iTunes control from keyboard?

[jvaska]

Can't find anything about this although I can only imagine it's possible.

I really like the Party Shuffle mode but every now and then a dumb song comes along and I wish I could simply push some keys on the keyboard to skip to the next song...without having to bring the window to the foreground...

I'm pretty sure Applescript could do this but I really have no idea how to go about making that happen.

Anybody ever hear of somebody doing something like this in the past?

[abhishekit]

left arrow for previous song, right arrow for next song
look up iTunes-help-keyboard shortcuts for other shortcuts.

Also I use synergy, where you can set up hot keys for various operations like next song, previous song. So you dont need to have iTunes as the active application.

cheers

[HexMonkey]

First you need a program that runs applications/AppleScripts via a keystroke. There are several available, so look around for one you like (VersionTracker (http://www.versiontracker.com/macosx/) is a good place to look). I use Key Xing, but it's no longer available for download from the company's site. You can still get it at some mirrors however, such as here (http://allmacintosh.mirror.ac.uk/preview/259815.html).

The other thing you need is the script. Open Script Editor (Applications/AppleScript/Script Editor) and type in the following code:

tell application "iTunes"
play (next track)
end tell

Then save as either script or application (depending on what the application launcher wants), with all the options in the save panel unchecked. Finally, choose the script from the application launcher and assign it a keystroke.

[yinyang]

this will put rewind, play/pause, forward in your menu bar, and it's free.

http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/15170

[scott182]

You might also want to check out SizzlingKeys. It is similar to Synergy, but it's free and doesn't put the controls in the menubar, rather it uses just hotkeys.

http://www.yellowmug.com/sk4it/

[jvaska]

this will put rewind, play/pause, forward in your menu bar, and it's free.

Oh wow, this is perfect. Such a simple little utility.

Thanks for the tip... ;)

[hansen]

Any hints for the Windows platform?