Media Manager
Choose which media source to control
When music, videos, and browser tabs are spread across your Mac, opening each player to pause or resume it interrupts what you are doing. This Rule opens Rulr’s Media Manager so you can choose a detected source and use the panel’s play/pause control.
The panel shows available titles alongside app names. Supported browser media pages appear as separate entries. Sources remembered after playback can remain in the list when paused, so you can return to them without starting playback again first.
When: Press Option + M. If: No Condition. Do: Show Media Manager. Opening the panel does not itself pause or resume anything. Click a row or use Up and Down to select it, press Space to request play/pause, and press Escape to dismiss the panel.
Configure and try it
- Choose Open this Rule in Rulr on a Mac running macOS 26 or later. Review the imported Rule, which starts disabled.
- Keep Option + M or choose an unused shortcut in Hotkey Pressed. Show Media Manager has no parameters to configure.
- Allow Accessibility for the hotkey, then enable the Rule. Start a song or video in an app or Chrome tab you use regularly.
- Open the panel while the song or video is actually playing, and wait for its source to appear before pausing it. Select that source. If the panel requests access for playback, follow its permission guidance. Press Space and check that the selected player actually pauses; press it again to check resuming.
- Try a second source and repeat with both players open. Confirm the behavior for your own apps before relying on the Rule during work or calls.
For Chrome tab discovery and control, allow Rulr to automate Google Chrome and enable View → Developer → Allow JavaScript from Apple Events in Chrome. Safari tab discovery also requires its Automation and JavaScript permissions, but Safari playback control is currently unavailable. Native playback may require Accessibility; controlling individual QuickTime movies can require QuickTime Player Automation access.
Compatibility and limits
Media Manager is available without Pro. The source list itself does not capture audio or require recording permission. The shortcut and some playback paths have separate permission requirements.
Discovery, title display, and playback control are separate capabilities. An entry appearing in the panel does not guarantee that Rulr can control it. Native apps differ in the media sessions and playback controls they expose; there is no claim of compatibility with every player or version.
Chrome control uses accessible media elements on the selected page. Embedded players, custom players, and other page designs may not be discoverable or controllable. A browser page generally needs to be observed playing before it is retained after pausing; a page that was already paused before discovery may be absent. Temporarily unreadable sources can show their last confirmed state.
Remembered sources belong to the current Rulr session; this is not a persistent playback history. Quitting the source app or closing a discovered browser page can remove its entry.
If your app is not detected or cannot be controlled, contact support@rulr.app with the app name, version, and what happens when you try.
This Rule opens an interactive picker. It does not bind the hardware media keys to a chosen app, choose a player automatically for those keys, or provide next/previous-track controls.
Read Show Media Manager for the Action, or use Switch Audio Output when your goal is changing speakers or headphones rather than controlling playback.
Media playback control on Mac: explore a unified panel and compare BeardedSpice alternatives.