AirBuddy 3.0-890 — Mac version

AirBuddy 3 is a Mac app that puts AirPods, Beats, and nearby Apple gear right in your menu bar — batteries, listening modes, the lot.

Mac compatibility and what battery info you'll see

1. Will it work on my Mac? It runs on macOS 14 and newer, Intel or Apple silicon. The interface is in English.
2. What does it actually show me? Battery levels for AirPods and Beats headphones, plus iPhones, iPads, and other Macs nearby. There's a usage history for the last 12 hours, 24 hours, or the previous day.
3. Can I control things without opening the case? Yes. Switch listening modes and connect from the menu bar, a keyboard shortcut, or a trackpad gesture on AirPods Pro.
4. What's Magic Handoff? It moves your Magic Mouse, trackpad, or keyboard between Macs without re-pairing. Handy if you work across a desk and a laptop.
5. Can I set up routines? Custom connection modes let you fix things like listening mode, volume, and mic state the moment a device connects. You can pick a small or large status window design too.

There is a new menu bar option in the beta — app icon, battery indicator, or nothing — so you can keep the bar as tidy as you like.

A session with AirBuddy 3: how it actually plays out

You sit down at your Mac with a coffee. The menu bar shows a tiny AirPods battery ring — 82% left, 78% right. You flip the case open and a status window drops in from the edge of the screen, near-instant, showing the case at 51% and both buds glowing green.

You pop the left bud in. AirBuddy 3 connects it before you've even opened Spotify. The listening mode defaults to Transparency because that's how you set it in your morning connection mode — volume at 40%, mic off. You tap the menu bar icon, flick the mode to Noise Cancellation with two clicks, and carry on.

Mid-afternoon your iPhone battery dips to 12%. AirBuddy nudges you with a small notification. You glance at the menu bar dropdown — phone at 12%, iPad at 67%, your partner's MacBook at 44%. All grouped sensibly, not a jumble of percentages.

Late evening you check the usage history. Twelve hours of stats show 3h 12m listening, 22m talk time, and a small note: the right AirPod drained 4% faster. You make a mental note to clean the mic grille later.

Filling gaps Apple left in Bluetooth and Control Centre

AirBuddy 3 doesn't try to replace anything in macOS — it fills the gaps Apple left. The Bluetooth menu still works as usual. Control Centre still shows a single battery bar for paired AirPods. AirBuddy 3 sits alongside them, adding detail and quicker access.

When you're in a call, the app respects whatever mic setting you've picked in your connection mode. So you can have it switch to the Mac's built-in mic automatically when you join a Zoom, while keeping your AirPods for audio out. No digging through sound preferences each time.

Magic Handoff pairs nicely with the airbuddy mac setup on two machines. Move your trackpad from an iMac to a MacBook Pro with a swipe in the menu bar dropdown — no Bluetooth menu, no waiting. If you're juggling an iPad for sidecar and an iPhone for hotspot, AirBuddy 3 shows all three in one panel. It also plays well with Shortcuts: trigger a connection mode when you open a focus mode, or switch listening mode when you launch a media app.

Two-finger swipe for AirPods modes and per-device volume

• Trackpad gesture on AirPods Pro. You can switch listening modes with a two-finger swipe on the Mac trackpad — no need to reach for the stem.
• Connection modes are per-device. Set your work Mac to max volume and Noise Cancellation, and your home Mac to 30% volume and Transparency. AirBuddy 3 remembers.
• Menu bar icon tweaks. The airbuddy beta added three icon styles: the full app icon, a simple battery ring, or nothing at all. The battery ring alone saves space and still shows charge at a glance.
• Usage history scrolls. Swipe sideways in the history view to flip between 12h, 24h, and previous-day summaries. Total listening time and talk time sit right above the left-right drain comparison.
• Device grouping. AirPods and their charging case show as one cluster. An iPhone and its paired Watch group together. It cuts visual clutter in the dropdown.

One more thing: the large status window design shows a full-sized animation when you open the case — think of it like the AirPods pop-up on iOS, but rendered cleanly on your Mac desktop. You can stick with the compact version if you prefer something less showy.

• Shows batteries, connects AirPods, controls playback, and moves peripherals between Macs
• New menu bar icon options: app icon, battery indicator, or no icon at all

• macOS 14 or later
• Intel or Apple silicon Mac