♫ Control the volume of Apple Music, Spotify, and Doppler using your keyboard — seamlessly.
This app is the spiritual successor to iTunes Volume Control, offering a simple yet powerful way to adjust volume for your favorite music apps directly from your keyboard — especially when listening via AirPlay or external speakers.
⚠️ Due to macOS security restrictions, the app is not signed with an official Apple Developer certificate. Please follow the installation instructions below.
- Features
- Why Use This App?
- Installation
- macOS Security Notes
- Permissions
- Troubleshooting
- Requirements
- Credits
- Donations
- Author
- Versions
- Control the volume of Apple Music, Spotify, and Doppler using the
volume upandvolume downkeys. - Especially useful when using AirPlay devices or external speakers.
- Customize the volume step size.
- Option to hide the volume bezel overlay (HUD).
- When Music or Spotify is playing, volume keys affect their volume; otherwise, they adjust system volume.
- Holding
⌘(Command) key inverts this behavior. - Toggle behavior with the "Use ⌘ modifier" option.
- macOS does not allow controlling Apple Music's volume via keyboard keys — only the system volume.
- AirPlay speakers depend on app-specific volume, not system volume.
- This app restores fine-grained volume control directly from your keyboard.
- Avoid the intrusive volume HUD overlay when watching movies.
- Works seamlessly with Spotify and Doppler, too.
- Download the latest release.
- Unzip the archive.
- Drag the app into your
Applicationsfolder (or anywhere you like). - Launch the app.
The first time you start the app, macOS will likely block it because it's from an unidentified developer.
💡 Open System Settings → Privacy & Security, and click Open Anyway next to Volume Control.
If you're on Apple Silicon (M1/M2) or running macOS Ventura/Sequoia, follow the macOS Security Notes.
Some macOS versions (especially Sequoia and Ventura) restrict apps from unidentified developers. You can temporarily relax this:
- Go to System Settings → Privacy & Security.
- Scroll to the "Security" section.
- Click Open Anyway next to Volume Control.
sudo spctl --master-disableThen go to System Settings → Privacy & Security and select Allow apps downloaded from: Anywhere.
You can re-enable strict protection later with:
sudo spctl --master-enableDue to macOS security on ARM64 systems, unsigned apps must be manually codesigned. Run this in Terminal:
codesign --force --deep -s - /Applications/Volume\ Control.appMore details: Lazarus Wiki – Code Signing
The app requires Accessibility and Automation permissions to control other apps' volumes.
- When prompted, allow access to control Music and Spotify.
- If you missed it or need to reset:
- Go to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility
- Remove and re-add Volume Control.
- Also check Automation and ensure both Music and Spotify are enabled.
- If keyboard input is unresponsive after removing permissions, reboot your Mac.
- If the app stops adjusting volume after an update:
- Quit the app.
- Remove it from Accessibility and Automation permissions.
- Reopen the app and re-authorize when prompted.
- Still blocked from launching? Try re-downloading or compiling it yourself (see below).
- macOS Big Sur or later (Monterey, Ventura, Sequoia)
- Intel or Apple Silicon (M1/M2) Macs
- Accessibility and Automation permissions granted
If you prefer or need to compile the app yourself using Xcode, see the instructions 👉 here.
- Inspired by Volume for iTunes by Yogi Patel
- Icon design by Alexandro Rei
- Apple Remote integration adapted from
iremotepipeby Steven Wittens - Native HUD overlay by Benno Krauss and reverse-engineered use of
OSDUIHelper - Doppler support by Ed Wellbrook
If this app improves your workflow, consider supporting development:
Or click here:
Andrea Alberti
GitHub: @alberti42
You can download older versions here:
- 1.7.7: Added option for locking system and player volumes together.
- 1.7.6: Fixes some bugs with the volume not reaching zero.
- 1.7.5: Universal application compiled to run natively on both Apple Silicon and Apple Intel.
- 1.7.4: Added support for Doppler Music Player thanks to Ed Wellbrook.
- 1.7.3: Made acoustic feedback when changing volume more responsive. Fixed minor bugs. Switch to updates through GitHub repository.
- 1.7.2: Fixed appearance of icon according to Monterey MacOS style.
- 1.7.0: Changed name to Volume Control; compatibility with Big Sur; compiled for universal bundle for Apple M1 and Intel.
- 1.6.8: Fixed a bug when switching appearance to dark mode; improved volume control with apple key modifier.
- 1.6.7: Improved compatibility with Catalina and new Music app.
- 1.6.6: Restored compatibility with MacOS High Sierra and subsequent versions.
- 1.6.5: Fixed a bug to avoid launching Spotify and iTunes at start of the app, if these program are not already running.
- 1.6.4: Fixed crash on start due to failed permissions for AppleEvents.
- 1.6.3: Removed codesigning that was causing the app to crash when starting.
- 1.6.2: Fixed bug preventing Spotify's volume to be controlled.
- 1.6.1: Improved visualization of volume status using even marks.
- 1.6.0: Able to control Spotify, iTunes, and main volume.
- 1.5.3: Made use of Mojave's native heads-up display to show the volume status.
- 1.5.2: Fixed compatibility with Mojave. Prior versions are no longer supported. Fixed small bug on displaying the volume level when controlling it with the Apple Remote.
- 1.5.1: Added the compatibility with Mac OS X versions greater than OS X 10.7 (Lion).
- 1.5: Added the possibility to change the increment step on the volume. Backward compatible with Mavericks and Yosemite.
- 1.4.10: Corrected bug on repositioning the volume indicator on right position.
- 1.4.9: Started to prepare the transition to Yosemite look.
- 1.4.8: Updates are now signed with DSA. This improves the security, e.g., preventing man-in-the-middle attacks.
- 1.4.7: Changed icons and graphics to be compatible with retina display.
- 1.4.6: Added the option to hide the icon from status bar. The icon reappears temporarily (for 10 seconds) by simply restarting the application. This gives the time to change the hide behavior as desired.
- 1.4.5: Added the option to enable/disable automatic updates occurring once a week
- 1.4.4: Corrected two bugs: the focus remains correctly on the selected application after changing the volume; cap lock does not prevent anymore the volume to be changed.
- 1.4.3: Corrected bug: properly hide transparent panels when animations are completed (thanks to Justin Kerr Sheckler)
- 1.4.2: Added iTunes icon to volume indicator. Corrected bug when iTunes is busy.
- 1.4.1: Added automatic upgrade capability.
- 1.4: Added "mute" control.
- 1.3: Added graphic overlay panel indicating the volume level.
- 1.2: Added options, load at login, use CMD modifier.
- 1.1: Controlling iTunes volume using Apple Remote.
- 1.0: Controlling iTunes volume using keyboard "volume up"/"volume down".
💡 Found a bug or want to contribute? Open an issue or submit a pull request!