What mixr can and can't do

Most apps tell you everything they’re good at and stay quiet about the rest. We’d rather you know exactly what you’re getting — including where the honest limits are — so mixr does what you expect and never pretends otherwise.

What mixr does

• Gives every app its own volume. Turn one app down or up independently of everything else — and boost a too-quiet app past 100%.
• Keeps your mic from switching behind your back. Your input stays on your preferred device instead of jumping to whatever connected last.
• Ducks your other audio for calls. When your mic goes live, mixr quietly lowers your other apps so you can hear and be heard, then restores them.
• Mutes your mic instantly — where the device supports a software mute (built-in mics, AirPods, many USB headsets).
• Reads your setup and explains it. The Setup Advisor tells you what it sees and flags the things macOS quietly gets wrong.
• Runs quietly. No drivers, no virtual devices. Quit mixr and every app goes back to normal. It uses almost no CPU.

What mixr doesn’t do (and why)

• It can’t mute every device. Some audio interfaces (like a Focusrite Scarlett or Astro A50) don’t expose a software mute — their controls live on the hardware. mixr tells you plainly and points you to the real control, rather than faking a mute that wouldn’t work. See: Why can’t mixr mute my audio interface?

• It mutes the app, not a browser tab. mixr controls audio per application. It can mute or adjust your whole browser, but it can’t reach inside to silence one tab while leaving another playing — the browser doesn’t expose that to outside apps. mixr is clear about which it’s controlling.

• It doesn’t change how your hardware fundamentally works. If your AirPods drop to call quality on a call, that’s Bluetooth, not mixr — but mixr can route around it by keeping your mic elsewhere. See: AirPods and call quality

• It doesn’t send anything anywhere. No account, no analytics, no telemetry. mixr works entirely on your Mac. Nothing about your audio, your apps, or your devices leaves your machine.

Why we’re upfront about the limits

A tool that pretends it can do something it can’t is worse than one that’s honest — you’ll trust it at exactly the moment it lets you down. Everything mixr shows you is real: if it says it muted your mic, it did; if it can’t, it says so.

That honesty is the point. It’s why the Setup Advisor tells you what it can’t control as clearly as what it can, and why every device decision mixr makes is visible to you.

If mixr ever shows you something that isn’t true, that’s a bug we want to fix — tell us.