How do I tell whether mute is on?

[Nermal]

In earlier MacOS versions, there was a speaker icon on the menu bar which showed sound waves when the sound was on, and just a speaker with no sound waves when muted. However, in OS 11 this has been replaced with a static icon of headphones.

Is there some way to restore the old behaviour? I have 'Show volume in menu bar' turned on, but toggling it just turns the icon on and off... but the icon doesn't actually show the current volume any more. Any fix for this?

 

[chabig]

My menu bar icon behaves exactly the same as it always has. The number of bars shows the volume, and when it's muted there is a slash through it.

If you're seeing headphones, it's probably because you have headphones connected. As a test, I connected my AirPods Pro and in that case, the menu icon doesn't show the volume, which makes sense because there is AirPods icon doesn't depict sound waves. Even when muted the icon doesn't change.

I don't keep my sound icon in the menu bar any more. It's in control center, and it's easy to see whether the volume is low, high, or muted.

 

[537635]

My experience is better than in Catalina. When muted, the speaker icon is grey. Although it is weird that touchbar icon now doesn't match anymore.

 

[flowrider]

My menu bar icon behaves exactly the same as it always has.

Actually not true. I have external Klipsch powered speakers along with a sub connected to the sound out port and I am getting the same situation as described by the OP. The speaker did show in Catalina, it does not in Big Sur.

Lou

 

[chabig]

Actually not true. I have external Klipsch powered speakers along with a sub connected to the sound out port and I am getting the same situation as described by the OP. The speaker did show in Catalina, it does not in Big Sur.

Lou

Interesting Lou. Maybe the "changing" speaker icon that I see and that @537635 posted is just for the internal speakers? Every other audio output gets a static icon?

If that is the case, it could change in a Big Sur update. I'm sure changing the UI as much as they did required a lot of work. Perhaps there are still a few details to work out.

 

[537635]

Interesting Lou. Maybe the "changing" speaker icon that I see and that @537635 posted is just for the internal speakers? Every other audio output gets a static icon?

Nope, this is speakers on an external monitor. BT headphones also shows the same icon.

Oh, do you have the sound icon "always enabled" in settings?

 

[Squillace]

This icon, while present in the control center, can be permanently dragged into the menu bar. Is this the issue?

 

[chabig]

This icon, while present in the control center, can be permanently dragged into the menu bar. Is this the issue?

No. The issue is that when on the menu bar, some people report that the icon doesn't indicate the volume. On my MacBook Pro, the icon (a speaker with waves) changes appearance depending on the volume I set. The waves change color much like the Wifi icon does. More waves > louder. Fewer waves > quieter. Gray with a slash > muted.

To add to the mystery. When I mute the speaker, the audio icon in my Touch Bar control strip also changes--the sound waves do disappear to reflect the fact that it is muted. As 537635 pointed out, that doesn't exactly match the menu bar icon.

There is nothing really wrong. It's just a UI detail.

 

[Nermal]

Thanks for the responses. You're right; when I switch to the internal speakers (which I never use) then the sound waves do appear like they used to. So it's only when using headphones (or, as other posters say, apparently any device other than the internal speakers) that the volume isn't shown.

Since it's clearly not just me and there doesn't seem to be an option, I'm going to log feedback with Apple.

 

[Squillace]

That's odd.

The menu bar and control center volume adjustment don't match the one on the keyboard/touch bar. Volume is set, but the visual don't match. I can set full volume in my keyboard but the menu bar volume just keep it's value.
If I adjust the volume through the menu bar / control center, the icon waves fills up accordingly.
If I adjust the volume through the keyboard, the icon waves don't change at all.

 

[Nermal]

I've updated to 11.1 and there is now an indicator