TuneLatch
Your play key always reaches Spotify

The play key almost never controls what you meant

macOS decides for itself which app receives your media keys, and it usually picks whichever one made a sound last. In practice that is a video tab, an autoplaying ad, or a meeting app. And when nothing is playing at all, macOS opens Apple Music — even if you never use it.

You know how it goes: you hit pause, your music keeps playing, and something falls silent somewhere else. You hunt down the window, click manually, and next time it starts all over again. A small irritation that repeats dozens of times a day.

TuneLatch catches the key before macOS decides

TuneLatch sits at the front of the chain macOS uses to hand out key presses. A tap on ⏯ is caught there and forwarded straight to the app you picked. Other programs simply never see the keystroke, so nothing gets paused by accident.

That covers the whole set: play and pause, next and previous track, and the volume keys if you want them. If your music app is not running yet, TuneLatch starts it and resumes playback — instead of Apple Music opening.

Hold ⌘ with the play key to bring your music app to the front, and again to tuck it away. Hold ⌥ and the key behaves exactly as macOS normally would, just for that press.

Spotify is the default, not the limit

Pick whichever app should receive the media keys from the menu. TuneLatch reads from the app itself which commands it supports and adapts accordingly. If an app has no previous-track command, that key keeps its normal behaviour instead of vanishing into nothing.

Using a mouse or keyboard with its own volume dial — through Logitech Options+, for instance? TuneLatch recognises that the command did not come from your keyboard and leaves it alone. Your dial keeps controlling system volume.

• Target app in two clicks Choose from the music and video players on your Mac, or browse to any other app.
• Shows what is playing Title and artist sit in the menu bar, without switching apps to check.
• Volume is optional System volume stays system volume by default; turn it over only if you want to.
• Starts with your Mac One switch and TuneLatch is there from login onwards, asking nothing further.

Everything TuneLatch does

One key that finally does what you meant is the heart of it. Around that sits everything you need to shape it to your liking — and nothing more than that.

Keys

• Play and pause The heart of it: your play key always reaches the app you pointed at.
• Next and previous ⏭ and ⏮ are forwarded too, or left alone if you prefer.
• Volume and mute Optional. By default this stays your system volume.
• A key of your own Prefer ⌥F13 over the media key? Set it, and put it back with one click.
• ⌘ brings the app forward Hold ⌘ with the play key; press again and it tucks away.
• ⌥ lets the key go Hold ⌥ and the key does what macOS would normally do, just that once.

Target app

• Any app you choose Spotify, Music or something else. You pick it from the menu.
• Knows what the app can do TuneLatch reads from the app itself which commands it supports and adapts.
• Wakes it if asleep If the app is not running, it is started and playback resumes.
• Now playing in the menu Title and artist, without switching apps to look.
• Title in the menu bar Optional, beside the icon, at a fixed width so nothing jumps around.

Language and comfort

• Fourteen languages Dutch, English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Ukrainian, Arabic, Hindi, Chinese in both scripts, Thai and Vietnamese.
• Follows your system Or pick a language yourself from the menu, marked with a globe.
• Starts at login One switch and it is there from sign-in onwards.
• Stays small One menu bar icon. No window in your way.

Under the hood

• Universal Runs on Apple silicon and on Intel.
• Signed and notarised Checked by Apple, so it opens without a warning.
• Works offline No internet connection needed to do its job.
• Media keys only Ordinary keystrokes never reach the app, unless you set a key of your own in their place.
• Leaves your mouse alone A volume dial through Logitech Options+ keeps controlling system volume.

What TuneLatch does not do

To intercept media keys, TuneLatch asks for accessibility access on first launch. That is a serious permission, and you are right to wonder what an app does with it. So, explicitly: TuneLatch looks at the media keys, and beyond that only at the key you may set in their place yourself. If you do not, ordinary keystrokes never even reach the app. If you do set your own key, every other keystroke is passed straight through without being read, stored or sent anywhere.

Beyond that it talks only to your own Mac. There is no account, no profile and no analytics coming back to us. The only thing it reaches out to is our licence server: once when you activate, and after that at most weekly to check your licence is still valid. What travels along is your licence code and an irreversible fingerprint of this Mac — not your computer’s name, and nothing else. If you enter an email address when activating, that goes along too.

Available now

TuneLatch is available in our store. Pay, get your licence code by email and download the app straight away. One licence covers three Macs.

TuneLatch costs €3.99, once. No subscription, no renewal.

• Requirements macOS 13 (Ventura) or later, on both Apple silicon and Intel.
• Signed and notarised Checked by Apple, so it opens without any warning.
• Works offline TuneLatch needs no internet connection to do its job.
• Made in the Netherlands Built and supported by InnoDIGI, with support in English and Dutch.