Play/Pause Button (F8) Not Working

Hi, the play/pause function key does not work on media apps. I tried the Music app and the other music streaming apps.


All of the other function buttons (skip, previous, volume up/down) buttons are working. But not the play/pause key. Is there a solution to this?


I recently updated to the newest version but this problem was present in the previous version as well.


Thank you so much!

MacBook Air, macOS 13.3

Posted on Apr 12, 2023 2:27 PM

Reply
14 replies

Apr 28, 2023 3:18 AM in response to kgndrn

There is definitely a problem, perhaps since the latest update? My play/pause (F8) button has always worked perfectly and suddenly out of nowhere, it's stopped working. Restarting the iMac seems to cure for a short period, but it soon stops working again. So frustrating as it's one of the most used features on my keyboard!!

May 9, 2023 4:27 PM in response to garnayuk

I had the exact same behavior, restarting would fix it but then suddenly the play/pause buttons stopped working with Spotify.


I thought it had something to do with the Apple Music app, but I just confirmed that closing the WhatsApp App immediately fixed this. In my case, though, I did not play any WhatsApp audios, so maybe notifications are getting detected as media playing?

Jun 7, 2023 9:52 AM in response to kgndrn

Hi, I found that this issue is not happening in the beta app of Whatsapp, I roundup all the possible issues, reinstalling, clean install from the web and not from the AppStore and never solved the problem, I just donwloaded the beta app from the web and the issue is gone for me, also they updated the app UI and notification sound, is nice and pleasant to use.


Hope it works for you!

Jun 9, 2023 8:58 PM in response to kgndrn

I had this problem too before and it seems the WhatsApp application blocked the play/pause button since it plays a media or notification. I tried to deactivate the "Play sound for notification" on Settings --> Notifications --> WhatsApp and it works, the play/pause button functioned well.


The notification from WhatsApp still has sound since the "Sounds" setting on WhatsApp application still active.


Hope it can solve the problem.

Sep 21, 2023 2:48 AM in response to kgndrn

I take this back. Actually, it's the random "helpful" answer that's featured, and the one with most votes also isn't very helpful, so ...

Could you please spare a minute to remove this answer? Unfortunately (due to a bug in community?) - it masks the actually helpful one (having 20 votes) - addressing the root cause and including the solution.


Play/Pause Button (F8) Not Working

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