You open a meditation app or an ambient sound generator on your Mac — rain sounds, binaural beats, a guided session. You settle in. Then Slack pings. Mail chimes. A forgotten browser tab starts playing a video. The whole point was to create a calm audio environment, and macOS just shattered it because every app shares the same volume and there's no built-in way to say "only this app makes sound."
The focus audio problem
Do Not Disturb suppresses notification banners, but it doesn't mute apps. Slack still plays its own sounds. Browser tabs still auto-play. Calendar still chimes. The only built-in option is to mute everything with the system mute key — which also silences your meditation audio. There's no "mute everything except this one app" in macOS.
Isolating one app's audio
SoundDial lets you mute every app individually while keeping your chosen app at full volume. The setup takes seconds.
Focus / meditation profile
- Meditation app (Calm, Headspace, Endel, a browser tab with ambient audio): 100%
- Everything else: muted
Save this as a "Focus" profile. One click before your session, and only your calm audio plays. When you're done, switch back to your normal profile and everything returns to its usual levels.
Study and deep work
The same approach works for any focused work session. Keep lo-fi music or white noise at a comfortable level, mute Slack and email, and let the ambient layer fill your headphones without competition. You're not fighting distractions — they simply don't exist in your audio environment.
Gradual return
When your session ends, you don't need to manually unmute six apps. Switch to your "Normal" or "Work" profile and every app's volume snaps back to its pre-session level. No forgotten mutes, no missed notifications piling up because you forgot to re-enable something.
Get SoundDial on the Mac App Store — €14.99 one-time purchase, no subscription, macOS 14.2+.