Many intriguing capabilities, including as the ability to run touchscreen applications, are included in the new M1 Macs. The new machines still don’t have the option to regulate individual app loudness in macOS, though. Therefore, we have a solution if you want to make sure that your Netflix level is high but that notifications aren’t quite as loud. Here’s how to adjust each app’s volume in M1 Mac.
Control Individual Apps Volume in M1 Mac
You might want a feature like this on your M1 MacBook or Mac Mini for a variety of reasons. When I’m at work, I use it personally to turn up Microsoft Edge’s output level while muting System Sounds. In this way, I can watch YouTube videos without being bothered by my Mac’s notifications all the time.
If you wish to, you can also utilise this software to increase loudness past their maximum. Do this, though, at your own risk as it can damage your Mac’s speakers.
Additionally, the app I’m about to mention allows you to record internal audio on the M1 MacBook and M1 Mac Mini. So continue reading if you’re interested in that. You may always jump ahead to any important section by using the table of contents.
Control Individual App Volumes in M1 MacBook / Mac Mini
For the M1 Mac, there is a pretty helpful FOSS (free and open-source) tool that we may use to enable this feature.
- Download Background Music (free). This is the 0.4.0 snapshot version of the software, which is an alpha build. There s an older, 0.3.2 version as well, which is more stable, but it doesn t work with macOS Big Sur.
- Once you ve installed the app, you will see its icon in the menu bar.
- You can click on this icon to see and change the volume for your MacBook, as well as control individual app volumes on your Mac.
As you can see, the programme displays every application that is open on your Mac, allowing you to change the volume as necessary.
Auto-Pause Music in Supported Apps
Auto-pause is yet another useful function of Background Music. With this feature enabled, whenever another app begins to play music or audio, your Mac will instantly silence any audio that is already playing.
This is set to iTunes by default, but you may change it to other options like Apple Music, Spotify, or VLC. By doing this, you can guarantee that your music will pause whenever another app starts playing music or a video.
List of Applications That Support Auto-Pause:
- iTunes
- Spotify
- VLC
- VOX
- Decibel
- Hermes
- Swinsian
- GPMDP
How to Record Internal Audio on M1 Mac
If you’re anything like me, you may come across a circumstance where you need to screen record on a Mac with internal audio. Despite the fact that macOS doesn’t have such option by default, Background Music allows you to accomplish exactly that. This is how to go about it.
- Launch QuickTime player on your Mac and go to File -> New Screen Recording. Or, just use the keyboard shortcut command + shift + 5 and select screen recording.
- Click on Options and choose Background Music under the microphone settings.
You can now begin screen recording, and your MacBook or Mac Mini will also begin recording internal audio.
How to Uninstall Background Music
Here’s how to remove the Background Music programme from your Mac if you decide to for some reason.
- Launch Terminal and type the following command
cd /Applications/Background\ Music.app/Contents/Resources/
- Now use the following command
bash uninstall.sh
To get the most out of your Mac, see our post on the best Terminal commands.
Easily Control Individual App Volumes and Record Internal Audio on M1 Mac
On your M1 Mac, you can now manage the level of specific apps and even capture internal audio. It’s fantastic that the developer has provided this app without charge. Additionally, it is open source, so if you’re interested, you may clone the repository and modify the app or add to it.
Although using the Background Music app on a Mac is very simple, if you have any issues, please comment below and we’ll do our best to assist you.