Roadie vs AudioPriorityBar.
These two solve the same problem the same way: rank your microphones and outputs, and the highest-ranked connected device wins. One is free and open source. One is mine and costs $9.99. The difference is not features on a list, it is what each does the moment you disagree with it.
Comparison by Yash Raj, published 15 September 2026. AudioPriorityBar facts come from its source at commit level and from running its published v1.2.1 build. Roadie is mine, so weigh the table more than the prose.
The short version
- Use AudioPriorityBar if it is free that matters, you want to read the source, and you almost never pick a device by hand.
- Use Roadie if you do override it sometimes, you want to know when something changed, or you have a device that should never be picked automatically.
Both are unnotarized today, so either way macOS asks you to Control-click and Open on first launch. If that is the dealbreaker, LockAudio is free and notarized.
The table
| Roadie | AudioPriorityBar | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 once, up to 3 Macs | Free, MIT licensed |
| Source available | No | Yes, on GitHub |
| Ranked microphone list | Yes | Yes |
| Ranked output list | Yes | Yes, split by speakers and headphones |
| Speakers vs headphones modes | Automatic | Automatic, plus a manual mode switch |
| Respects a device you pick by hand | Yes, until your devices change | No, unless you turn auto-switching off in Custom mode |
| Tells you when it switched | Notification with one-click undo | No notifications |
| Avoid list | Yes | Yes, a per-device Never use flag plus per-category ignore |
| Bluetooth settling window | Yes | No |
| Stops runaway switch loops | Yes, after 3 attempts | No |
| Volume and mute in the menu | No | Yes |
| Remembers disconnected devices | Yes | Yes, with last-seen timestamps |
| Updates | Sparkle, in-app | Download the next release yourself |
| Signed and notarized | Not yet | No, ad-hoc signed only |
| Needs microphone permission | No | No |
| Last updated | September 2026 | December 2025 |
| macOS | 13 or later | 13 or later |
The real difference: what happens when you pick a device yourself
This is the whole comparison, so here is the mechanism rather than an adjective.
AudioPriorityBar registers a CoreAudio listener on the default input device and the default output device, not just on the device list. When either changes for any reason, it re-applies the highest-priority connected device unless Custom mode is on. So when you open Control Center mid-call and switch to your AirPods, that change is itself the event that triggers the correction, and you land back on your ranked device. The intended answer is to toggle Custom mode first, which switches automation off entirely until you toggle it back.
Roadie separates the two cases. A change that you made is treated as a new instruction: your pick becomes the rule and Roadie leaves it alone until your set of connected devices actually changes, at which point priority takes over again. You never have to turn automation off to disagree with it once.
If you genuinely never override it, this difference is worth exactly nothing and you should use the free one.
Three edges AudioPriorityBar does not cover
- Bluetooth reconnects. AirPods announce themselves in stages. Without a settling window, a switcher acts on the first half-ready state and then again on the second, which is the double-switch people describe as “it flickered”. Roadie waits for the device to settle before it commits.
- Switch loops. If a conferencing app also forces a device, two enforcers can fight indefinitely. Roadie stops after three attempts and tells you. AudioPriorityBar has no loop guard.
- Knowing it happened. A silent correction is fine until it is wrong, and then you are the person on the call who cannot hear anyone and does not know why. Roadie posts a notification naming the device, with undo.
Where Roadie borrowed from it
Roadie's headphone detection uses the category-keyword approach from AudioPriorityBar, which is MIT licensed, and credits it in the README. The app is a genuinely good piece of work by Tobi Lütke, published in December 2025 and given away. It also has things Roadie does not: volume and mute controls in the menu, an explicit speakers or headphones mode switch, and source you can read before you trust it.
One thing to check before you commit
AudioPriorityBar's repository was created on 27 December 2025, its four releases all shipped that weekend, and its last commit is dated 29 December 2025. Nothing is wrong with a finished small app, and it works fine today on macOS 13 and later. But CoreAudio behaviour does shift between macOS releases, and if it breaks on a future one, the fix is yours to write. Check the repository for recent activity before you decide; if it has picked up again by the time you read this, that removes one of the reasons on this page.
Try Roadie free for 7 days No account, no audio access, $9.99 once after that.
Related
Quick answers
Is Roadie worth $9.99 when AudioPriorityBar is free?
Only if you hit the cases AudioPriorityBar leaves open: overriding the priority list by hand without turning automation off, being told when a device was changed, Bluetooth reconnects that switch twice, and two apps fighting over the same device. If none of those describe you, use the free one.
Does AudioPriorityBar handle microphones or only speakers?
Both. Its source keeps a ranked input list alongside the output lists and sets the default input device through CoreAudio, exactly as it does for output. The README emphasises output, but microphone priority is fully implemented.
Can I keep a device I chose manually in AudioPriorityBar?
Not while automatic switching is on. It listens for changes to the default input and output device, so your manual pick triggers the same correction as any other change and gets replaced. Custom mode keeps your pick, but it disables automatic switching entirely.
Are either of them notarized by Apple?
No. AudioPriorityBar's published build is ad-hoc signed and Gatekeeper rejects it, and Roadie's early-access build is not notarized yet either. Both need a one-time Control-click and Open. Roadie's Developer ID signing is funded by early sales and is the first roadmap item.
Do these apps need microphone permission?
Neither does. Both set the system default device through CoreAudio without opening an audio stream, so neither appears in the macOS microphone privacy list and neither can hear anything.