's third footnote says both can be run on Linux and macOS through Wine, and then adds that the Lyricify 4 process may be comparatively complicated and requires patience. For Linux specifically, the README points to the separate Lyricify on Wine repository for packages and describes ongoing work toward a simple and stable Wine setup, which is a statement of intent rather than a shipped guarantee. For Apple silicon Macs the recommendation is different: run the ARM64 build inside a Windows on ARM virtual machine for a better experience, or use Crossover to run the x64 build with a Windows 7 environment. Read those two sentences together and the practical answer is that on a Mac you are choosing between a VM and a compatibility layer, not between two native options. If a native Linux or macOS build is a requirement, this project does not provide one.

Lyricify Mobile and what the roadmap says about it

Lyricify Mobile is the cross-platform member of the family, with the README listing Android, iOS, iPadOS, macOS and Windows, plus visionOS in the Mobile section. The roadmap table is the more informative part because it records cancellations rather than promises. Lyricify Mobile Lite, which would have targeted every app connected to Android Media Session, is listed as development stopped with its functionality merged into Lyricify Mobile 1, which the table marks as in internal testing. Lyricify Mobile 2, aimed at Spotify and Apple Music users on iOS, iPadOS and macOS, is listed as development paused with some features also merged into Mobile 1. A third entry, Lyricify Lyrics Suite for Windows, is scheduled for 2026 to 2028 with no status. Anyone planning around the mobile apps should read that table as the current state of play, not the feature list.

What is actually open source here, and what the licence covers

The application itself is not presented as open source in this README. What is open source is split out. Lyricify's lyric processing code lives in WXRIW/Lyricify-Lyrics-Helper under Apache License 2.0, and part of the dynamic background implementation lives in WXRIW/Lyricify-Backgrounds, also Apache License 2.0. Two further tools are listed: Lyricify Lines Creator, a timing tool for Lyricify Lines line-by-line lyrics, at 0.2.0-beta, and the helper library at 0.2.0-release on .NET Standard. Separately, the README marks four original creations with an asterisk and places them under CC BY-SA 4.0: the Dynamic Lyrics Island, first created 2022-09-30 and released in 3.8.1; the Magic Strip, first created 2022-10-09 and released in 4.0.0.230121; live album cover in the lyrics view, first created 2022-11-14; Lyricify Syllable, first created 2023-03-13. The README says those may be reused commercially provided attribution to Lyricify and the author is kept, and that modified works must carry the same licence. That is a description of what the README states, not legal advice; if you plan to reuse the marked designs, read the licence text yourself.

Where Lyricify is the wrong tool

Three cases stand out. If your player is not Spotify and does not register with Windows SMTC, neither Lyricify 4 nor Lyricify Fusion will see it, and the README offers no fallback path for that situation. If you are on Linux or macOS and want something that installs and runs without Wine or a virtual machine, the README's own wording about the Wine process tells you this is not that. If you are still running Lyricify 3, staying there means accepting a branch the README declares end of life, and the same README advises Spotify users to move to Lyricify 4 rather than Lyricify 3. There is also a maintenance question the README does not answer: the repository's last push was on 2026-08-24, and the newest release listed is v4.3.52 from 2026-07-14. The README does not document a support window, a deprecation policy beyond the Lyricify 3 EOL note, or a rollback procedure for a bad release.

Alternatives and the difference in approach

The closest comparison inside this project is between Lyricify 4 and Lyricify Fusion, and it is a genuine architectural split rather than a feature tier. Lyricify 4 integrates with one service and spends that budget on rendering: syllable-level lyrics, duet layouts, the Dynamic Lyrics Island, Magic Strip, desktop, vertical and fullscreen lyric views. Lyricify Fusion gives up service depth to read whatever SMTC hands it, which is why it covers Apple Music, Foobar 2000, HyPlayer, LyricEase, QQ Music, NetEase Cloud Music UWP, Kugou and Groove Music in a single build. Outside the project, the relevant alternative is whatever lyric display your player already has built in, and the difference is that a built-in display is tied to one service while Fusion is tied to one operating system's media session layer. The README also flags Lyricify 3 as the older multi-service option for Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music, Music Center, QQ Music, NetEase Cloud Music and YesPlayMusic, but it is EOL, so it is a historical alternative rather than a live one.

Editorial conclusion

Adopt Lyricify 4 if you are a Spotify user on Windows and want scrolling, syllable-level lyrics with the Dynamic Lyrics Island and Magic Strip features the README dates to 2022 and 2023. Adopt Lyricify Fusion if your player is not Spotify but does register with Windows SMTC, which the README lists as Apple Music, Foobar 2000, HyPlayer, LyricEase, QQ Music, NetEase Cloud Music UWP, Kugou and Groove Music. Do not adopt it if you need a Linux-native build, since the README routes Linux and macOS users through Wine and calls the Lyricify 4 path possibly tedious, or if you are still on Lyricify 3, which the README marks EOL with no further fixes. Verify first that your player actually appears in SMTC before choosing Fusion, and check the Microsoft Store listing for the build that matches your player.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

1. Issues
2. Project website
3. README
4. Releases
5. WXRIW/Lyricify-App on GitHub