I’m developing a Java app that needs to work with Spotify’s API and run on different platforms like web browsers and mobile devices. Since I’m pretty new to working with Spotify’s API, I could really use some guidance.
My main goals are:
Detect what platform the app is running on and adjust functionality accordingly
Pull JSON data from external web servers and store it in arrays
Cache this data in objects so I can extract specific parts and display them in HTML divs
I’ve started writing the Java code for these features, but since this is my first time building something that needs to work across so many different platforms, I feel like I’m working without a clear roadmap.
Has anyone here built a similar cross-platform Java application that integrates with Spotify? Any tips, resources, or examples would be incredibly helpful. I’m especially interested in best practices for platform detection and JSON data handling.
yea, the spotify api can be tricky, but using jackson for json is a great choice! also, make sure to handle rate limits or you might run into issues. just take ur time to learn the docs, it’s helpful!
Built something like this last year - authentication was a nightmare at first. OAuth gets messy with multiple platforms since they all handle redirects differently. Web browsers can use implicit grant flow, but mobile needs authorization code flow with PKCE. I ended up making separate auth handlers for each platform type. Factory pattern saved my butt here - it picks the right API client based on what platform you’re on. Don’t forget token refresh logic! Spotify tokens die after an hour. JSON parsing’s easy with Gson, but handle network failures properly since mobile connections suck sometimes.
Working on something similar right now. Platform detection is key for file paths and storage. Android needs SharedPreferences for caching, web apps should use localStorage or IndexedDB. I’d create a unified data layer - abstract your caching logic so the same code works everywhere. For JSON, skip arrays and build a proper data model instead. Makes handling complex Spotify objects like playlists and tracks way easier. Mobile platforms are memory-constrained, so clean up your cached objects or you’ll hit performance issues on cheaper devices.