Simpler Audio Hijack Alternative for Per-App Volume

If all you want is a separate volume for each app on your Mac, a recording tool is probably more than you need. Audio Hijack is a Rogue Amoeba app for recording and processing audio. If you don't record anything and just want one app quieter than another, there's a simpler kind of tool for that job.

Why people end up looking at Audio Hijack

macOS has no built-in per-app volume mixer. Windows has a Volume Mixer; on a Mac, the volume keys and the menu-bar slider move one output volume for every app. There's no native way to say "keep Spotify low but leave my video call at full volume."

So people search for ways to control app audio, and recording tools come up in those results. For what Audio Hijack can do today and what it costs, check Rogue Amoeba's website for current features and price.

Try the native options first

Before installing anything:

• Use each app's own volume. Music, Spotify, most video players and call apps have a volume slider. Lower the loud app inside itself and keep the system volume for the one you care about.
• Use the alert volume. System Settings > Sound has a separate alert volume slider. It only affects system alert sounds.
• Mute notifications. Turn on a Focus mode (Do Not Disturb) from Control Center so message sounds don't interrupt.

This is enough for some people. It stops working when an app has no volume control, when you want to mute one app without pausing it, or when one quiet app needs to go above its own maximum.

Recording tool or volume mixer?

Ask yourself what the job is:

• You want to record audio from an app or a device: that's what a recording tool is for, and a volume mixer won't do it.
• You only want per-app volume, not recording: a per-app volume mixer fits better. You set a slider per app and you're done.

A simple menu-bar mixer: SoundDial

SoundDial does the one job most people came for. Click its menu-bar icon and each running app has its own slider. Drag Spotify down, leave your call where it is, mute Slack.

• Per-app volume from 0% to 200%: set each app on its own
• Per-app boost: push a quiet app above 100% (up to 200%) without raising the others
• Per-app mute: silence one app with a click while everything else keeps playing
• Works per app, not per browser tab (all tabs of a browser share one slider)
• Does not record anything
• macOS 14.2 or later, €14.99 one-time purchase on the Mac App Store, no subscription

Getting set up

1. Install SoundDial from the Mac App Store.
2. Open the apps you want to control; every running app appears in the list.
3. Click the menu-bar icon and drag each app's slider to taste.
4. Mute or boost individual apps as needed.

Which one should you pick?

• Choose a recording tool if you need to capture audio from apps or devices.
• Choose a per-app volume mixer if your actual need is "let me set the volume of each app on its own."

Many people who looked at a recording app for volume control were solving a small problem with a big tool. If that's you, see how per-app volume control on Mac works, or read why some apps are louder than others on Mac.

Try SoundDial, a per-app volume mixer for Mac, on the Mac App Store.