New in Readable for Mac v2: if you listen to music while you work, Readable can turn it down while it reads to you, so you can hear the voice clearly. Anything playing in the Apple Music app (called Music on your Mac) or the Spotify app is dimmed as soon as Readable starts speaking, and put back to its normal volume when speech ends.

Turn it on

  1. Open Settings and choose the Ambient tab.
  2. Under Music and Spotify, tick Dim Music and Spotify while speaking. It is off until you turn it on.
  3. Use the Dim to slider to choose how quiet the music goes while Readable speaks. The default is 30% of its normal volume; drag it to 0% to silence the music completely.
Music and Spotify section of the Ambient tab: an unticked Dim Music and Spotify while speaking checkbox and a Dim to slider set to 30%.
Settings → Ambient → Music and Spotify: tick the option, then choose how far to dim with the Dim to slider.

Allow Readable to control Music and Spotify

The first time Readable dims one of these apps, macOS asks whether Readable may control it. Allow it; this is asked once for each app. If permission is turned off, Readable shows an Automation permission needed message with an Open System Settings… button. In System Settings → Privacy & Security → Automation, find Readable and tick Music and Spotify.

Good to know

  • Only apps that are already open are dimmed — Readable won’t open Music or Spotify just to dim them.
  • When Readable stops speaking, the music goes back to the volume it was at before — Readable remembers it for you.
  • Other audio — such as YouTube or Netflix in a web browser — isn’t dimmed, because macOS doesn’t let other apps control a browser’s volume.
  • This works alongside ambient sounds, which have their own volume settings on the same tab.