I had the same issue and I fiddled with the settings in multiple apps and finally settled on something sub par, but operational. There is a setting that says "bind to headset" so I have that on in doggcatcher and off in the music app. I listen to podcasts on doggcatcher and I can pause and play with the button. You have to do a semi long press to get it to work not too long though.
Sometimes when I hit the button on accident another music player will start playing and the podcast will stop. The solution I came up with was to unplug the headphones and plug them back in. I have doggcatcher set up to start playing when the headphones are plugged in. It is nowhere near where I would like it to be, not as smooth as my iPhone was but it is getting better, as I figure some stuff out.
I tried an app that said it would let me configure the button but it did not work, it would read button presses that were not there.
Good luck and report any tricks you figure out
