iTunes 10.4 removed spacebar pause for audio playback. WHY??

I am also having this problem. I do not know why the buttons are highlighted; in my case the back button is highlighted and whenever I hit the space bar the player goes back to the beginning o fthe song, or back to the previous song if the track hasn't started yet. BUT- I did also notice that if you hit the TAB key on your keyboard that the highlight will cycle to te next button on the interface, from back, to pause/play, to forward, to that little triangle and through all the oth little interface areas. Not sure why it does that, I wish I could disable it but for now I can just use TAB to change which button is being controlled by the space bar.

Nice, I did not noticed that before, I guess this is one good solution, using the TAB key to switch to the correct button then use the space bar as usual...

Thanks for sharing Mike ! 🙂

Using <tab> effectvely solves the problem, and I guess it's a design "feature". Would have been nice if Apple had documented it somewhere, or cme to our aid here.

THANK YOU!

Thanks mike! That's a nice, simple solution. I agree with cj though, do Apple read these at all??

This happens when "Full Keyboard Access" is set to "All controls" in SystemPreferences->Keyboard->KeyboardShortcuts

If you don't use tabbing between controls in other apps you can set it to "Text boxes and lists only" and spacebar will always control the play button in iTunes. However, there is no way that I know of to control this setting per-app.

When it is set to "All controls" spacebar will simulate a click on whatever control is selected.

Ctrl+F7 toggles this setting, which is how you may have accidentally turned it to "All Controls"

Wow, that's solved it for me! Thanks lastobelus!!

Hello

I suspect that the cursor is in the search bar on iTunes for those who find the space bar is not working. I had this problem, which, like stated here, was solved when tab was used, which removed the cursor from the search box.

I suspect that any view which eliminates the search box removes the problem.

Apologies if someone has already made this point. Not that it matters; it has been solved.

Regards

Mark

Yes, Apple staff do read these forums, despite claims to the contrary. However, if you are hoping for any changes as a result of any "feedback" on here, forget it.

I too am having the ridiculous iTunes spacebar problem. Thanks for the tips re the Tab bar, chaps!

I tried everything this thread recommended, yet every time I bring iTunes to the front, the cursor is in the search window and tapping the spacebar puts a space in it instead of pausing the playback. Help!

I tried everything this thread recommended, yet every time I bring iTunes to the front, the cursor is in the search window and tapping the spacebar puts a space in it instead of pausing the playback. Help!

Did a software update to iTunes 10.5.1 (42) and the problem was solved. I hope it was because Apple listened to our complaints.

Just hit the tab key, it will highlight the play/pause button

And many other functions you want the spacebar assigned to as well.