Description
You're watching YouTube on your Mac and tap the keyboard's play/pause key — the video keeps going and Apple Music pops open and starts playing instead. The cause: macOS sends the media key to whatever app it remembers as "Now Playing," and that memory is often stale or points at nothing at all. SmartPause fixes exactly this: it catches the key, finds the app actually making sound right now, and sends the command there.
Whoever is playing pauses — YouTube, Spotify, VLC all recognized; if nothing is playing, the last thing you paused resumes. With two apps playing (say YouTube and Spotify) a single press switches to the other, a double press plays/pauses the selected app. It uses Core Audio's public process API to tell who is outputting sound, with zero CPU when idle and no microphone or screen-recording permission; each app gets an AppleScript adapter, and an app with no adapter simply hands the key back to the system, so there is never a dead key. It can also close Apple Music when it launches on its own (optional; it never touches Music when you open it yourself). Menu-bar resident, free and open source, macOS 14.2+.
One key, the right target: Catches play/pause and sends it to whatever is making sound now; if nothing plays, the last thing you paused resumes — no more accidental Apple Music.
Two sources, one key: With two apps playing, a single press switches to the other (the playing one pauses, the other starts), a double press plays/pauses the selected app, and two classic modes remain available.
Overlay widget: Slides in from the screen edge on every press showing who is playing, who is paused and what the next press will do, sitting below system notifications and remembering apps played in the last few minutes to resume them.
Apple Music blocker: Closes Music immediately if it launches by itself (optional); never interferes when you open it yourself.
Next / previous: The next/previous keys work in Spotify, Apple Music and VLC.
Lightweight and unobtrusive: Built on CGEventTap and Core Audio's public API with no private APIs, zero CPU when idle, no microphone or screen-recording permission, menu-bar resident, with an English and Turkish interface.
Whoever is playing pauses — YouTube, Spotify, VLC all recognized; if nothing is playing, the last thing you paused resumes. With two apps playing (say YouTube and Spotify) a single press switches to the other, a double press plays/pauses the selected app. It uses Core Audio's public process API to tell who is outputting sound, with zero CPU when idle and no microphone or screen-recording permission; each app gets an AppleScript adapter, and an app with no adapter simply hands the key back to the system, so there is never a dead key. It can also close Apple Music when it launches on its own (optional; it never touches Music when you open it yourself). Menu-bar resident, free and open source, macOS 14.2+.
Features
One key, the right target: Catches play/pause and sends it to whatever is making sound now; if nothing plays, the last thing you paused resumes — no more accidental Apple Music.
Two sources, one key: With two apps playing, a single press switches to the other (the playing one pauses, the other starts), a double press plays/pauses the selected app, and two classic modes remain available.
Overlay widget: Slides in from the screen edge on every press showing who is playing, who is paused and what the next press will do, sitting below system notifications and remembering apps played in the last few minutes to resume them.
Apple Music blocker: Closes Music immediately if it launches by itself (optional); never interferes when you open it yourself.
Next / previous: The next/previous keys work in Spotify, Apple Music and VLC.
Lightweight and unobtrusive: Built on CGEventTap and Core Audio's public API with no private APIs, zero CPU when idle, no microphone or screen-recording permission, menu-bar resident, with an English and Turkish interface.
