Maintenance update for Audex Trace 1.2, focused on Playing Next reliability, playback format display consistency, and menu bar/notch interaction polish.
Download AudexTrace-1.2.1.zip, unzip it, and move Audex Trace.app to /Applications.
Improvements
- Improved Playing Next artwork handling for upcoming tracks when Apple Music does not provide enough identifier data.
- Improved playback format detection around track changes, especially when queue and quality features are active.
- Standardized playback format labels across the app, such as
ALAC 24-bit / 48 kHz and ALAC 24-bit / 96 kHz.
- Refined the expanded notch player with denser controls, better seek bar spacing, marquee text for long metadata, and more accurate hover areas.
- Improved release metadata handling so download links and release references can point to the exact versioned build.
Fixes
- Fixed menu bar popovers after changing UI scale.
- Fixed keyboard input behavior around menu bar popovers.
- Fixed queue/window layout behavior when the player is near screen edges.
- Fixed expanded notch control hover feedback so the visible hover state matches the actual interactive area.
Feature update for Apple Music listeners on macOS 15 and later, centered on Playing Next and earlier visibility into upcoming playback issues.
Download AudexTrace-1.2.zip, unzip it, and move Audex Trace.app to /Applications.
What's new
- Added Playing Next, a compact queue view for upcoming Apple Music tracks.
- Playing Next is available for free with upcoming track metadata and artwork.
- Pro users can now see estimated queue quality for upcoming tracks, including Lossless, Hi-Res, or Dolby availability before playback reaches them.
- Pro users can now see skip warnings for queued tracks that look likely to fail or be skipped.
- Added Playing Next preferences so queue details, quality estimates, and skip warnings can be shown or hidden.
Improvements
- Reduced CPU usage while audio-quality features are active.
- Improved queue refresh behavior and artwork stability around track changes.
- Improved compact player layout, footer alignment, and playback transitions.
- Refined menu bar and notch presentation for the new queue experience.
- Improved Preferences organization with a clearer Support and Feedback area.
Maintenance update for macOS 15 and later.
Download AudexTrace-1.1.zip, unzip it, and move Audex Trace.app to /Applications.
What's changed
- Refined compact player, menu bar, and notch interaction polish.
- Improved expanded notch layout behavior.
- Improved artwork fallback transitions so artwork changes feel steadier.
- Made playback state changes feel steadier after play/pause interactions.
- Kept Apple Music playback format display, output match status, and experimental Auto Sample Rate Match available for Pro users.
- Fixed release publishing so the public site points to the exact versioned download and release page.
Compatibility notes
- Requires macOS 15 or later.
- For best real-time playback-format detection, turn off Song Transitions, AutoMix, or Crossfade in Music.
- Auto Sample Rate Match depends on the output device exposing compatible macOS sample rates.
Initial public release for macOS 15 and later.
Download AudexTrace-1.0.zip, unzip it, and move Audex Trace.app to /Applications.
Highlights
- Apple Music mini player with playback controls, track metadata, and album artwork.
- Menu bar controls with playback-status visuals.
- Optional notch overlay for quick now-playing access.
- Local playback format detection for Apple Music, including codec, bit depth, and sample rate.
- Output sample-rate match status for Pro users.
- Experimental Auto Sample Rate Match for Pro users.
- Built-in Compatibility Check so users can verify playback-format detection before buying Pro.
- Signed and notarized release distributed through GitHub Releases.
- Automatic update support for future releases.
Before buying Pro
- Run the built-in Compatibility Check on your own Mac.
- For best real-time playback-format detection, turn off Song Transitions, AutoMix, or Crossfade in Music.
- Auto Sample Rate Match depends on the output device exposing compatible macOS sample rates.
Known limitations
- Apple Music can prepare upcoming tracks before playback starts, so Song Transitions, AutoMix, or Crossfade may make format detection delayed or unavailable around track changes.
- macOS 14 and earlier are not officially supported.
