Apple EarPods play/ pause button (single tap) not working on media apps and demands a phone restart, every time, to fix the issue.

Hello Everyone...!!!

This might sound weird but i am experiencing a very strange issue on my iphone 16 pro max running on the latest SW version.

I basically use a wired earpods with my iphone and...

• ⁠The play/pause (single press) button doesn’t work in any media apps (Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube, etc.) at times. However, a restart on my device makes it functional again.

• ⁠Long press for Siri works fine.

• ⁠Answer/end calls also works fine.

Inference:

So the button hardware is clearly working — but iOS 26 doesn’t seem to register single-press for media control anymore.

I even tested with:

I also visited the Apple Store fr trouble shooting my phone and earphone both. A SW update, that was recommended, didn't solve the issue.

Has anybody else faced a similar kind of issue. Also, if there is any solution to this.