YouTube Music Hotkeys

Browser extension that adds keyboard control to the web version of Google Podcasts or YouTube Music

Background

I wanted to control background playback of YouTube Music (named Google Music at the time) without switching tabs. That is all :-)

Install

Firefox	Chrome / Chromium

Features

• works in Firefox and Chromium-based browsers
• keyboard-based playback control
  • toggle playback

    default: Ctrl+Shift+8, visual hint: *
    windows: Alt+Shift+8

  • previous song

    default: Ctrl+Shift+9, visual hint: (
    windows: Alt+Shift+9

  • next song:

    default: Ctrl+Shift+0, visual hint: )
    windows: Alt+Shift+0

• option to customize default shortcuts
• works with YouTube Music but also supports Google Podcasts (next/previous jump back/forward within current episode)
• toolbar button
  • regular click toggles playback
  • context-click shows menu with other playback controls
• open and pin YouTube Music if it is not open yet
• try to build a new playlist when one hasn't been loaded yet
• support for autoplay of bookmarks with &autoplay=true parameter

How To Customize Shortcuts

Firefox

1. Open about:addons → Google / YouTube Music Hotkeys_ → Preferences
   • ..or just right-click the Browser Action:

     

2. Customize key bindings to your liking:
   • Supported values are listed here. Changes are saved automatically.

     

   • The shortcut may be specified as one of the following media keys: MediaPlayPause, MediaPrevTrack, MediaNextTrack

     

   • Keep in mind that some shortcuts can be intercepted by regular desktop apps running on your system. For example, on MS Windows Ctrl+Shift+0 is hijacked by system itself – see issue #3. If something does not work, try a different shortcut.
   • Customization works in Firefox 60 or later. If you are using an older version please see issue #1 before reporting a new bug.
   • Firefox does not provide API for setting Global shortcuts (that work when browser window is not focused) yet: Bug 1411795 - Add global keyboard shortcut support to commands API.
3. That is all!

Chromium

Chromium-based browsers provide global UI for managing shortcuts of all extensions.

1. Open chrome://extensions/configureCommands
2. Customize key bindings to your liking
3. You can optionally switch shortcut scope to Global:

   
   Global shortcuts should work even when Chrome isn’t ‘in focus’.
   Keep in mind that Global shortcuts can interfere with regular desktop app shortcuts.

4. That is all!

Development

npm ci
npm run build
npm run firefox

License

Play_music_triangle.png from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Play_music_triangle.svg

webextensions-lib-shortcut-customize-ui is licensed under MIT

The add-on itself is released under CC0: to the extent possible under law, the author has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this work, effectively placing it in the public domain.