Show sound in menu bar "when active"

[3460169]

Hey all, anybody have an idea of what this "when active" option means?

Logically I figured if sound is playing, e.g. YouTube, etc, the sound controls would be visible in the menu bar. Doesn't seem to be the case though; I only ever get sound controls in the menu bar if that dropdown option is set to "always". So I have it set to "always" and I presume the "when active" option is buggy...?

 

[chabig]

Logically I figured if sound is playing, e.g. YouTube, etc, the sound controls would be visible in the menu bar.

That's exactly how it works on my machine. You might try logging out and back in. If that doesn't work, restart the computer. Make sure you're updated to the latest version of Monterey, etc.

 

[3460169]

That's exactly how it works on my machine. You might try logging out and back in. If that doesn't work, restart the computer. Make sure you're updated to the latest version of Monterey, etc.

Yeah I've never seen the sound controls in the menu bar, on any of my macs, with this set to "when active" and regardless of the audio source or the output device. I have three different Macs that I use currently -- two 2019 Intel MBPs and one Mac Studio -- and those sound controls are entirely absent regardless of the audio output device (BT headphones, wired headphones, built-in speakers, etc) and the audio source (Music.app, YouTube in any browser, Netflix, etc). All systems are on 12.4.

This is with "when active" enabled and a track playing in Music.app. Sound controls in menu bar? Nope. All that's visible the the "Now Playing" UI (but that's always there anyway regardless of the sound control's menu bar settings):

And of course with it set to "Always" the controls are there as expected.

The two MBPs are clean installs of 12.4, no backup restore, set up as new. Mac Studio is also clean from factory since it was BTO and I received it only a few days ago.


Not a show-stopper by any means since I can set it to Always or just use the Control Center. Just one quirk among many in simple daily usage of Monterey that I've come across.

Thanks for your reply BTW. Maybe others will chime in too.

Cheers

 

[chabig]

OK. You made me realize that I see the Now Playing icon when active. I do not see the Sound menu bar extra "when active" and I have no idea what that even means now. So mine is exactly like yours.

 

[thv]

If I set it to when active, I see it if I use headphones (airpods 3 or airpods max), when I take the headphones off and sound is playing through the computer it goes away. Not sure why? But I normally set it to always anyway

 

[3460169]

OK. You made me realize that I see the Now Playing icon when active. I do not see the Sound menu bar extra "when active" and I have no idea what that even means now. So mine is exactly like yours.

Ahah good to know, I was wondering about that! Thanks for clarifying and replying! Quit possibly a bug indeed, albeit a super-minor one haha

 

[3460169]

If I set it to when active, I see it if I use headphones (airpods 3 or airpods max), when I take the headphones off and sound is playing through the computer it goes away. Not sure why? But I normally set it to always anyway View attachment 2025894

Hmm that's curious. I have a set of AirPods Pro buds around here somewhere and if I can find them I'll have to give them a shot and see if Apple-branded equipment makes any difference. Currently my go-to wireless headphone is not Apple-branded but rather Sony-branded (XM5) and the headphone controls definitely do not show up in-menu when "when active" is selected.

Makes me wonder if "when active" actually refers to when the headphones or earbuds are detected as being worn (in your ears in the case of the AirPods buds or on your head/ears in case of the AirPods Max) & having sounds playing -- rather than simply having sounds playing.