KTunes Menu Shortcut Problem

K

Knil

Registered
I downloaded a handy app. called KTunes that adds a musical note to the menu bar (Finder and all apps. open) that let's you choose "Next", "Previous", etc. in iTunes, without actually having to bring iTunes to the front. That's convenience, but I'm especially lazy.

I wanted to be able to keep my hands on the keyboard at all times, so I went to System Preferences > Keyboard and Mouse > Keyboard Shortcuts and I added a keyboard shortcut to the KTunes app. of Apple-Right Arrow to activate the "Next" bar. This is similar to Apple-S for "Save..." and Apple-O for "Open File..."

The problem I have is... IT DOESN'T WORK! I can click the KTunes icon from the Finder's Menu Bar, and I can see the "Next" tab, and it even has the Apple-Right shortcut opposite, showing that it did indeed recognize that I created a shortcut.

So the question I post is, why doesn't my keyboard shortcut work? Please reply and/or e-mail me knil@sbcglobal.net

Thanks!
 
As an alternative, i use a nifty little app called x-tunes. When you press a definable key combo (i use apple-/) it displays a floating controller over the screen, and allows you to control iTunes by pressing other keys (arrows to change track/volume, return to pause/play).

Another bonus, its free! Get it at the bottom of this page -> http://www.pol-online.net/index.php?page=freeware
 
Sweet irony, I can't download it because of my other problem!
http://www.macosx.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44335

Does XTunes enable song-changing without using the mouse? How many keystrokes would it be to bring it up, go to the next song, then continue typing in the same field I was beforehand?

The reason I ask is, if I can solve the problem I first posted, I could press "Apple-Right" in any application, and the song would change without the program even knowing/caring.
 
For a start, its freeware and only about 130k so i could email it perhaps? Funny you ask about numbers of keystrokes, as i've been reading about GOMS analysis all week!

Getting specific, I chose the apple-/ combo as i can press the apple key with my right thumb, and the / key (the one which is also a ? symbol) with my right first finger. That brings up the floating controller. From there you can tap the return key (with 2nd finger on right hand) or use arrow keys to change track (left and right arrows) or volume (up and down arrows) with your 3rd or 4th fingers.

So, in order to skip track forward, you press apple-/ and tap right arrow. OK, that is one more key stroke than your method, but apple-right arrow is used by other programs (eg switching tabs in safari). Apple-/ is a less used combination as far as i can tell, so it interferes less with other programs. The method I use is pretty much as fast as yours because the apple key and the '/' key are so close together, and can be pressed with the same movement. Plus, with the floating control window you can see the volume and track name if you want, or just press more quickly and have it flash-up-and-disappear (you can alter the settings for the floating widow's transparency and times to appear and disappear).

In addition, tapping apple-/ automatically launches iTunes in the background if its not already open, so is in effect also a shortcut to launching itunes. The only bug as far as i can see is that the first time you launch the controller after a restart (or a few hours of inaction) it takes a couple of seconds longer to launch, as i think the daemon is being activated.

Wow, that was a lot of explanation for a very quick action, but i hope this helps. If you want me to mail x-tunes over, then pm me (click my name by my post then select "send new message to..." from little menu).
Oh and welcome to the forum.

ora
 
I would recomend Keyboard Maestro, personally. That is what I use, you can set any key como you want to skip forward, backward, play, pause, etc. Plus it can do much more than just control iTunes. you can use it to make macros to do just about anything. And it, also, is free,as long as you don't want to make more than 25 or so macros. I currently have mine set to use F9-F11 to controll iTunes (Play/pause, previous track, next track). For the lazy umong us, that is only a single keystroke with a single finger to do just about anything you want with iTunes :)
 
macavenger said:
I would recomend Keyboard Maestro, personally. That is what I use, you can set any key como you want to skip forward, backward, play, pause, etc. Plus it can do much more than just control iTunes. you can use it to make macros to do just about anything. And it, also, is free,as long as you don't want to make more than 25 or so macros. I currently have mine set to use F9-F11 to controll iTunes (Play/pause, previous track, next track). For the lazy umong us, that is only a single keystroke with a single finger to do just about anything you want with iTunes :)
Click to expand...

Is it like KTunes, in that it has no interface, and is accessable no matter the program? The reason I want to get KTunes to work is so I can stay in one program, and switch songs without having to switch apps.
 
It has an interface for setting it up, but once the hotkeys and macros are set up, you can quit the main program and it becomes an invisible background application. The hotkeys assigned do indeed work from any application, although I don't know what happens if the application tries to use the same key combiation for something. Like I said, one keystroke to control iTunes :)
 
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