Add volume and music controls to keyboards that don't have dedicated buttons for them.
By using hotkeys (pressing combination of keys at same time), this program adds the following features to keyboards without dedicated media buttons.
- volume up (Ctrl + Shift + up arrow)
- volume down (Ctrl + Shift + down arrow)
- mute/unmute (Alt + down arrow)
- next song (Ctrl + Alt + right arrow)
- previous song (Ctrl + Alt + left arrow)
- play/pause (Ctrl + Alt + Print Screen)
Click here to download Media Controls for All for Windows. Because I have not purchased a code signing certificate, there will be a warning on installing my program. This does not mean the program is insecure, it just means I am not a recognized publisher. Since my program is free, without ads, and I do not ask for donations, purchasing a certificate did not make sense for me. If you are a developer, you can compile the program yourself (see the development section) and you will not get the warning.
When you run the program, it will prompt you if you want it to automatically start or not after log-in. To change this setting, go to the Windows tray menu, right click on the Media Controls for All logo, and click "Configure Automatic Startup".
If you forget the shortcuts, you can always access the "Help" menu to see them.
To uninstall, go to the same menu again, and click "Uninstall".
If you are interested in modifying this project, you will need to install the program AutoHotkey. From there, you can modify main.ahk and just execute that script to test. When you are happy with the modifications, open Ahk2Exe (included with AutoHotkey installation) and link the modified script and an .ico file for the icon.
This program is currently only available for Windows, since it is dependent on AutoHotkey, a Windows only program. Fortunately, almost all Macs come with keyboards that have media keys. For Linux users, some distributions allow you to create your own shortcuts (including media controls) without even writing a script, but rather just going to settings, selecting a function, and then pressing those keys. Specific setup, though, undoubtedly depends on your distribution.
John Fernow
Code released under the MIT License.