Fader

Every app, its own volume and speakers.

Fader is a menu-bar splitter for your Mac. Spotify can stay on your headphones while the browser plays through the speakers, each with its own volume.

Download for Mac View source

macOS 14.2 or later. Free and open source. No account.

A daily splitter

Only apps that are playing show up. Fader remembers the choices.

Separate volumes

Each app has a fader and a mute. The master volume sits above them.

Separate outputs

Send one app to headphones and another to the speakers. New apps follow the system output until you pick a device.

Headphones unplugged

That app keeps its saved device and plays through the current system output until the headphones come back.

Install

  1. Download Fader.zip and unzip it.
  2. Move Fader to Applications and open it. There is no Dock icon. The sliders live in the menu bar.
  3. If macOS says the app cannot be opened, choose Open Anyway in System Settings → Privacy & Security. You can also run xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Fader.app
  4. Allow System Audio Recording when macOS asks. Play something, then set that app’s volume and output.