Chirpy 3.0: custom notification sounds for any macOS app
I built Chirpy. Posting via the transparency route, identity and policy links at the bottom. Problem macOS only lets you turn a notification sound on or off per app. You can't give a different sound to a specific channel, sender, or keyword, so your boss, a meme in #random, and production going down all make the same ping. You end up checking every notification just to find out which ones mattered. Chirpy fixes that: you make a rule (by app, channel, person, or keyword) and it plays the sound you chose, so you know what happened by ear. New in 3.0: it used to be Slack/Teams only, now it works with any app in Notification Center (browser, Calendar, Mail, Messages, Discord, and so on). Comparison vs. built-in macOS notification settings: the system only does sound on/off per app. No per-channel, per-person, or per-keyword sounds, and no custom sound for apps that don't expose one. Chirpy adds that whole layer. vs. Keyboard Maestro / automation tools: you can script notification-triggered sounds if you're technical, but it's real setup and upkeep. Chirpy is purpose-built for this one job, rules in a menu bar app, roughly 30 seconds to set up, no scripting. It also does AND/OR matching, rule priority (most specific match plays), a reusable library of your uploaded sounds, and per-rule volume. Pricing $19.99 one-time, lifetime, no subscription. 3-day free trial, no credit card. macOS 13+. https://chirpy.pro X: https://x.com/danilo_z_j LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danilo-znamerovszkij-56a435156/ Site: https://chirpy.pro Privacy: https://chirpy.pro/privacy Terms: https://chirpy.pro/terms Contact: support@chirpy.pro
Collected discussion
20$ feels a bit overpriced no?
I think so too, it’s offering too little value for 20 bucks. It’s a nice to have, and mostly a cosmetic app . Nobody really would say this app is a complete game changer, because now you immediately know what app pings you. So to be fair OP, 20 dollars are too much for such an app. Settle down with $5 to $8 and you will likely sell more copies. But: I love that it’s not a subscription , which seems to be the beloved way to sell everything nowadays, so thanks for that! ;) and I like the idea, but wouldn’t buy it for that price unfortunately
yes, half would be appropriate, 12,99 maximum or at least a really free 'lite' version (like betterdisplay does it)
LOL 20 USD for custom sounds .
Recently this sub has been plagued by low-functionality, high-priced, niche apps. Like, 20$ for custom sounds? Really? Makes me wanna go back to active code development, and for each such stupid app, produce a completely open-source version. These features are not worth 20$, my friend. I don't know who you think you are fooling.
Honestly there should be a community for this.
I'd pay $2.99 for this. Love the concept, but, WAY too overpriced
I feel you may get more paying users if price is lower
nice. why not go app store?
mostly the cut, apple taking 15-30% of every sale, and I wasn't sure demand justified it yet. It's on the roadmap this year though. Would you say the App Store makes you trust an app more, rather than a direct download?
I like this. With rules- how can I set it if my names is tagged only?
two ways depending on the app. if it's Slack (or Teams/Discord), easiest is to set the app itself to only notify you on mentions, in Slack that's Preferences > Notifications > "Direct messages, mentions & keywords." then the only notifications Chirpy ever sees from Slack are your mentions, so a simple rule (app = Slack, your sound) effectively only fires when you're tagged. let the app do the filtering, let Chirpy do the sound. or, keep all notifications on and make a rule in Chirpy with your name/handle as the keyword (like "John"), so it only plays when your name shows up in the notification text. first option's cleaner if mentions are all you care about. what app are you mainly trying it for?
does it support apps that give notifications but without sounds? e.g. i would love to have FInal Cut Pro play a 'Ding' when export has finished (there is a banner showing for this event, so there is a native trigger – just no sound component by default).
yeah, Chirpy would catch this. It reacts to the on-screen notification (the banner in Notification Center), not to whether the app plays its own sound. so as long as Final Cut fires that "export finished" banner, you can match it and Chirpy plays your ding. You'd just make a rule for Final Cut Pro (optionally with a keyword like "export" if you only want the finished-export ones). Works for any app that posts a banner, even silent ones.
Which tool did you use to make this video?
This is a clever niche utility, especially for silent notifications like export complete banners. Curious how it detects Notification Center content though. Does it need screen recording/accessibility permissions, and does that trigger the screen capture dot?
good question, no screen reading and no screen capture, so no recording indicator (that orange/ purple dot) will appear. it uses the macOS Accessibility API, which is the system's official way for an app to read notification text (the same permission screen readers and automation tools use). Chirpy just reads the notification banner's text, matches it against your rules, and plays a sound. it never sees your screen, and nothing leaves your Mac.
any give away code ?
Plz check DM 🙌🏻
Why does everyone want $20 for every app now?
Wow $20 haha. Anyone have a lower priced alternative?
reminds me of when we used to pay for ringtones
Pricing is subjective, but I also feel as though you have overpriced this for the market. I'd pay $10 for it max and I am not cheap when it comes to paying for software.
the app look cool but 20$ is too much, i suggest you put it as 15 or 10 dollars
15 is also too high, it must be 5-8 in my opinion