fix: reduce CPU when paused and backgrounded on macOS

lib/screens/video_player_screen.dart

@@ -200,6 +200,7 @@ class VideoPlayerScreenState extends State<VideoPlayerScreen> with WidgetsBindin
 
   // App lifecycle state tracking
   bool _wasPlayingBeforeInactive = false;
+  bool _hiddenForBackground = false;
   bool _autoPipEnabled = false;
 
   /// Whether to skip lifecycle actions because PiP is active or about to start.
@@ -340,10 +341,9 @@ class VideoPlayerScreenState extends State<VideoPlayerScreen> with WidgetsBindin
         // Don't pause - user may still be watching
         break;
       case AppLifecycleState.hidden:
-        // App is being hidden (user is switching away)
+        if (_shouldSkipForPip) break;
-        // Pause video since we don't support background playback (mobile only)
+        // Pause video on mobile (we don't support background playback)
         if (PlatformDetector.isMobile(context)) {
-          if (_shouldSkipForPip) break;
           if (player != null && _isPlayerInitialized) {
             _wasPlayingBeforeInactive = player!.state.playing;
             if (_wasPlayingBeforeInactive) {
@@ -352,6 +352,13 @@ class VideoPlayerScreenState extends State<VideoPlayerScreen> with WidgetsBindin
             }
           }
         }
+        // Hide render layer to stop Vulkan present loop and gate native events
+        if (player != null && _isPlayerInitialized) {
+          player!.setVisible(false);
+          _hiddenForBackground = true;
+          _liveTimelineTimer?.cancel();
+          appLogger.d('Render layer hidden due to app being hidden');
+        }
         break;
       case AppLifecycleState.paused:
         if (_shouldSkipForPip) break;
@@ -363,6 +370,15 @@ class VideoPlayerScreenState extends State<VideoPlayerScreen> with WidgetsBindin
         appLogger.d('Media controls cleared and wakelock disabled due to app being paused/backgrounded');
         break;
       case AppLifecycleState.resumed:
+        // Restore render layer if it was hidden for background
+        if (_hiddenForBackground && player != null && _isPlayerInitialized) {
+          player!.setVisible(true);
+          _hiddenForBackground = false;
+          if (_liveSessionIdentifier != null) {
+            _startLiveTimelineUpdates();
+          }
+          appLogger.d('Render layer restored after app resumed');
+        }
         // Restore media controls and wakelock when app is resumed
         if (_isPlayerInitialized && mounted) {
           unawaited(_restoreMediaControlsAfterResume());

macos/Runner/MpvPlayer/MpvPlayerCore.swift

@@ -114,11 +114,13 @@ class MpvPlayerCore: MpvPlayerCoreBase {
     }
 
     private var isVisible = false
+    private var pausedState = true
 
     func setVisible(_ visible: Bool) {
         guard let metalLayer, !isPipActive else { return }
 
         isVisible = visible
+        isBackgrounded = !visible
 
         if visible {
             metalLayer.removeFromSuperlayer()
@@ -135,6 +137,7 @@ class MpvPlayerCore: MpvPlayerCoreBase {
     }
 
     func setPaused(_ paused: Bool) {
+        pausedState = paused
         if paused {
             endPlaybackActivity()
         } else if isVisible {
@@ -220,15 +223,21 @@ class MpvPlayerCore: MpvPlayerCoreBase {
     @objc private func windowOcclusionDidChange(_ notification: Notification) {
         guard let metalLayer, mpv != nil, !isPipActive else { return }
 
-        let isVisible = window?.occlusionState.contains(.visible) ?? true
+        let windowVisible = window?.occlusionState.contains(.visible) ?? true
-        if !isVisible && !layerHiddenForOcclusion {
+        if !windowVisible && !layerHiddenForOcclusion {
             print("[MpvPlayerCore] Window occluded - hiding Metal layer")
             metalLayer.isHidden = true
             layerHiddenForOcclusion = true
-        } else if isVisible && layerHiddenForOcclusion {
+            isBackgrounded = true
+            endPlaybackActivity()
+        } else if windowVisible && layerHiddenForOcclusion {
             print("[MpvPlayerCore] Window visible - showing Metal layer")
             layerHiddenForOcclusion = false
             metalLayer.isHidden = false
+            isBackgrounded = false
+            if !pausedState {
+                beginPlaybackActivity()
+            }
         }
     }
 

shared/apple/MpvPlayer/MpvPlayerCoreBase.swift

@@ -80,9 +80,13 @@ class MpvPlayerCoreBase: NSObject {
     var isInitialized = false
     var isDisposing = false
     var isPipActive = false
+    var isBackgrounded = false
     var hdrEnabled = true
     var lastSigPeak = 0.0
 
+    /// Properties that must still flow to Dart while backgrounded (state-critical).
+    private static let criticalProperties: Set<String> = ["pause", "eof-reached", "paused-for-cache"]
+
     let queue = DispatchQueue(label: "mpv", qos: .userInitiated)
     private let queueKey = DispatchSpecificKey<Void>()
 
@@ -418,6 +422,7 @@ class MpvPlayerCoreBase: NSObject {
             }
 
         case MPV_EVENT_LOG_MESSAGE:
+            if isBackgrounded { break }
             if let messagePointer = event.data?.assumingMemoryBound(to: mpv_event_log_message.self) {
                 let message = messagePointer.pointee
                 let prefix = message.prefix.map { safeString($0) } ?? ""
@@ -438,6 +443,8 @@ class MpvPlayerCoreBase: NSObject {
     }
 
     private func handlePropertyChange(name: String, property: mpv_event_property) {
+        if isBackgrounded && !Self.criticalProperties.contains(name) { return }
+
         var value: Any?
 
         switch property.format {