How to set a different volume for each app on Mac
Published , updated
You’re on a video call, a video starts playing in another tab, a notification chimes: on a Mac, the main volume applies to everything. Apple lists 3 ways to change it: the volume keys, the Sound menu in the menu bar or Control Center, and the volume controls inside apps. Many apps have no volume control of their own, though, and macOS doesn’t keep a different level for each one.
Source: Apple, Turn your Mac volume up or down.
How to turn down the volume of a single app
Tone adds a volume mixer to the menu bar: a slider and a mute button for every app that’s playing sound. Turn down the video call without touching the music, or mute the browser while you listen to a podcast. It works with apps that have no volume control of their own, too.
Tone remembers each level: reopen an app and it’s back at the volume you set. You set it once and forget about it.
A different audio output for each app
With Tone, each app can have its own output. The call in your headphones and the music on your speakers, or 1 app on your display’s speakers and the rest on your Mac, without switching the system output every time.
No driver to install
Tone installs no drivers, virtual audio devices or system extensions: it’s built on Core Audio process taps, a feature of macOS. That’s why it needs macOS 14.4 or later, on Macs with Apple silicon or Intel.
The first time, macOS asks you to allow System Audio Recording. It’s called that because Tone taps into the audio of each app to set its volume. Tone doesn’t record or save anything.
When a volume mixer helps
A few moments when a volume for each app makes a difference:
- Meetings: your colleagues loud, the notification sounds quiet.
- Music while you work: the playlist in the background, the videos of a course up front.
- Games and chat: the game on the speakers, the voice chat in your headphones.
- Noisy browsers: turn the browser down once, and a video that plays by itself no longer drowns out everything else.
What Tone costs
There are free volume mixers too. Tone costs $9.99 plus tax, once: no subscription, no ads, no tracking. Until 9 November 2026 the launch price is $4.99. The license covers 5 active Macs, every update is free forever, and if it’s not for you, you have 30 days for a full refund. All the terms are in the House Rules.
Try Tone in your browser: its page has a Demo that simulates the mixer, with nothing to install. Looking for more apps you pay for once? Read what a one-time purchase gets you.
