A Mac controller for a home with HomePod and Sonos
If you have a HomePod in one room and a Sonos speaker in another, the small controls end up scattered across apps. You want to see what is playing, pause the right speaker, or turn one room down while you work.
Playstate puts controls for supported HomePod and Sonos playback in your Mac’s menu bar, which suits those quick adjustments. Keep the original music and speaker apps for browsing, starting sessions, managing services, and setting up your system.
Start with the speaker you mean to control
Connect the Mac and speakers to the same local network and allow the local-network access Playstate asks for. Select the speaker, then compare the displayed song and room with what you can hear.
Try a small volume adjustment and a pause and resume before relying on the setup. Artwork is a helpful hint, but a command that works is the better check that you are controlling the session you meant to. The information and controls available can vary with the speaker software and how playback started. If a speaker is missing, follow the HomePod discovery checks or the Sonos discovery checks.
Keep playback and remote control separate
When your Mac is sending audio to a speaker, the app on the Mac is still the player. Quitting it can stop the music. When the speaker is playing on its own, for example after you started a playlist from an iPhone or asked Siri, Playstate can control it without Music running on the Mac.
That difference matters more than which room the sound comes from. If a control seems to affect the wrong thing, check how playback started and which speaker is selected before changing your network setup. The AirPlay versus direct playback guide explains how to tell.
One menu does not make one speaker group
Playstate does not group HomePod and Sonos speakers together or share a queue between the two systems. Your existing apps still decide how the speakers play together. The benefit is having the supported controls close at hand while you work.
Recently played is a local list of songs Playstate saw playing, kept on your Mac. It does not send your listening anywhere.
Try your normal listening setup
Use the 14-day trial with the music sources and speakers you actually use. Test each room separately, check pause and volume, and make sure you know which app starts each session. Our tested setups list the speakers we have run Playstate with.
If something does not work, email support@playstateapp.com with the speaker model, its software version, and how playback started. There is no need to share network details unless we ask for them.
Try it on your Mac
The full app is free for 14 days, counted from the first time it connects to a speaker or controls playback, and no card is required. A personal license is US$10, paid once.
Try free for 14 days