# milgra/macmediakeyforwarder

Media Key Forwarder for iTunes and Spotify

Repository: https://github.com/milgra/macmediakeyforwarder
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/macmediakeyforwarder
Language: Objective-C
License: Unlicense
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2022-08-01T20:12:25+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 23/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3254, "days_push": 1493, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1282, forks 102 (observed 2026-08-28T04:04:13.995472+00:00)

## What it is
A macOS menu bar application that forwards media key presses directly to iTunes or Spotify. Users can prioritize which app receives the media keys or let it control the currently running app.

## Use cases
- forward mac media keys to spotify instead of itunes
- control itunes with play/pause keys from menu bar app
- prioritize which music app responds to media keys
- make media keys control the currently running music app
- fix media keys opening itunes when using spotify

## When to choose
- you only use iTunes and/or Spotify and want simple media key routing
- you want a lightweight menu bar utility with no extra features

## When to avoid
- you want media keys to control other players or browser-based music services
- you need a maintained fork - the README points to quentinlesceller's fork for latest fixes
- you're on a macOS version requiring newer accessibility handling

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: maintenance
- function: gui, developer-tools
- domain: operating-systems, media, developer-tools
- platform: -
- tags: media-keys, menu-bar-app, itunes, spotify, objective-c, audio-control, macos, desktop

## Member repositories
- milgra/macmediakeyforwarder (main) score 23

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:13.995472+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T04:57:43.072159+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/milgra/macmediakeyforwarder (fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:13.995472+00:00, sha d5fbf5513eb3)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.