smirky

Generally yes, although it's not a great solution for a released tool (assuming you're just an amateur coder like me). My understanding is that there are ways to do this via GUI Scripting, but that's an unreliable way to program things for use by other people. It's susceptible to breaking suddenly and very difficult to keep updated for anyone outside of the person who creates it. Any time Apple makes even the slightest change to their UI, the steps are broken. It's also difficult to maintain across multiple versions of OSes because I think you'd need to have every major OS version available on a testing machine to ensure that you cover everyone's needs. My old workflow for syncing devices via iTunes got killed off because of this - Apple moved that function to Finder and now it's not scriptable other than via GUI scripting. If you wanted to build something that was specific to your local machine, I think that Automator might get you there. I haven't used it in a long time, but that's where I would start.

As suspected, this is an issue with how the Mac OS restricts interactions between iTunes/Music, Airplay devices, and the keyboard buttons. I found a Github project that appears designed to address this exact issue but I've not had a chance to test it out. Hopefully this will help you! https://github.com/alberti42/Volume-Control From the project's ReadMe:

Thanks, I'll do a little more research but it sounds like you're describing a limitation within Airplay, Music, and Mac OS not something related to the workflow itself. Happy to try and fix something related to the workflow if that turns out to be the issue. I'll follow up when I find more info on the topic.

Hi esceef, thanks for this info. I may have to do some research on this use case and possibly ask for your help in troubleshooting since I don't have a HomePod to test with. Can you confirm that when you select HomePod using only the Airplay button in iTunes (attached image) and not changing the system Sound option, you're able to change the volume using just the keyboard? I have a feeling there's an issue with how the iTunes Airplay setting interacts with the system Sound setting that might be outside of the current functionality of this workflow to handle without a huge re-write. I'll cross that bridge if I come to it.

Thanks again, Vitor, really appreciate the input. I've created a new thread here:

Submitting this workflow for possible submission. Let me know if you have any questions. If anyone can offer a Retina screenshot, I would greatly appreciate it! I am the author of this workflow. A link to the discussion is here. Hosted on Github here. How to use: The default method is "toggle". This will toggle the state for only the selected device. The typical use for this would be if you have more than one device that you like to have turned ON at the same time (i.e., listening in the main room and a second room). If you prefer to use only one device at a time, change the default method in the variable window to "select". This will toggle ON the selected device and toggle OFF all the others. The typical use for this would be if you prefer to listen on only one device at a time (i.e., listening through computer speakers or headphones). Two modifier actions are provided: You can choose to use the non-default method at any time by actioning on the device while pressing the 'option' key. This will cause Alfred to run whichever method is not the default. Holding 'control' will allow you to action a device without closing the Alfred window. This works well if you're often toggling more than one device at a time. The 'esc' key will need to be hit when you're done.

I've thought about that and tend to land on not changing the name, although I'm 100% open to anyone's thoughts on best practices and improved clarity. My main reason for not changing it is because "Music" could be potentially confusing in regards to the workflow's scope. Unfortunately, "Music" might imply that the workflow can affect any music software that you're running instead of specifically "Apple Music". By that same logic, a better name might be "Apple Music Airplay Toggle" or similar. That had previously seemed too lengthy of a name for such a simple workflow, but now I'm starting to warm to it. I'll make the requested update, possibly with the new name, and post to the other thread shortly. Thanks again!

Thanks Vitor, that would be cool. I don't have a retina display available so I generally avoided the idea of submitting my workflows. If someone was able to share a screenshot or two, I could add them to the ReadMe and make the update in #1 above all in one shot. Should I create a new thread in the other subforum for ease of tracking this? I'm happy to do that as well.

Just posted an update to this workflow that gives you a keyword option in the workflow configuration page. This update should get pushed to your device via OneUpdater or you can grab it direct from Github. Let me know if you run into any issues! https://github.com/dotson/iTunes-Airplay-Toggle

Hi Matthew! The simplest way for now would be to add your keyword to the first Script Filter action, see the two screenshots below. A better long term solution would be for me to add the keyword trigger and allow the user to customize it in the settings so that it stays after future updates. I might be able to work on that this weekend. Until then, the solution in the screenshots should do what you need just fine. Let me know if you have any questions!

Well that’s super weird, sorry about that! Does the workflow work as expected but also triggers Parallels or does it not work at all plus Parallels opens up unexpectedly? Can you post the output from Alfred’s debug window after you run the workflow? What’s your Mac OS and Parallels version? I’ll see if I can mirror those and replicate this locally to sort it out.

Just pushed an update based on your request. Give it a shot and let me know if it works for you. You'll just need to change the default behavior from "toggle" to "select" in the variables section, per the About This Workflow page in Alfred. Please let me know if you have any issues or other ideas on improvements! https://github.com/dotson/iTunes-Airplay-Toggle

Thanks for the update, glad to hear that it's working for you! That feature should be fairly simple to implement and there are a couple ways to go about doing it. One is to allow a key option such that using it would toggle all choices rather than the one specifically chosen (i.e., action using shift-enter to make this one active and the others inactive). This would allow both the existing function and additional function to exist all at once. Another would be to let the user set which is the default type of action (i.e., set the variable in the preferences). I think it'd be possible to do both at once, so you could tell Alfred which choice is your preferred default ('individual toggle' or 'switch to') and then have the other option be chosen with the special key combo. I'm going to play around a bit and see if I can make that work.

Hi, yes! I still maintain this workflow as regularly as possible via the github page linked below. The current version works with Catalina but you can grab an older version if you haven't upgraded yet. Let me know if you're having any trouble with the current version and I'll help fix anything needed. https://github.com/dotson/iTunes-Airplay-Toggle

Just pushed an update to Packal and Github that hopefully fixes the above preference issues.

This should be working again in the newest version uploaded to Packal and Github. Please put Pedro through his paces and let me know if there's still an issue (or a new one!). Thanks!

Shoot, thanks for letting me know about this! I'm pretty sure it has to do with how fast Alfred updates itself after you type a key but before actioning the given preference selection. I thought I had fixed it but looks like I need to tweak a little bit more. I'll give this a deeper dive tomorrow evening or definitely this weekend.

Just pushed an update to DJ Pedro (v.1.6.01) that includes the brand new Save Playlist feature. This can be triggered manually on a created playlist via keyword or, if you feel adventurous, it will auto-create every time DJ Pedro makes you a new playlist (enable this in the prefs window). Ideas for changes, improvements, etc., are welcome. Enjoy!

Great! Thanks for letting me know it wasn't working - I had zero idea that the updated version never made it to Packal. I was moving at the time and suspect I just totally forgot... :-/

Thanks for this info! It looks like an update I pushed back in September 2016 never made it to the Packal updater system - no idea why, but it's there now (link here). When you have time, please download this new version v1.5.02. My revision notes indicate it corrected an issue in iTunes following changes in how the 'song' variable works. My guess is this should help solve your problem. Please let me know if it does or doesn't; I'll be around later this weekend to try and help if more is needed. If it still gives you trouble, try updating to the newest Alfred - they pushed out v3.4 just a couple days ago. I'm working on cleaning up the workflow a bit and will incorporate the save function into that update. My guess is it will be within a week or so. Thanks for your input on this, I didn't think anyone but me would like that feature. :-)

Just realized I never actually replied to your earlier message - apologies for that! I read it and responded in my head but forgot to type it up. :-( Regarding your suggestion, that's a great idea and in fact it's something that I built a separate workflow for myself to do already. I have been trying to think through the best way to implement it because, I imagine, a user wouldn't necessarily want every single run of Pedro to generate a new playlist. The workflow I built essentially adds a new Playlist folder ("DJ Pedro Playlists") and can save a copy of the current DJ Pedro playlist to the folder on demand via hotkey ("%current_artist% Playlist"). That way you can decide when to save one if you happen to like what Pedro gives you. It's also really easy to go through iTunes and select any of those playlist that you want synced to your device for while you're on the go. That's what we use it for in my house - generating cool new playlists for long car rides. If that sounds lie something you think would be worth adding to the general Workflow release, I am more than happy to incorporate it

Hey Codec, sorry that he's stopped working. I tried this morning and couldn't recreate your error. Can you check if there's an update to Alfred on your system that might fix the issue? A couple other follow-ups, which you may have already checked: Do you get this error on any one specific artist, or have you tried multiple choices and get the same error? Have you updated any software on your machine prior to getting this error? I haven't pushed an update to Pedro in a little while, so it's likely an external conflict that I will try to hunt down. Thanks!

Yeah I couldn't get that one to work for me, but I didn't try too hard. Glad my updates are working for you; thanks for all the feedback!

In case anyone is wondering why this workflow hasn't worked, feel free to blame Last.fm for breaking their APIs with no fix in sight. I have re-written this workflow using a few different tricks so that it works again. Download from Packal here.

You can revert to the included apikey if you like; Discogs has gone back to the simpler API process that it originally used and you only need the apikey that I include to make it work. There was a lot of back-and-forth when they were upgrading their API system and apparently they went back to something much easier to implement so I basically just reverted to my original version of the workflow. You are correct that the whole OAuth initialization setup process is no longer part of this workflow, thank goodness. I also fixed my Last.fm workflow to use a few different API calls that get around the broken ones (artist.search still doesn't work). Out of curiosity, which Last.fm workflow are you using? The only other one I found is here and it doesn't seem to work anymore.