MediaMate 3.8.4

MediaMate

A HUD replacement that swaps the stock macOS volume and brightness overlays for compact bubbles, and can park Now Playing in the MacBook notch or a separate panel.

Volume, display brightness, and keyboard backlight each get their own overlay, with output-device icons on the audio HUD. Themes include iOS-styled, circular, notch, and classic; on macOS 26, non-notch styles can use Liquid Glass. Focus Filters can hide HUDs in a Focus mode. Keyboard-backlight shortcuts sit in the app. You can keep native HUDs hidden while MediaMate is running. Duration of system-style HUDs is configurable. A demo mode is in the free download so you can try placement before paying.

Now Playing and hardware

The Now Playing HUD shows title, play/pause, and scrubbing. Apple Music, Spotify, and Chrome are the usual sources; a system-wide option exists but Apple tightened the APIs on Sequoia 15.4, so other apps are not guaranteed. Media keys can be locked to Music and/or Spotify on some keyboards. All Macs are supported; Touch Bar models need a separate, less reliable mode. External-display brightness and volume work with Lunar or BetterDisplay, not with every monitor app.

Licensing and system requirements

It is not on the Mac App Store. Install from the GitHub releases zip, Sparkle updates, or Homebrew Cask. The license is a one-time Gumroad key (name-your-price, about $8+ at research time) for five devices, with a 14-day refund. Bundle ID is com.tweety.MediaMate. It requires macOS 13 or later on Apple silicon and Intel. Version 3.8.4 (build 321) is the current Sparkle release.