Tunestack

Support

Email support@tunestack.in and you'll get a reply from a person, usually within two working days.

Tunestack 1.0 · requires macOS 14.4 or later

Common questions

Tunestack switched to a device I didn't want.

Tunestack always picks the highest device in your list that is currently connected. If something unexpected won, it is above the device you wanted. Open Settings → Output and drag it lower, or untick it to have Tunestack ignore it entirely.

I chose a device by hand and Tunestack moved me back.

It shouldn't — choosing a device from the menu pauses automation for a while. How long is up to you: Settings → General → “A manual choice lasts”, from five minutes up to “until I quit Tunestack”. If it still happens, please tell us; that is a bug, not a setting.

Another app keeps stealing my audio device.

This is a real limit and we would rather say so than pretend otherwise. When an app opens its own audio session it can ask macOS for a specific device, and nothing can stop it — Tunestack included. What Tunestack can do is notice and switch back: Settings → General → “Take the device back if another app changes it”. It is off by default because with some apps it causes a tug-of-war.

My AirPods wake up and hijack my music.

This is the case Tunestack was built for. Put your speakers above your AirPods in Settings → Output. When the AirPods connect, Tunestack sees that a device you rank higher is still available and leaves your audio where it is.

Tunestack's icon isn't in my menu bar.

macOS hides menu bar icons when the bar runs out of room, which happens sooner on laptops with a notch. Check System Settings → Control Centre → Menu Bar Only, or quit another menu bar app and see if Tunestack reappears.

Does Tunestack need any permissions?

Switching devices needs none at all. The only feature that asks for anything is the optional per-app levels and volume, which needs permission to record system audio — that is the only route macOS provides for seeing which apps are playing. It is off unless you turn it on. See Privacy for what happens to that audio (nothing leaves your Mac; it cannot).

Per-app volume is on but nothing is happening.

Check System Settings → Privacy & Security → System Audio Recording Only and make sure Tunestack is ticked. macOS reports success to apps even when this permission has been refused, so Tunestack cannot always tell the difference — if it looks switched on but silent, this is almost always why.

Can Tunestack switch devices for one app only?

Not in 1.0. Tunestack sets your system output and input; per-app volume is supported, per-app routing is not. It is on the list.

Does it work with AirPlay, or with aggregate devices?

If macOS lists it as an audio device, Tunestack can rank it and switch to it. AirPlay devices appear only while they are connected, so they behave like any other device that comes and goes.

Where are my settings kept?

~/Library/Containers/com.surajkumar.tunestack/. You can export them from Settings → Profiles to move them to another Mac.

How do I uninstall it?

Quit Tunestack, then drag it from Applications to the Bin. That removes its settings folder too. If you had switched on launch at login, macOS clears that with it.

Reporting a bug

The most useful report says what you expected, what happened instead, and what your devices were doing at the time — for example “unplugged the USB interface and expected it to fall back to the speakers, but it went to the display instead”. Attach the support report and we can usually work it out from there.

Requesting a feature

Genuinely welcome, and worth writing even if it sounds obvious — most of what is in Tunestack now came from someone describing the moment their audio went to the wrong place.

Contact

Email support@tunestack.in