Why every app sounds the same
macOS has exactly one alert sound. You'll find it in System Settings → Sound, and you can even add your own audio file to that list — but whatever you pick applies to everything. It's a single, system-wide sound, not a per-app one.
Look in an app's Notification settings and you'll see you can only turn its sound on or off. There's no per-app sound picker, no per-app volume. A handful of apps (Messages, Mail, a few chat apps) ship their own sounds, but most don't, and you can't override them.
The result is familiar: every banner is the same little "ding," and there's no way to tell — without stopping to look — whether that was a work message, a calendar reminder, or a doorbell-camera alert.
The two built-in workarounds (and where they stop)
1. Change the system alert sound
System Settings → Sound lets you choose a different alert sound, or drop in a custom one. It works — but it changes the single sound every app shares. It can't give Slack one sound and Calendar another, because there's only one slot.
Limit: global, not per-app2. Flash the screen for alerts (Accessibility)
System Settings → Accessibility → Audio has "Flash the screen when an alert sound occurs," which adds a visual cue — a genuinely good idea, especially if you can't rely on sound. But it's a whole-screen monochrome flicker, it looks identical for every app, it never tells you which app fired it, and it only triggers off the system alert sound.
Limit: whole-screen, unlabeled, not per-appBoth are better than nothing. Neither answers the actual question you have when a notification arrives: which app was that?
TrillMark: a sound and a labeled color for each app
TrillMark is a small, native menu-bar app that does this. You set it up once, then read your alerts at a glance:
- A distinct sound per app — one of the built-in macOS sounds, one of the 24 tones that come with TrillMark, your own audio file, or a few seconds you clip from a song you own, right inside the app.
- A labeled, colored flash — give each app a color; when it notifies you, TrillMark flashes that color on screen with the app's name, as a full-screen wash or a quiet band along the edge. You know who it is instantly, without reading the banner.
- Louder when it matters — boost an important app above 100%, up to 200%, so it cuts through music or a call.
- Rules that read the notification — react only when the title or body contains a word you choose, so one app can behave differently for different messages.
- Nothing missed — a short, local list of recent alerts, so a flash you looked away from isn't lost, plus Focus Filter support.
It reads Notification Center's banners through the macOS Accessibility API — the only way to know which app notified you — and everything stays on your Mac. No accounts, no analytics. It's native, notarized, and a one-time $7.99 on up to three Macs, for Apple silicon on macOS 26+.
Native macOS vs. the Accessibility flash vs. TrillMark
| Capability | Native macOS | Accessibility flash | TrillMark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Different sound per app | No | — | Yes |
| Clip a song as a sound | No | — | Yes |
| Boost volume above 100% | No | — | Yes, to 200% |
| On-screen visual alert | No | Yes | Yes |
| Shows which app (labeled) | No | No | Yes |
| Colored per app | No | No | Yes |
| Placement | — | Whole screen | Full wash or edge band |
| Match on title / body text | No | No | Yes |
| Deaf / hard-of-hearing friendly | Sound only | Partial (unlabeled) | Yes, labeled + colored |
| Recent-alerts list & Focus Filters | Notification Center | No | Yes |
| Price | Built-in | Built-in | $7.99 one-time |
Made to be seen, not just heard
TrillMark works completely without sound. Every app's alert can appear as a flash in its color with its name on screen — a full-screen wash or a quiet band at the edge — so you always know who it is, in total silence. It's built for Deaf and hard-of-hearing users first, and just as helpful when your headphones are in or the room has to stay quiet.
You choose how bright each flash is and how long it lasts, with a gentle, no-strobe option if you're sensitive to flashing light. The built-in Accessibility flash can't do this part — it can't label the alert or give it a color you assigned, so a glance never tells you which app it was. TrillMark's flash does both.
What about Chirpy?
If per-app sounds are the only thing you're after, Chirpy is a legitimate, well-made option — it assigns custom notification sounds per app and reads banners through the same macOS Accessibility API, as a one-time $19.99. TrillMark does per-app sounds too, and adds the labeled, colored on-screen flash, the volume boost to 200%, and clip-a-song sounds — for a one-time $7.99. If you want the sound and the at-a-glance visual, that's the difference. See the full TrillMark vs Chirpy comparison →
One sound and one color per app
Give the apps that matter their own sound and their own labeled color, and know which app notified you without stopping to look. One-time $7.99, up to 3 Macs, 14-day refund. Apple silicon, macOS 26+.
Get TrillMark