Global Media Playback Button is Coming to Microsoft Edge

Microsoft is going to implement a new Global Media Control for their Chromium-based Edge browser. The feature is a work in progress, allows controlling all active media sessions in the browser from a single flyout.

Microsoft is actually trying to improve the existing functionality of Chrome. Recently Google has started working on the 'Global Media Controls' feature. Chrome includes an experimental feature that shows a popup that is similar to the one that appears when you press multimedia keys on your keyboard. As of now, it handles the active media session only. Microsoft's implementation lists all the media sessions running in the browser, and allows you to pause or continue running them.

The flyout is available via a dedicated toolbar button. A commit reveals Microsoft's view of the feature.

Show a list of all media sessions instead of just the active one. This CL updates the global media controls UI to show all media sessions instead of just the most recently active media session.

To Enable Global Media Playback Button in Microsoft Edge,

1. Close Microsoft Edge Canary.
2. Right-click the Edge Canary shortcut and select Properties from the context menu.
3. Add --enable-features=GlobalMediaControls after the msedge.exe portion in the shortcut target box.
4. Launch Edge using the modified shortcut.

The following video demonstrates the feature in action.

👉 Alternatively, you can enable the Media Controls button with a flag, as explained in the following blog post:

Enable or Disable Global Media Controls in Toolbar in Microsoft Edge

The browser installs updates automatically. Also, you can manually check for updates by visiting the menu Help > About Microsoft Edge. Finally, you can grab the Edge installer from the following page:

Download Microsoft Edge Preview

At the moment of this writing, the latest Microsoft Edge Chromium versions are as follows.

• Beta Channel: 76.0.182.11
• Dev Channel: 77.0.218.4 (see the change log)
• Canary Channel: 77.0.222.0

I have covered many Edge tricks and features in the following post:

Hands-on with the new Chromium-based Microsoft Edge

Also, see the following updates.

• Microsoft Edge Chromium: Clear Browsing Data on Exit
• Microsoft Edge Chromium Now Allows Switching Theme
• Microsoft Edge: Support for Windows Spell Checker in Chromium Engine
• Microsoft Edge Chromium: Prepopulate Find with Text Selection
• Microsoft Edge Chromium Gets Tracking Prevention Settings
• Microsoft Edge Chromium: Change Display Language
• Group Policy Templates for Microsoft Edge Chromium
• Microsoft Edge Chromium: Pin Sites To Taskbar, IE Mode
• Microsoft Edge Chromium Will Allow Uninstalling PWAs as Desktop Apps
• Microsoft Edge Chromium Includes YouTube Video Info in Volume Control OSD
• Microsoft Edge Chromium Canary Features Dark Mode Improvements
• Show Icon Only for Bookmark in Microsoft Edge Chromium
• Autoplay Video Blocker is coming to Microsoft Edge Chromium
• Microsoft Edge Chromium is Receiving New Tab Page Customization Options
• Enable Microsoft Search in Microsoft Edge Chromium
• Grammar Tools Are Now Available in Microsoft Edge Chromium
• Microsoft Edge Chromium Now Follows System Dark Theme
• Here’s how Microsoft Edge Chromium looks on macOS
• Microsoft Edge Chromium now installs PWAs in the root of the Start menu
• Enable Translator in Microsoft Edge Chromium
• Microsoft Edge Chromium Dynamically Changes Its User Agent
• Microsoft Edge Chromium Warns When Running as Administrator
• Change Search Engine In Microsoft Edge Chromium
• Hide or Show Favorites Bar in Microsoft Edge Chromium
• Install Chrome Extensions in Microsoft Edge Chromium
• Enable Dark Mode in Microsoft Edge Chromium
• Chrome Features Removed and Replaced by Microsoft in Edge
• Microsoft Released Chromium-based Edge Preview Versions
• Chromium-Based Edge to Support 4K and HD Video Streams
• Microsoft Edge Insider extension now available in Microsoft Store
• Hands-on with the new Chromium-based Microsoft Edge
• Microsoft Edge Insider Addons Page Revealed
• Microsoft Translator is Now Integrated with Microsoft Edge Chromium

Thanks to Leo!

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