A lightweight macOS menu bar app that automatically switches your default audio input and output devices based on a configurable priority list.
The name is a play on words: Audio + Tier (priority levels) — and in German, Tier means animal, which explains the cute creature in the app icon.
When you dock or undock your MacBook, AudioTier detects which devices are connected and sets the system default to the highest-priority available device — no manual switching needed.
- Automatic switching — monitors device connect/disconnect events via CoreAudio and applies your priority list instantly
- Priority-based config — define a ranked list of preferred devices for both input and output; the highest-priority connected device wins
- Menu bar UI — shows current active devices, lets you manually override, and includes a built-in config editor
- macOS notifications — notifies you when a device switch occurs
- Config hot-reload — edit
~/.config/audiotier/config.jsonand changes apply immediately
- macOS 13.0 (Ventura) or later
- Swift 5.9+ (included with Xcode 15+)
# Build the release binary
make build
# Build the .app bundle (includes icon generation)
make app
# Build a distributable DMG
make dmg# Copy AudioTier.app to /Applications
make installOr build the DMG with make dmg and drag the app to Applications from the disk image.
On first launch, open Edit Config... from the menu bar icon to define your device priorities. Only currently connected devices will be shown, so make sure to connect all the devices you want to prioritize before editing.
Reorder the lists to set your priority — the first device in each list is the highest priority:
{
"audioInput": [
"USB Microphone",
"MacBook Pro Microphone"
],
"audioOutput": [
"External Headphones",
"MacBook Pro Speakers"
]
}Once saved, your priorities are persisted in ~/.config/audiotier/config.json — devices remain in the list even when disconnected, so you only need to configure them once. You can also edit this file directly.
make uninstall