Observable periodically pause then continue - rxjs

Question

How to pause observable every 15 seconds then wait for 5s and then continue emitting?
I made this example:
const digits = interval(1000);
const pauser$ = interval(20000).pipe(mapTo(true));
pauser$.subscribe(item =>
console.log(`${new Date().toISOString()} pause fired`)
);
const pauseStopper$ = pauser$.pipe(
concatMap(_ => timer(5000)),
tap(() => console.log(`${new Date().toISOString()} pause stopped`)),
mapTo(false)
);
const observable = merge(pauser$, pauseStopper$).pipe(
startWith(false),
switchMap(paused => (paused ? NEVER : digits))
);
observable.subscribe(
item => console.log(`${new Date().toISOString()}: ${item}`),
console.error,
() => console.log("complete")
);
After first pause cycle it behaves nearly close to what I need. Any ideas on how to make this more clear?
stackblitz example

Answer 1

I created a player function that gets three params:
source$: Your source observable that should be paused/played
play$: Continues to emit your source$ observable
pause$: Pauses your source$ observable
const player = <T>(source$: Observable<T>, play$: Observable<void>, pause$: Observable<void>): Observable<T> =>
merge(
play$.pipe(
switchMap(() => of(source$))
),
pause$.pipe(
switchMap(() => of(NEVER))
)
).pipe(
switchMap(stream => stream)
)
This function currently throws an error as far as I can see. In the short time I have atm I could not fix the error. The error is caused by of(void 0) in the pause$ switchMap. Later I will try to fix this error. Forfeit the error the function works.
You can now use a play$ and pause$ Observable to emit the play/pause:
const play$: Observable<void> = interval(20000).pipe(
startWith(void 0),
mapTo(void 0)
);
const pause$: Observable<void> = play$.pipe(
switchMap(() => interval(15000).pipe(
take(1)
)),
mapTo(void 0)
);
const player$ = player(source$, play$, pause$);
Does this solve your problem? If there are any issues with the solution let me know and I try to adapt.