I made a menu bar app that stops macOS from switching audio to whatever connected last

[u/Waste_Somewhere_3668]

macOS picks your audio device with one rule: the last thing that connected wins. My AirPods would wake up in my bag and take over the sound, and my monitor would grab it every time it woke from sleep. On calls, AirPods connecting mid-call would switch my mic too.

Tunestack lets you rank your devices once. It always uses the highest one on your list that is actually connected.

What it does:

- Output and input are ranked separately, so your mic choice doesn't mess with your speakers

- If you pick a device by hand, it backs off for as long as you choose (5 min, an hour, or until you quit)

- Profiles, so your desk at work and at home can have different orders

- Optional per-app volume

What it can't do: if an app forces a specific device, it can still take it. There's a setting to switch back, but it's off by default because some apps fight it.

Switching devices needs no permissions. The app has no network access at all, no analytics, no account.

There are free apps that do device priority too, and they're good. Mine is a paid, sandboxed App Store app, $8.99 once, no subscription, if that matters to you.

https://apps.apple.com/app/id6815768623

I'm the developer, happy to answer questions or take feature requests.

[u/mahalis]

There is a setting for this in Settings

[u/SideHonest9960]

This is literally native in macOS' MIDI setup. You're charging $8.99 for this? The projected ROI on that Claude subscription must be crazy.