No more explanation needed other than the title.
I don't know why this isn't a thing.
MacBook Pro 14″
BackgroundMusic (free, github) as alternative to SoundSource.
BackgroundMusic (free, github) as alternative to SoundSource.
mrpundir wrote:
FYI. This is a basic feature on Windows 11. MacOS should have same
You and the OP keep using the word "should." No one in these forums has the power to change macOS or direct Apple to make such changes.
One more time, if you want to pursue this, submit your desires directly to Apple at Product Feedback - Apple
Very thoughtful response and thank you for your input. The only thing I would like to emphasize is the apps currently are able to control the volume of their own apps and many of them do. You see this in many games in the App Store that have a Background Music level as well as a game volume level. These settings are relative to the actual System Volume level. Apple also does this with many of their own app such as Music, Apple TV, GarageBand, Quicktime, etc.
It seems the issue is when an app does not add their own volume control. This is not a major hurdle for app developers and I have done it to many of my apps with very few lines of code.
It seems to me that to avoid confusion you would need to have either app control of the volume or a System control for each app, but not both. Since currently apps can control their own volume, adding an extra layer of app volume settings in a System control panel would require those apps to not allow adjusting their own volume.
Any app does have the control to that themselves. This is true even for the Mac OS version of the Music app. If the app does control their own volume level and the OS also controls the volume level of the app, who wins? You can control the System Volume and it will have a relative effect on Apple Music, but does not change the volume level you set in the app. The Apple TV app also works the same way.
It would be overcomplicating to have an app control their own volume and the OS controlling the volume of the app and the OS controlling the overall system volume. How many controls do you actually need? If there is a specific app that you would like to have the volume controlled, then contact that developer and they could easily make that happen if they wished.
App volume can be controlled in the App right now and that is the place where a user would expect to control the volume. It is a terrible idea to and poor design to require a user to go to an OS control panel to change the volume for that app. We have seen the problems with this in Windows 11 in my previous post.
Here are some examples of Apple apps where the volume is controlled in the app like it should be and every developer is capable of using the same approach.
You will also see many third party apps already do this with some games even giving finer control with a background music volume and game volume. Even when browsing, each website like Youtube can save their own volume using a cookie to persist the level that you chose. Would you also expect the OS to manage the volume of every website you visit?
If you are confused now, you would really be confused if each app controlled their volume, then the OS also controlled the volume of each app, and you also had a global volume setting to control the volume of all apps.
iOS sets a global volume level for 3rd party apps; that is, all apps by default have the same volume. This is different from ringer and alert volume settings, and also different from Siri’s volume and phone call volume. These are all independent.
But the reason Apple can’t provide volume settings within a 3rd party app is they don’t have access to the code in the app. The app developer can control the volume of the app when it is running if they choose to.
Thats the whole point.
No reason it shouldn't be a default feature of any OS.
Volume mixers are something easy to implement.
My computer is not an iPhone that only needs 1 master volume control.
You keep arguing to us like we can do anything about it. The only people who can change it is Apple. Complain to them. They aren't here.
All anybody here can do is offer workarounds. None of them are expected to solve your problem as they cannot.
mercedesmarilyn wrote:
This! I switched to Mac circa 2013 and my old Dell had this feature. As someone said, it should be BASIC! It's absolutely ridiculous that we have to install an app.
You can load Windows, via Bootcamp, on that generation Mac, then you can have individual per app volume controls.
damienestewart wrote:
What is your basis for this claim that it would be confusing, or, what exactly would you find confusing about that experience?
Simple. Currently, System volume is controlled in the menu bar. Each apps has the ability to control their own volume relative to the System volume. That is currently how it works. For example if our System Volume is 50%, and the app has a volume setting that is at 100%, then the app is playing at 50% volume because it is relative to the System Volume setting.
So now consider that you have a System Volume at 100% and a control panel for the app at 75% and also the app has a volume level at 50%, what volume is the app going to play? What if I want to change the app to play at 100%, do I need to change the volume level in the app and then go to the control panel and change the volume level there too? Confused yet? How many places do you really need to change the volume?
Keep it simple has always worked well for Apple. You have a System Volume and each app can choose to implement their own volume if they wish. That is where you would expect to change the volume of an app.
FernandoE99 wrote:
Thats the whole point.
No reason it shouldn't be a default feature of any OS.
Volume mixers are something easy to implement.
My computer is not an iPhone that only needs 1 master volume control.
So write your app the way you want it. Or pay a contractor to write your app. Or tell Apple and maybe they will write your app
But none of us, fellow Mac users, participating in this thread are going to do it for you.
Lawrence Finch wrote:
There are over a million apps in the app store. I have 300 on my phone. Apple would need to have a table of a million different volume settings in order to have a separate volume setting for each app.
I'm a little confused by this. Maybe I am misunderstandng you, but Apple would not need to create a table of volume settings for every app. The operating system is aware of each app that is currently running on the platform and can independently control the volume for each one.
There was also a comment about Apple not having access to the code for 3rd party applications. By definition, the operating system has access to everything.
FernandoE99 wrote:
No reason it shouldn't be a default feature of any OS.
I imagine Apple has their reasons.
You can let them know your thoughts here:
FernandoE99 wrote:
Why do they need access to the code in the app to control its volume? The app sends the audio feedback to the OS and it gets outputted through the speakers.
There are over a million apps in the app store. I have 300 on my phone. Apple would need to have a table of a million different volume settings in order to have a separate volume setting for each app.
If they have the possibility to "ask app not to track" they got the possibility to control each individual volume input/output.
You hit the nail on the head. Ask App not to track tells the APP to control tracking. It doesn’t manage tracking for the app. and it is a binary value, on or off.
This is a situation of nothing is difficult for the person who doesn’t have to do it.
good old wish for flexibility vs. fear of complexity
apple seems to mostly go for the simplicity in that respect
Microsoft Windows has had this feature for literally at least a decade.
Can we have individual volume controls for each app please?
