New Mac Apps Too Loud? How to Tame Them

You install a new app. It launches for the first time and immediately plays audio, an intro sound, a notification or a tutorial video, at full system volume. Your headphones are on. You weren't expecting it.

macOS has no setting for a "default volume for new apps", because macOS doesn't have per-app volume. Every app plays at the system volume, and the system volume is whatever you last set it to. If you were listening to music at 80%, the new app's sound is at 80% too.

Where it catches you

• Communication apps (Slack, Teams) that play a sound on launch
• Apps with video tutorials on first launch
• Games that start title music immediately
• Web apps that autoplay content

What you can do with macOS alone

1. Lower the system volume before you open something new. Not elegant, but it works. Hold Option + Shift while pressing the volume keys to change it in smaller quarter steps.
2. Check the app's own sound settings right away. Many apps have their own volume or a switch for launch and notification sounds in Settings or Preferences. Turn those down once and they stay down.
3. Turn down system alert sounds separately. System Settings > Sound > Alert volume controls alert sounds, not app audio, but it keeps system beeps quieter.
4. Use Headphone Safety if your Mac offers it. If System Settings > Sound shows a Headphone Safety or "Reduce loud audio" option, it limits how loud headphone audio can get overall.

None of these gives each app its own starting level. They limit the damage.

Turn a loud app down the moment it appears

With SoundDial, every running app gets its own volume slider in the menu bar. When you open a new app, it shows up in the list, and you can:

• Drag just that app down without touching your music or your call
• Mute it with one click if you don't want to hear it at all
• Boost it above 100% (up to 200%) later, if it turns out to be too quiet (a boost can clip on loud sources, so raise it in small steps)

You don't have to change the system volume or dig through the new app's settings first.

SoundDial also has a "Default volume for new apps" choice in Settings > General. It is an on/off choice, not a number: "Remember last" (the default) saves the level you set for each app and shows it again next time, while "Always 100%" starts every app at full level. An app SoundDial has never seen starts at 100% either way, so a brand-new app still needs one drag the first time. Mute is not remembered, and an app you open later may need a touch of its slider before its saved level applies. See how per-app volume control on Mac works.

SoundDial, a per-app volume mixer for Mac, is €14.99 one-time purchase on the Mac App Store, no subscription, and needs macOS 14.2 or later. Get SoundDial on the Mac App Store.