MediaMate 3.8.4 — Mac version

The Now Playing HUD shows the track and artist without switching windows. It appears when you change volume while something's playing, so you see the song title right on top of what's on screen.

Slimmer volume, brightness, and keyboard HUDs

• Replacing the chunky macOS volume overlay with a slim, compact HUD
• Replacing the built-in brightness HUD the same way
• Seeing the current media item when you adjust the volume
• Adjusting keyboard backlight brightness from the same controls

Requires Ventura, no localisations yet

• Needs macOS 13 Ventura or newer
• Interface is English only

Tapping volume after dinner without the block

You sit down with the laptop after dinner. Spotify's already running from earlier, playing an ambient playlist. You tap the volume key to nudge it down a notch. Instead of the big square block that normally parks itself centre-screen for a couple of seconds, a slim pill drops down near the top edge. It shows the volume level and the track name. You glance at it and carry on — no waiting for an overlay to clear before you can click the link behind it.

A few minutes in, the room's getting dimmer. You hit the brightness key. Same compact HUD, same position, no interruption. The whole exchange with the machine feels less like the OS is shouting at you. Later, you realise the keyboard backlight is too bright for the darkened room, so you press the shortcut you set earlier. A small indicator confirms the backlight level, then fades. You never had to open Control Centre or hunt through System Settings.

Workflow: keeping an eye on what's playing while you work

Say you're deep in a writing session and you like instrumental music at low volume. You don't want the Music app visible — it's distraction you don't need — but you do want to catch the name of a track that grabs you.

1. Leave your music app playing in the background. You can hide it or minimise it.
2. Press the volume-up or volume-down key once. The HUD appears with the artist and title.
3. If the track's a keeper, jot the name in a sticky note or your phone. The HUD vanishes in a couple of seconds, so you're back in your document immediately.
4. Carry on typing. That's the whole loop — one key press, one glance.

After a while you might notice the backlight on the keys is too bright. Instead of breaking flow, use whatever keyboard shortcut you've assigned in MediaMate's settings. A small bar confirms the new level and you stay in the zone.

Sits between SoundSource's power and vanilla overlays

MediaMate vs HazeOver

HazeOver dims background windows to help you focus. It doesn't touch the volume or brightness HUDs at all. If your only gripe is the intrusive macOS overlays, HazeOver won't solve it. MediaMate targets exactly those HUDs and adds the Now Playing info as a bonus. They're aimed at different problems — one is about window focus, the other about system indicators.

MediaMate vs Displaperture

Displaperture rounds the corners of your screen. It's purely cosmetic, and it lives in a completely different corner of the customisation world. You can run both together without any clash. Displaperture won't show you what's playing, and it won't slim down your volume indicator. MediaMate is the one that does the practical, everyday interaction work.

MediaMate vs Background Music

Background Music gives you per-app volume sliders, auto-pause between apps, and audio routing. It's more of an audio mixer. Its volume overlay is functional, not pretty, and it doesn't touch brightness or keyboard backlight. If you want fine-grained audio control across apps, Background Music is your tool. If you want a cleaner HUD, Now Playing info, and brightness control from the same place, MediaMate fits better.

MediaMate doesn't try to manage audio streams or round your screen corners. It does one set of things — volume, brightness, keyboard backlight, Now Playing — and keeps them out of your way. For many people, that's exactly the right amount of meddling.

• macOS 13 Ventura or newer
• Works on Intel and Apple Silicon Macs