Send Arrow Keys to Currently Playing Media App (like system Play/Pause media key)

Configuration Help & General Discussion
1

Hi,

I’m looking for a way to send Left/Right Arrow key presses to the app that is currently playing media, rather than the frontmost app.

My use case is YouTube playback. Sometimes I watch YouTube in Chrome, and other times in Safari. I would like a BetterTouchTool trigger (e.g., a mouse button) to send Left/Right Arrow to whichever app is currently playing the video.

For example:

  • YouTube is playing in Chrome or Safari

  • I am working in another app (not the browser)

  • I press a trigger in BetterTouchTool

  • BTT sends Left/Right Arrow to the app that is currently playing the video so the video seeks backward/forward

Ideally this would work similarly to how macOS media keys (Play/Pause) behave:
the fn media key controls the currently playing media, regardless of which app is frontmost.

What I’m hoping for is something similar, but for Left/Right Arrow seeking, based on the currently playing media session, not the focused app.

Is there any way in BetterTouchTool to:

  1. Detect the currently playing media app (Now Playing), and

  2. Send custom key presses (like Left/Right Arrow) to that app?

Thanks!

2

I'm not sure, but I think this is not possible at the moment, because the action "Send Shortcut to Specific App" does not allow you to dynamically set the app to which you should sent the shortcut, but I believe this is good addition. However only Andreas can say if this can be implemented.

If you use only Chrome or Safari for this, then you should be able to do it, but note that this will block the default behavior of left/right arrows, so maybe pair them with a modifier key(s).

3

Thanks for the reply.

Currently I’m using fn + alt + space to trigger the macOS play/pause media function.

For seeking within the currently playing media app, I’m planning to use the following key combinations:

fn + alt + arrow (left/right)

So the idea is to send these key presses to whichever app is currently playing media.

4

unless I misunderstand, the predefined media actions should do this: (play/pause, previous, next)

5

I think he means to seek forward/backwards.

6

Thanks! Just to clarify, I mean seeking within the current track (forward/backward a few seconds), not previous/next track.

I’d like to trigger this with fn + alt + left/right for whichever app is currently playing media. Is that possible right now?