Media Keys will randomly stop working with Spotify on Big Sur

[ThisIsStapes]

Plan

Premium

Country

UK

Device

iMac Late 2014

Operating System

MacOS 11.1 Big Sur

Noticed that since running Big Sur that the media keys on the keyboard (F7, F8, F9 - Back, Play/Pause, Next) seem to sometimes stop controlling Spotify, never had this exact issue on Mojave or Catalinaw. I have noticed that it can happen when Safari issues an alert sound, i.e. WhatsApp Web notification. Then when I try Play/Pause it will then just play the WhatsApp Web notification over again. Nothing I do seems to bring it back.

I did notice that on Catalina that if you were controlling Spotify with the media keys and then paused and played YouTube via Safari for example that the media keys would then only control that YouTube tab, regardless of if that window was in the background or on a different display and not focussed. To get it back I had to go and click Play on Spotify, then everything would be back to normal. Trying that technique this time does not work.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Mihail]

Hey @ThisIsStapes,

Thanks for posting in the Community. 

Could you let us know if the issue persists after you disable the Desktop overlay from the setting menu, log out everywhere and enable it again? This will force an account-wide synchronization of your info and usually resolves similar issues.

If the issue persists, it's a good idea to perform a clean reinstall. It's possible some of the app files have gotten damaged and causing this behavior, that way they'll get removed.

Keep us posted! We'll be happy to lend a hand if you need more help. 

[ThisIsStapes]

Hi Mihail,

I can't seem to find the *Desktop Overlay* settings. I have tried logging out and re-logging in everywhere. Also I have recently freshly installed as I have only just updated to Big Sur and re-installed Spotify then. This is also when I started to notice this issue. 

[Ver]

Hey @ThisIsStapes,

Thanks for keeping us posted 🙂

It's a good idea to try reinstalling the app in a Safe mode. Are there any changes?

If the issue persists, could you send us a screenshot of the settings? You can also share with us the exact Spotify version that is running on your device. We'll investigate this further.

Keep us posted! If you have questions, we are here for you.

[hi_im_philippe]

Media keys seem to work if I'm in the app itself, but the moment I move to another application I can't seem to play/pause/skip.

[Alex]

Hi @hi_im_philippe,

Thanks for the post.

Can you try toggling between on/off on the Show Desktop overlay when using media keys setting? This can be found in Settings > Display.

If you have the overlay On and the media keys are not assigned to any function on the other app which is currently open, they should control the Spotify player. 

If that doesn't change anything can you let us know if you've ran a clean reinstall of the app and which app version you have?

Cheers.

[tomzboril]

Apparently popping open Activity Monitor and killing the "NowPlayingTouchUI" process and restarting Spotify is the most reliable workaround at the moment on Big Sur.

Strange that Spotify is the only app that drops from getting tracked in TouchBar UI where you can swap between applications and seek-play-stop each of the playbacks.

[ADuffer]

Spotify for Mac does not have a "Settings" menu or menu item.. so these instructuons are not easy to follow.

There is a page of "settings" if i go to Spotiy-> Preferences but the only "display" related item does not seem relevant..

[WadEmber]

Thank you tomzboril, this is really working.