See real sound activity
Live PCM meters distinguish an app producing audio from an idle audio session.
Products
Free Preview · macOS 14.4+ · Apple Silicon + Intel
Turn down one app.See what is actually making sound.
KE Volume Mixer puts real per-app audio meters, volume sliders, and mute controls in the top-right macOS menu bar. Your mix stays on your Mac.
Ad-hoc signed · not Apple-notarized
Version 0.1.0 is an honestly labeled public Preview, not a production-ready or App Store release. Control-click to open it the first time.
Live native QA2 apps making sound
Actual macOS build during simultaneous-app QA. Activity comes from audio samples, not merely from an app being open.
- Native Swift
- Universal binary
- No account
- No telemetry
- Free download
What it does
A mixer that behaves like part of the Mac.
Open one compact popover, find the active app, and change only that source.
Control each app
Adjust or mute one app without changing your Mac’s master output volume.
Remember your mix
Volume and last-unmuted levels persist by app, including across relaunches.
Follow your output
Private audio routes rebuild when the default output device changes.
Live in the menu bar
The top-right icon changes when apps are making sound. No Dock clutter required.
Local by design
No account, network client, analytics, telemetry, kernel extension, or virtual driver.
Install
Four explicit first-launch steps.
The extra open step exists because Apple Developer ID signing and notarization are not yet available for this release.
Download the Preview
Open the DMG and drag KE Volume Mixer into Applications.
Control-click → Open
This Preview is not Apple-notarized. Control-click the app in Applications, choose Open, and confirm. If needed, use Privacy & Security → Open Anyway.
Allow system audio
macOS asks for Screen & System Audio Recording. The app needs app-output buffers to meter and adjust audio; it never captures your screen.
Mix from the top right
Play audio, open the speaker/waveform icon, then move the slider for the app you want.
Processed locally. Never saved or sent.
KE Volume Mixer has no network client or audio-file writer. macOS accurately labels its permission as Screen & System Audio Recording because Core Audio must expose each app's output buffer. The app does not capture the screen.
One app. One disclosed Preview startup file.
The optional Launch at Login (Preview) toggle writes only ~/Library/LaunchAgents/dev.kestudios.volume-mixer.login.plist, bound to the exact app in Applications with RunAtLoad and no KeepAlive. Turn the toggle off first, quit, and move the app to Trash. If the app is already gone, boot out only dev.kestudios.volume-mixer.login and delete only that exact plist. You can also revoke its system-audio permission and remove saved preferences with defaults delete dev.kestudios.volume-mixer. Version 0.1.0 is the first Preview, so rollback means removal.
Artifact integrity
Verify the exact download.
File: KE-Volume-Mixer-0.1.0-universal-preview.dmg · 1,785,366 bytes
10fa8882afa09747e004960b97b1ad95032ccd727334e858d1d2bae1d4788ec7KE-owned source is MIT licensed. The Core Audio process-tap foundation is derived from Siddharth Rout's MIT-licensed dB project at ac95a751686c68aa161a01244e083daf0d939350. Full notices and provenance are embedded in the app.
Compatibility
Know the boundary before you install.
- Requires macOS 14.4 or later.
- Runs natively on Apple Silicon and Intel Macs.
- Browser sound is grouped by browser, not by individual tab.
- Apps using exclusive Core Audio HAL hog mode can bypass the shared mixer.
- Launch at Login in this ad-hoc Preview uses a current-user LaunchAgent bound to the exact app path, with RunAtLoad only and no KeepAlive, shell, helper, network, or elevated privilege. It starts at the next sign-in.
- Developer ID signing and Apple notarization remain a separate, open release gate.
KE Volume Mixer 0.1.0 Preview
Download free