What is mediaremoteagent?

2019-05-14 17:00

You may see mediaremoteagent in Activity Monitor. It is a normal macOS system process.

What does it do?

mediaremoteagent handles media playback messages between apps and the system. It is the process behind the Now Playing widget in Control Centre, the media keys on your keyboard (play, pause, skip), and the ability to control playback from the Lock Screen.

When you press the play/pause key and the right app responds, mediaremoteagent is the one routing that command. It also lets other Apple devices control media on your Mac. For example, you can use your iPhone to pause music playing on your Mac.

Why is it running?

It runs whenever any app is playing or has recently played media. That includes Music, Spotify, Safari with a video, a podcast app, or anything else that uses the system media controls. It stays in the background, ready to handle media key events.

Why would it use noticeable CPU?

Normally it uses very little. If it is showing high CPU:

An app is behaving badly: a media app that keeps updating its Now Playing state in a loop can keep mediaremoteagent busy. Quit media apps one by one to find the cause.
After a macOS update: it sometimes needs a restart to settle down.

Should you worry?

No. It is a core part of how macOS handles media playback. Without it, your media keys and Now Playing controls would stop working.

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