# A volume for every app. Canonical page: https://vitalsmac.com/features/volume-mixer Turn the meeting up and the music down. The Sound tab gives every app playing sound its own slider, shows what you are hearing through and who has the microphone, and lists every Bluetooth device with its battery, the one about to die first. ## Sliders: Turn the meeting up and the music down. Every app with sound open gets its own slider, playing apps first, so Zoom can be loud while Music stays quiet and a video in a background tab does not arrive at full blast. Set a level once and Vitals remembers it next time. - A slider for every app with sound open - Playing apps first - Each level remembered - No driver to install, and nothing recorded ## Output and mic: What you are hearing through, and who is listening. The Mac's output device and its level sit on one strip at the top. The microphone is beside it with its device, its level, and the apps using it right now, so the orange dot in the menu bar finally has a name. - The output device and its level - The microphone's device and level - Which apps have the microphone open - The orange dot in the menu bar, with a name ## Dropdown: The sliders, without the window. The dropdown has the same Sound tab, so you can turn the meeting up from the menu bar in the middle of it, and changes take effect as you drag. - The output strip and every slider - A click from the menu bar - Tab to it from the keyboard - Changes take effect as you drag ## Bluetooth: Every battery, the one about to die first. Every connected Bluetooth device with its battery: AirPods left, right and case, the trackpad, the keyboard, sorted so the one that needs charging is at the top instead of buried in Control Center. - Every connected device - AirPods left, right and case - Lowest battery first - In the window and the dropdown ## Why it matters: volume mixer on a Mac macOS has one volume. Every app plays at the level the Mac is set to, so a meeting at a listenable level means music at the same level, and a video in a background tab arrives at full blast. The fix on a Mac has always been a second app, often with an audio driver or a kernel extension and a settings pane of its own. The mixer belongs with the rest of what the Mac is doing: which app is playing, which one has the microphone, what the output device is and how loud. The Sound tab in Vitals has the Mac's output on one strip, a slider for every app with sound open, playing apps first, the microphone's device and level with the apps using it, and the mixer remembers each app's level. No driver, nothing recorded, and the same tab in the dropdown. ## How to use it 1. **Open the Sound tab.** In the window, or in the menu bar dropdown. The Mac's output device and level are on the strip at the top; the apps with sound open are under it, playing apps first. 2. **Move a slider.** Drag an app's slider and only that app changes. The mixer remembers the level, so Zoom stays where you put it next time. 3. **See who has the microphone.** Its device and level sit beside the output, and Vitals names the apps using it, so the orange dot in the menu bar has a name next to it. 4. **Check the batteries.** The Bluetooth tab lists every connected device with its battery, lowest first: AirPods left, right and case, the trackpad, the keyboard. It is in the dropdown too. ## Compared with Activity Monitor | | Activity Monitor | Vitals | | --- | --- | --- | | Volume per app | No | A slider for every app with sound open | | The output | System Settings → Sound | Device and level on the tab | | The microphone | An orange dot | Its level, and the apps using it | | Bluetooth batteries | Control Center, one device at a time | Every device, lowest first | | Extra software | A driver or a kernel extension | None | ## The words behind it - [coreaudiod](https://vitalsmac.com/glossary/coreaudiod): coreaudiod is the macOS background process for Core Audio, the system that handles sound input and output. ## Questions ### Can I change the volume of one app on a Mac? Yes, in Vitals. The Sound tab lists every app playing sound with its own slider. ### Does it need a kernel extension or a driver? No. Vitals uses the Mac's own audio system; there is nothing to install or allow. ### Does it record anything? No. It reads levels and changes them. Nothing is recorded, and nothing leaves your Mac. ### Does it show Bluetooth batteries? Yes. Every connected Bluetooth device with its battery, lowest first, on the Bluetooth tab and in the dropdown. ### Does it remember an app's volume? Yes. Set Music to a quarter and it stays there, next time too. ### Which apps appear in the mixer? Every app with sound open, playing apps first. An app that has never played anything is not there until it does. ### Can I change the volume from the menu bar? Yes. The dropdown has the same Sound tab, with the output strip and a slider for every app. ### Does it show which app is using the microphone? Yes, beside the output: the microphone's device, its level, and the apps that have it open. ## Read on - [Mac volume mixer: how to change the volume of one app](https://vitalsmac.com/mac-volume-mixer) - [The 7 best volume mixers for Mac](https://vitalsmac.com/best-volume-mixer-for-mac) - [Vitals vs SoundSource](https://vitalsmac.com/vs/soundsource) - [Vitals vs eqMac](https://vitalsmac.com/vs/eqmac) ## More of Vitals Every feature is at [vitalsmac.com/features](https://vitalsmac.com/features). Vitals is one payment, with every update for life: [pricing](https://vitalsmac.com/pricing).