Method and system for transferring button status information between a media player and an accessory

A media player comprising:

• control logic configured to execute a plurality of applications for playing back stored media, each application associated with a different media type;
• an interface configured to communicably couple the media player to an accessory;
• and
• command logic coupled to the control logic and the interface, the command logic being configured to receive from the accessory a button status command from a group of supported commands consisting of a context-specific button status command associated with particular functions of the media player and one or more media-type-specific button status commands, each media-type-specific button status command being associated with a playback application for a different media type,
• wherein each button status command includes a bitmask in which different bits are associated with different controls of the media player and wherein the association of the bits with the controls is different for different commands in the group of supported commands;
• wherein the control logic is further configured to determine an action to be performed in response to the button status command, wherein the determination is based in part on the bitmask and in part on whether the button status command is the context-specific button status command or one of the one or more media-type-specific button status commands, and to perform the determined action.