Give Google Chat its own notification sound on your Mac

Why Google Chat is hard to hear apart on a Mac

macOS plays one alert sound for everything and only lets you switch an app's sound on or off, so Google Chat sounds exactly like Gmail, a reminder, or anything else on your Mac.

Google Chat is also a moving target. On a Mac it usually notifies you through Chrome — either from the chat.google.com tab or the installed Google Chat app — so the banner can read “Google Chat” or simply come through the browser alongside every other website's notifications. Either way it's easy to miss the one message that actually needed you.

What you can do without TrillMark

• Google Chat's own settings. You can set each space to notify you for All messages, Mentions only, or Off, and direct messages always notify — genuinely useful for cutting noise. But every alert that does come through still uses the same sound.
• Install Google Chat as an app. Chrome can install chat.google.com as a standalone app, which makes its banners read “Google Chat” instead of a generic browser notification — clearer, but still no distinct sound.
• System Settings › Notifications. You can toggle the sound for Chrome or the Google Chat app on or off — but there's no custom sound, and silencing Chrome mutes all its web notifications, not just Chat.
• A Focus. A Focus can hold Chat back during heads-down time, but it hides it rather than making it recognizable.

How TrillMark makes Google Chat stand out

TrillMark reacts to the banner macOS shows, so it works however Chat reaches you. If you use the installed Google Chat app, add it. If it comes through Chrome, add Chrome — and because TrillMark can read the notification's text, you can add a rule that fires only when the banner is actually from Google Chat, instead of for every website Chrome notifies you about.

Give it a sound you'll recognize and a color, then go further with a rule: a louder, more urgent sound only when a message is a direct message or mentions you, while ordinary space chatter uses a soft tone or none.

It reads that text only on your Mac, only to decide how to react, and never sends it anywhere.

Set it up in about a minute

1. Work out how Chat notifies you — the installed Google Chat app or Chrome — and add that app in TrillMark.
2. Give it a sound you'll know by ear and a color; TrillMark labels the flash with the app's name.
3. If it comes through Chrome, add a rule that matches Chat's notifications — for example the banner text mentions the space or person you care about — so only real Chat alerts trigger it.
4. Optional: add a second rule with a louder sound for direct messages and mentions.
5. Turn off the system sound for that app in Notification settings so you hear only the sound you chose.