What Is Per-App Audio Routing on Mac?
Windows has offered per-app output selection since Windows 10, but macOS still sends every application to a single system output. Audio routing on Mac historically required virtual audio devices and multi-output configurations in Audio MIDI Setup, a process that confused even experienced users.
Apple's Process Tap API, introduced in macOS 14 Sonoma, changed the landscape. This API allows applications to capture or redirect audio from specific processes at the system level without installing kernel extensions. LitLink Pro uses Process Tap to deliver per-app routing with a native, lightweight approach.
How Does the macOS Process Tap API Enable Per-App Routing?
Before Process Tap, per-app routing required either kernel extensions (which Apple deprecated for security reasons) or complex virtual audio device chains. LitLink Pro leverages Process Tap to create a simple interface where users select an app, choose a destination, and the routing begins immediately.
The Process Tap approach also avoids the latency penalties associated with routing audio through multiple virtual devices. Audio stays within the system's native pipeline, so musicians and streamers using tools that demand low-latency audio in Discord experience no additional delay from the routing layer.
How Does LitLink Pro Compare to Loopback and SoundSource?
Loopback excels when users need to create complex virtual device topologies, merging multiple app outputs into a single virtual device for recording. Users who explored the Loopback alternative landscape already know that Loopback's visual device builder is its core differentiator, but it costs $70 more than LitLink Pro for a feature most users never need.
SoundSource provides a polished menu bar experience with per-app volume sliders, but its $49 price sits between the two. LitLink Pro matches SoundSource's per-app volume and output controls while adding built-in EQ, all at a lower price point.
Which Use Cases Require Per-App Audio Routing?
Streamers on Twitch and YouTube often run Discord, a game, a browser, and OBS simultaneously. Without per-app routing, every sound reaches the stream, including Discord notifications and browser tab audio. LitLink Pro lets streamers assign each application to a specific output, keeping the stream audio clean while monitoring everything through headphones.
Podcasters recording with guests over Zoom or Discord benefit from isolating the communication app's audio into a separate track. This separation allows post-production editing of the guest's audio independently, a workflow that professional audio tools at higher price points have long provided but LitLink Pro now delivers for $29.
How Do You Set Up Per-App Audio Routing with LitLink Pro?
The Process Tap API handles everything in the background. When a user assigns Spotify to the built-in speakers and Discord to a USB headset, LitLink Pro intercepts each app's audio stream at the system level and redirects it to the chosen device. Adding or removing devices updates the available destinations automatically.
Users who previously managed per-app volume control on Mac through third-party apps will find that LitLink Pro combines routing and volume into a single interface. Each app's volume slider sits next to its output selector, eliminating the need for separate tools.
Marcel Iseli is an indie developer, DJ, and music producer with over 20 years behind the decks and in the studio. Rooted in hip hop culture, he collects drum machines, samplers, and vintage audio gear. LitPads grew out of that obsession: decades of triggering samples on hardware led him to build the software equivalent he always wanted.