Carol icon

Carol

Open SourceFree

Carol is a macOS lyrics display tool that shows lyrics in real-time on your desktop, synchronized with music players such as Spotify and Apple Music. It supports transparent backgrounds and floating windows, enhancing your music experience with visual enjoyment.

Carol - A Minimalist and Elegant macOS Lyrics App

Overview

Carol is a minimalist lyrics application designed specifically for macOS, built using the SwiftUI framework. It automatically detects the currently playing song in Apple Music or Spotify and displays its corresponding lyrics, providing users with a smooth and visually pleasing lyrics browsing experience.

Key Features

🎵 Automatic Lyrics Recognition

  • Smart Matching: Automatically detects the song currently playing in Apple Music or Spotify
  • Instant Display: Lyrics appear automatically in sync with playback, no manual search required

🚀 Convenient Operation

  • Menu Bar Quick Access: Open the lyrics interface with one click from the menu bar
  • Simplified Setup: No complex configuration needed—ready to use after installation

🎨 Elegant Design

  • Minimalist Interface: Clean, distraction-free user interface
  • Album Art Support: Displays the album cover of the currently playing song beautifully
  • Theme Adaptation: Automatically adapts to system light/dark mode
  • Lightweight: Small application footprint, runs smoothly

🔧 Technical Highlights

  • Modern Framework: Built with SwiftUI, aligning with the latest macOS design language
  • Open Source: Licensed under GPL-3.0, code fully open

System Requirements

  • Operating System: macOS 10.15 (Catalina) or later
  • Supported Platforms: Apple Music and Spotify

Installation & Usage

Download and Install

  1. Download the latest version from the GitHub Releases page
  2. Extract the Carol.zip file
  3. Copy the Carol app to the Applications folder

First-Time Use

  1. Launch Carol from the Applications folder
  2. The app will appear in the menu bar
  3. Grant necessary permissions on first launch
  4. Enjoy instant lyrics display

Advantages & Features

📋 Comparison Table

Feature Carol Other Lyrics Apps
Auto Recognition ✅ Fully automatic Usually requires manual search
Menu Bar Integration ✅ One-click access Often requires opening main app
Design Aesthetics ✅ Minimalist & modern May be cluttered or complex
Theme Adaptation ✅ Auto adapts to system Often fixed theme
Open Source & Free ✅ Completely free Mostly commercial software
Lightweight Size ✅ Small & fast Often bulky

✨ Core Value

  • Learning Resource: A great example project for learning SwiftUI and macOS development
  • Privacy Protection: Runs locally, no data uploaded
  • Continuous Updates: Supported by an open-source community, continuously improved
  • Completely Free: No ads, no in-app purchases, pure user experience

Notes

⚠️ Copyright Notice: This project is for educational purposes only. Lyrics content is copyrighted material owned by respective rights holders. Do not sell or resell this project or its content.

Development & Support

💝 Support the Developer

  • Support development via Buy Me a Coffee
  • Welcome suggestions and feature requests

👥 Community Contribution

  • Fully open-source—developers are welcome to contribute code
  • Detailed contribution guidelines in CONTRIBUTING.md
  • Follow the project's code of conduct

Technical Architecture

  • Programming Language: Swift
  • UI Framework: SwiftUI
  • Target Platform: macOS
  • License: GPL-3.0

Target Audience: Users who enjoy viewing lyrics while listening to music on macOS, SwiftUI learners, fans of minimalist applications

Why Recommend: Carol delivers the best lyrics browsing experience on macOS with its elegant design, intelligent auto-recognition, and convenient menu bar access—making it the ideal companion for music lovers.

All software data on this site is synchronized from the Awesome mac project. Copyright belongs to original authors.

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