Customize Windows Media Player Notifications with the Snarl ExtensionWindows Media Player (WMP) is a long-standing media player for Windows, but its built-in notifications are basic and not very customizable. Snarl is a lightweight, flexible notification system for Windows that lets other applications send styled pop-up notifications (called “snarls”) to the desktop. By installing the Snarl extension for Windows Media Player, you can receive richer, configurable notifications for track changes, playback status, and other events — with custom appearance, sound, and behavior. This article walks through installation, configuration, customization ideas, troubleshooting, and advanced tips.
What is Snarl?
Snarl is a notification system for Windows similar in spirit to Growl on macOS. It acts as a central server for on-screen notifications: applications send notification requests to Snarl, and Snarl displays them according to user preferences (position, duration, animations, sounds, and priority). Snarl supports text and images, multiple notification types, and can be controlled via plugins or simple network/API calls. When integrated with Windows Media Player, Snarl can show track title, artist, album art, playback state (play/pause/stop), and more.
Why use Snarl with Windows Media Player?
- Richer visuals: show album art and formatted text rather than the small default pop-up.
- Custom placement: move notifications to any screen corner or custom coordinates.
- Persistent or timed: choose whether a notification disappears automatically or needs manual dismissal.
- Sound customization: play a sound per notification.
- Rule-based behavior: prioritize certain notification types or mute notifications during presentations.
- Cross-application consistency: if you use Snarl for other apps (mail, IM, system events), WMP notifications will match them.
Prerequisites
- Windows 7, 8, 10, or 11 (Snarl historically supports older and newer Windows; check current compatibility if you have a very recent build).
- Windows Media Player (version included with your Windows release).
- Snarl application installed (download from the official Snarl site or repository).
- The Snarl extension/plugin for Windows Media Player (may be bundled with Snarl or available separately).
- Optional: album art fetcher utilities or scripts if you want higher-resolution artwork.
Installation — step by step
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Download Snarl:
- Get the Snarl installer from the official Snarl website or a trusted archive. Run the installer and complete setup.
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Install the WMP Snarl extension:
- If the extension comes bundled, enable it from Snarl’s plugin/add-on section. If separate, download the WMP plugin and follow its installer instructions or copy the plugin files into the Snarl extensions folder as documented.
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Enable the extension in Windows Media Player:
- Open WMP, go to Tools → Plug-ins → Options (in newer WMP versions you may need to press Alt to reveal the menu). Find the Snarl plugin and ensure it’s checked/enabled.
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Restart both applications:
- Close and re-open Snarl and WMP to ensure they detect each other.
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Test a notification:
- Play a track in WMP and verify that a Snarl notification appears with track metadata.
Basic configuration in Snarl
Open Snarl’s settings to adjust global notification behavior:
- Position: choose top-right, top-left, bottom-right, bottom-left, or custom coordinates.
- Display time: set how long notifications remain visible (or select persistent).
- Animation: choose fade, slide, or instant.
- Priority handling: set how overlapped notifications are queued or replaced.
- Sounds: assign sounds to notification types or toggle system default.
- Filter/Do Not Disturb: configure quiet hours or automatically mute during fullscreen apps/presentations.
These global settings will affect WMP notifications unless overridden by the WMP plugin.
WMP-specific customization options
The WMP Snarl extension usually exposes the following configurable items (exact options depend on the plugin version):
- Which events trigger notifications:
- Track change, play, pause, stop, playlist start/end, error events.
- Notification content:
- Title (track name), subtitle (artist — album), body (lyrics or file path), and album art thumbnail.
- Album art size:
- Small thumbnail vs larger artwork. Larger images improve aesthetics but use more screen space.
- Text formatting:
- Choose to show artist before title, include track number, or display elapsed/remaining time.
- Exclusions:
- Suppress notifications for specified playlists or file types (useful for podcasts or audiobooks).
- Interaction:
- Click actions (e.g., click notification to bring WMP to front or skip to next track).
- Rate-limiting:
- Prevent too-frequent updates (e.g., when shuffling tracks rapidly).
Examples of notification styles and when to use them
- Minimal now-playing: small thumbnail + “Artist — Title” — good for small screens or when you want unobtrusive alerts.
- Detailed media card: larger artwork, title, artist, album, and a short bio or lyrics excerpt — ideal for a media-heavy desktop.
- Playback state only: simple text “Paused” or “Playing” — useful when you only want quick feedback during control.
- Album-focused: album art plus track list preview — handy when browsing an album.
Advanced customization — scripts & automation
- Use Snarl’s API: Snarl exposes an API to send custom notifications. You can write small scripts (PowerShell, AutoHotkey, Python) to create advanced behaviors: custom messages when certain tracks play, integration with other services (e.g., scrobbling now-playing to Last.fm then posting a notification), or conditional notifications (only show when not in fullscreen).
- AutoHotkey example (pseudo):
; Listen for WMP events or poll now-playing metadata, then call Snarl's HTTP API RunWait, curl -X POST "http://localhost:9887/?" -d "action=notify&app=MyWMP&title=...&text=..." - Use task automation tools (e.g., EventGhost) to combine system events (USB device connect, headset unplug) with WMP notifications.
Troubleshooting
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No notifications show:
- Ensure Snarl is running and the WMP plugin is enabled.
- Confirm firewall rules allow any local loopback communication required by Snarl.
- Restart WMP after installing the plugin.
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Album art missing or low quality:
- Enable album art retrieval in WMP or use an external metadata/artwork fetcher.
- Check plugin settings for artwork size limits.
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Notifications appear but don’t respond to clicks:
- Verify click-action is enabled in the plugin and that WMP isn’t running with elevated privileges while Snarl runs as a normal user (mismatched privileges can block inter-process messaging).
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Notifications overlap or queue oddly:
- Adjust Snarl’s priority and queuing settings or set the WMP plugin to bundle metadata into a single notification per track.
Privacy and performance considerations
- Snarl runs locally; notifications are displayed on your machine and do not inherently send data externally. If you use third‑party scripts that query web services (lyrics, album art) those services may receive metadata.
- Snarl is lightweight but running many plugins or very large artwork can increase memory usage slightly. Monitor if you’re on low-end hardware.
Alternatives and complementary tools
- Native Windows toast notifications (via the Windows Action Center) — more integrated with modern Windows but less customizable visually.
- Other third-party notifiers like Growl for Windows (if still maintained) or Toastify (focused on Spotify but sometimes supports generic players).
- Use an overlay tool (e.g., player-specific OSD utilities) for in-game overlays where Snarl may be suppressed.
Comparison table:
| Feature | Snarl + WMP | Windows Toasts | Overlay OSD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Custom visuals | Yes | Limited | Very customizable |
| Click actions | Yes | Yes | Depends |
| Album art support | Yes | Limited | Yes |
| Cross-app consistency | Yes | System-wide | App-specific |
| Ease of setup | Moderate | Easy | Varies |
Final tips
- Keep the notification content concise — longer texts can be truncated and feel noisy.
- Use distinct sounds sparingly to avoid notification fatigue.
- If you present or game often, set Snarl to mute or auto-snooze during fullscreen apps.
- Experiment with position and size on multi-monitor setups — what’s convenient on one screen may obscure content on another.
If you want, I can: provide a ready-to-run AutoHotkey or PowerShell script to send custom Snarl notifications from WMP metadata, or walk through configuring a specific visual style (e.g., minimal vs. detailed). Which would you prefer?
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