Open source · Made for Wear OS

Svartifoss

Media controls for Wear OS, made yours.

Control music, follow lyrics and make every gesture your own. Svartifoss connects the player on your phone to a watch that feels like you.

Android phone + Wear OS watchInstallation options

See releases
Latest version
Local
No account needed
15
Player layouts
Svartifoss now-playing screen on a Wear OS watch
How it works

Set it up on your phone.
It's on your watch instantly.

Choose your controls and style on the phone. Your paired watch updates automatically, with no Svartifoss account needed.

Connection & privacy details

Every button, gesture, and screen is yours to assign from the phone app. The watch mirrors it over the local Wearable Data Layer — no account or Svartifoss server. Beyond your two devices, the app talks to GitHub for the optional update check and only when you explicitly open the Community themes gallery, to Firebase for diagnostics and occasional developer announcement notifications, and — only if you opt in — to the streaming service itself to fetch a saved shortcut's cover art. Crashlytics reports, announcement notifications, and shortcut artwork can all be switched off under Data & support → Privacy or Apps.

Assign on the phone
Live on the watch
What you get

Every surface, configurable.

Nothing about Svartifoss is fixed. Pick what each input does, how the screen looks, and what shows up when nothing's bound to a button.

Now-playing screen

Album art, live position, transport controls and a draggable seek surface. Choose from fifteen in-app faces, including Classic, Expressive, Poster, Studio, Carousel, Verse, Metadata and the performer-forward Artist — each one rebuilt around the cover that's playing.

Configurable input

Physical buttons, screen quadrants, swipes, the center tap, digital crown, bezel, mini buttons and supported double-pinch gestures can all run different actions while music is playing or stopped.

Quick-actions panel

Double-tap to open a configurable panel with three round slots and one wide row. Pick an action for every slot, or mirror the real actions and icons published by the current player's notification.

Queue & history

Browse a live queue with paging and artwork when the player exposes one, jump to an exact item, or fall back honestly to locally tracked listening history when it doesn't.

Glanceable surfaces

A media Tile with transport and ±10-second seek, a second Tile for saved streaming shortcuts, and an album-art/title complication for the watch face you're already using.

Search & playlists

Search by voice or keyboard, browse the player's library, replay or remove search history, and open saved links to tracks, albums, playlists, artists, shows and mixes.

Full action menu

A full-screen list for anything not bound to a button or gesture — nothing is ever more than one extra tap away.

Works with any player

Any app exposing a standard Android media session can provide basic control. Queues, libraries, search, likes and other extras appear when that player publishes the relevant Android capability.

Control

Every action, on your terms.

Svartifoss is not a fixed three-button remote. It gives the watch a complete action catalogue, then lets you decide which input should run which command.

Real player surfacesTap any image to enlarge
Svartifoss phone app showing the Mini buttons configuration
Mini buttonsChoose each action
Svartifoss player on a round Wear OS watch with three mini buttons
Mini buttonsReal player surface
Svartifoss round player showing a glowing edge seek arc
Edge seekDrag around the bezel
Svartifoss quick-actions panel with an Up Next preview
Quick actionsDouble-tap from the player
Svartifoss now-playing screen with transport controls on a Wear OS watch
Full playerThe essentials in view
01
Playback

More than play and pause.

Skip, restart, stop, seek by percentage, jump forward or back, change playback speed, choose shuffle and repeat modes, or run a player-specific like action.

02
Inputs

Use the controls your watch actually has.

Physical buttons, single/double/long presses, touch zones, swipes, center actions, mini buttons and — on compatible watches — crown, bezel or double-pinch input.

03
States

One setup while playing. Another when idle.

Music playing and No playback are separate configurations. The same input can skip a track now and open a saved playlist when playback has stopped.

04
Action menu

Keep the rest one tap away.

Open queue, lyrics, volume, progress or face picker; browse a library; launch an app; run Tasker; or start a streaming shortcut without reserving a physical button.

Content on your wrist

More than a now-playing screen.

Svartifoss stays honest about what the active player makes available: a live queue when there is one, history when there is not, and optional search, lyrics and details only where the phone can retrieve them.

Queue & history

Use the player's queue when it exists.

Browse the current playback queue, request more items and jump to a track. If the active player does not publish a queue, Svartifoss shows its locally tracked listening history instead.

Svartifoss playback queue on the watch, Sia playing
Actual queue screen
Search, library & lists

Ask the player for what it knows.

Search by voice or keyboard, replay recent searches, browse a MediaBrowser library when the app offers one, and keep saved playlist shortcuts reachable from the watch.

Svartifoss search results on the watch, with thumbnails
Real search results
Lyrics & Metadata

Optional, on-demand detail.

Lyrics are requested only when a lyrics surface or Verse needs them. Metadata is built from player tags, local-file details where permitted, and optional MusicBrainz enrichment — it never invents information the source does not provide.

Synced lyricsTrack tagsFile detailsOutput routeOptional lookup
Synced lyrics glowing on the watch's Verse face
Verse, synced live
Streaming shortcuts

Save a link. Let the phone do the rest.

Share or paste a track, album, artist, playlist, show, episode or mix. On the watch it opens with its cover and a choice of Play or Shuffle. Svartifoss first attempts the contracts the target app supports and opens the link visibly only when direct playback is unavailable.

YouTube MusicSpotifyDeezerTIDALApple MusicAmazon MusicSoundCloudQobuzBandcampAudiomackMixcloudPandora
Streaming shortcuts screen on the phone, six saved shortcuts
Saved on the phone
Faces

Fifteen faces. Every one drawn from the art.

These are in-app now-playing layouts, not separate Wear OS watch-face packages. Immersive, Poster, Studio, Expressive, Classic and more rebuild their palette, gradients and progress from the cover that's playing. Pick one per playback state and preview it live from the phone.

Poster face, Before It Breaks by Brandi Carlile
Poster
Before It Breaks
Expressive face, Hysteria by Muse
Expressive
Hysteria
Artist face, October by Adrián Berenguer
Artist
October
Carousel face, The Story by Brandi Carlile
Carousel
The Story
Metadata face, betrayal by Øneheart
Metadata
betrayal
Split face, When You're Gone by The Cranberries
Split
When You're Gone
Immersive face, Let Me Love You by DAVE
Immersive
Let Me Love You
Frame face, Dirt by Keane
Frame
Dirt
Classic face, Decode by Paramore
Classic
Decode
Verse face, Eternally Missed by Muse
Verse
Eternally Missed
Studio face, escapism by far.north
Studio
escapism
Material face, Comatose by Skillet
Material
Comatose
Chat face, Before It Breaks by Brandi Carlile
Chat
Before It Breaks
Note face, Talking to Sirens by Thirteen Senses
Note
Talking to Sirens
Ribbon face, Comatose by Skillet
Ribbon
Comatose
Try it yourself

Pick a face. See it on four real tracks.

Choose one of 15 sample layouts to see how it adapts to four album covers. These are real captures from a watch.

Classic face, escapism by far.north
escapismfar.north
Classic face, Before It Breaks by Brandi Carlile
Before It BreaksBrandi Carlile
Classic face, Talking to Sirens by Thirteen Senses
Talking to SirensThirteen Senses
Classic face, Comatose by Skillet
ComatoseSkillet
Get started

Your next track is a tap away.

Install Svartifoss on both your Android phone and Wear OS watch, then open both apps to get connected.

Recommended

One listing. Both devices.

Get the phone and watch apps from Google Play. On your phone, allow notification access so Svartifoss can find your music player.

Android 6.0+ · Wear OS 2 or newer

Get it on Google Play

On Google Play, Svartifoss is a paid app: one purchase covers your phone and watch and supports development. The source code and the free APKs stay on GitHub.

Prefer APKs? Install from GitHub

Download both APKs for a manual installation. Open the phone app and allow notification access, then open the watch app.

Install on your phone

Download the phone APK below and open it. Android may ask you to allow installs from your browser first.

Install on your watch

Download the watch APK and sideload it to your Wear OS watch — easiest with Wear Installer .

Open both apps

They find each other automatically over the Wearable Data Layer — no account, no pairing code, nothing else to configure.

Phone · Android 6.0+ (sideload) Download phone APK
Watch · Wear OS 2 or newer (sideload) Download watch APK
Check your setupCompatibility & privacy
Possibilities

Every overlay is its own wardrobe.

Volume, seek, the quick-actions panel, the queue and the lyrics screen each carry a full catalog of styles — a sample of each is below. Mix and match them freely; none of it is tied to whichever face is running underneath.

Volume6 of the readout styles
Volume overlay: pale arc ring over a warm backdrop
Arc ring
Volume overlay: maroon-to-indigo gradient ring
Gradient ring
Volume overlay: pastel pink arc on pure black
High contrast
Volume overlay: thin arc ring
Ring
Volume overlay: dotted arc with pill readout
Dotted
Volume overlay: horizontal pill bar
Pill bar
Seekscrub & progress
Seek overlay: tick-mark bezel ring around an elapsed-time pill
Tick bezel
Seek overlay: glowing arc segment along the bezel
Glow arc
Seek overlay: clock-dial ticks
Clock dial
Seek overlay: linear scrub bar over album art
Linear
Seek overlay: dotted ring with pill readout
Dotted
Seek overlay: thin AMOLED ring
Thin ring
Quick paneldouble-tap actions
Quick panel: like/shuffle/repeat row over a blurred indigo cover
Indigo blur
Quick panel: shuffle/add/cast row on a dark teal gradient
Teal gradient
Quick panel: Up Next row with a colorful thumbnail
Up Next preview
Quick panel: heart/shuffle/repeat row on olive-green
Album tint
Quick panel: warm brown blur with a peach like button
Warm blur
Quick panel: glass icon pills over a dark blurred cover
Glass pills
Queueup-next & history
Queue: warm rows with a pink playing-row highlight
Pink highlight
Queue: coral-pink playing row with circular thumbnails
Coral rows
Queue: sepia album thumbnails on a black list
Sepia rows
Queue: album-tinted rows with cover thumbnails
Cover rows
Queue: AMOLED rows with selected highlight
AMOLED
Queue: tonal gradient cards
Tonal cards
Lyricsthe Verse face, synced live
Lyrics: glowing current line, note glyph
Glow
Lyrics: current line highlighted red
Red highlight
Lyrics: current line highlighted gold
Gold highlight
Lyrics: short line highlighted gold
Gold, short line
Lyrics: bold underlined current line
Underline
Lyrics: icy blue current line
Blue highlight
Depth

Not a coat of paint — every surface, really tunable.

Save a look as a named theme and switch between them in one tap. Each profile can combine a base face, typography, colors, artwork, background layers, progress, overlays, panels, mini buttons and the always-on display. Every gallery miniature is rendered on your phone from the theme data against a built-in sample track.

Album art style picker with over a dozen treatments
A dozen+ album art treatments
Watch color treatment picker with live color swatches
Color treatment, previewed as swatches
Typeface picker, each font rendered in itself
Every font, set in itself
Panel background style picker
A dozen+ panel backgrounds
Long list of queue styles
A dozen+ queue styles
Long list of volume readout styles
A dozen+ volume styles
Always-on display style picker, one option per face
Always-on, styled per face
Mini buttons shape picker
Pill, circle, squircle, leaf, drop…
Colors tab for a custom theme, album-derived swatches
Per-face editing

One watch, different moods.

Store appearance independently for each face instead of forcing one global look. Change title, artist, clock, lyrics and track-time typography; choose album treatments, color harmony, progress style, panel layout and custom button shapes.

Chrono always-on display, a large clock on pure black
Always-on display

Designed for the low-power screen too.

Choose an always-on presentation, artwork treatment, dim level, visibility and typography separately from the interactive player. The phone preview lets you check the ambient result before it reaches the watch.

Artist text controls: weight, italic, size and shadow
Readable by design

Make text hold its ground.

Use album-aware or custom colors, adjustable opacity, shadow, outline and backdrop treatments for the title and artist. The same visual system also covers volume, seek, panels and queue rows.

Watch tab live preview above the Player editor
On the phone

Preview before you send.

The Watch tab mirrors the current track or a built-in sample and updates as you edit. Apply, duplicate, rename or delete profiles without changing the others.

Community themes

Borrow a look. Make it yours.

Browse a public catalogue of appearance profiles from the phone, inspect the full set of local previews and install only what you choose. A community theme is a starting point, not a locked preset.

Community catalogue Real screenshots
My themes library with a theme applied
InstallThen make it yours
Community themes gallery grid, browsable and filterable
BrowseSearch, filter, sort
01

Discover a starting point.

Search by theme or author, filter by base face, sort by newest, likes or installs, and inspect the full local previews before adding anything to your library.

02

Install, then make it yours.

Preview Player, always-on, Volume, Progress, Quick panel and Queue. Installing creates a local copy you can apply, edit, duplicate or remove independently.

03

Share your own work.

Submit a user-owned theme for review with a public name and pseudonym or Anonymous label. Authors can optionally attach one real watch photo.

04

Keep public publishing accountable.

Browsing and installing need no account. Likes, installs and reports are private, while approved profiles reach the static catalogue through moderation.

Compatibility & privacy

Built around Android's media standards.

Svartifoss does not replace your music app, stream audio or ask for a Svartifoss cloud account. It connects the phone and watch locally, then uses the media contracts each installed player makes available.

Basic playbackA usable Android MediaSession provides play, pause, skip, position and other transport commands.
QueueThe player must publish a queue. Otherwise Svartifoss falls back to recent track history.
Library & searchBrowsing and in-app search depend on a discoverable MediaBrowserService or compatible search command.
Like, shuffle & repeatExtra actions appear when the notification or media session publishes them.
Rich metadataTags come from the player; local file details need media access; optional MusicBrainz lookup is off by default.
Streaming shortcutsDirect playback depends on the target service. If it declines, Svartifoss opens the link in that service or a browser.
What stays local: phone-to-watch control uses the Wearable Data Layer and needs no Svartifoss account. Network features are opt-in or explicit: updates, the Community themes catalogue, optional diagnostics, announcements, lyrics, metadata enrichment and shortcut artwork can be controlled in the app's settings.
The name

Black Falls

Svartifoss means "Black Falls" in Icelandic — named after the waterfall in Vatnajökull National Park, where dark basalt columns frame a narrow cascade. Like water over stone, music flows through the app.