MediaMate for Mac: Price, Safety and the macOS 27.2 Crash (2026)
You’ve seen MediaMate’s notch-style volume slider somewhere, and before you pay you want 3 answers: what it costs, whether the download is safe, and whether it runs on the macOS you have.
Short answer: MediaMate costs €6.99 on Gumroad, once, for up to 5 devices, with a 14-day money-back guarantee. Wouter Hennen makes it. We checked today’s build, 3.8.4: the app is signed with his Developer ID and notarized by Apple. The catch is macOS 27.2. Since that update, 3.8.4 quits the moment you open it, 4 open bug reports say so, and there’s no fix yet. Users who went back to 3.7.3 say that one runs.
The price: €6.99, once
MediaMate is sold on Gumroad. There’s no subscription and no App Store version. We found no MediaMate on the Mac App Store when we searched it.
| What | MediaMate |
|---|---|
| Price | €6.99 once on Gumroad (you can choose to pay more) |
| License | One license covers 5 devices |
| Refund | 14-day money-back guarantee |
| Try first | Demo mode in the free download |
| Made by | Wouter Hennen |
| Latest version | 3.8.4, released 13 August 2026 |
| macOS needed | 13 Ventura or later |
| Mac chips | Apple silicon and Intel (universal app) |
| Download | A DMG of about 10 MB, from GitHub |
| Updates | Built in, through the app’s own update feed |
Gumroad shows 4.9 stars from 327 ratings. That’s from the Gumroad page, the MediaMate site and the app bundle, read on 3 November 2026.
To try it, download it from the MediaMate site and turn on demo mode. It runs for a set time, then the app closes. Reopen it to start another round.
One trap: mediamate.web.app has nothing to do with the app. Today it’s the site of a marketing agency also called MediaMate. The real one lives at wouter01.github.io/MediaMate.
Its features
MediaMate swaps the old macOS overlays for new ones. From its site and Gumroad page:
- Volume, display brightness and keyboard brightness HUDs, plus a shortcut for keyboard brightness.
- A Now Playing HUD with play, pause and scrubbing. It can sit in the notch or in its own bubble.
- 4 looks for the HUDs: iOS-style, circular, notch and classic. Version 3.8.0 added a Liquid Glass option.
- An icon for your audio output, so you can see if sound is going to your AirPods.
- Focus filters that hide the HUDs while a Focus is on.
- Volume and brightness for an external display, but only through Lunar or BetterDisplay.
Now Playing works with the app making the sound, so Apple Music, Spotify and browsers all show up. Firefox may not show album art, and the FAQ says MediaMate can’t get around that.
It works on every Mac, notch or not. Touch Bar Macs need a separate mode that the site calls “less reliable.”
Safety: we checked the build
We downloaded MediaMate.dmg from the site’s download button today and ran Apple’s own checks on it with spctl and codesign:
- The app is signed with a Developer ID: Wouter Hennen, team 2MMGJGVTB4.
- Gatekeeper accepts the app as notarized, so Apple scanned it for known malware. The notarization ticket is stapled, so the check works offline too.
- The DMG wrapper is signed with the same ID but isn’t notarized. Gatekeeper checks the app inside when you first open it, and that passes.
- The signature is dated 13 August 2026, the day 3.8.4 came out.
You don’t need to turn off System Integrity Protection. Some HUD tools need that, and the FAQ says MediaMate doesn’t.
It does ask for some permissions. It wants Accessibility by default, and there’s a second mode that skips it, where macOS tells MediaMate when something changes and you lose a few theme features. Bluetooth is only for showing the right icon for your headphones, and Automation lets it fetch album art more often.
The macOS 27.2 crash
Version 3.8.4’s only change was “Added support for macOS 27 Golden Gate.” Users say it worked until they updated to 27.2. Then it stopped opening.
What the bug reports on its GitHub tracker say:
- The first report is from 18 September, on a 27.2 beta. 3 more followed between late September and 29 October, and other users confirmed them.
- The app quits before any window shows. It doesn’t appear in Activity Monitor or the menu bar, and there’s no crash dialog.
- Run from Terminal, it prints
Symbol not foundfor a SwiftUI function it can’t find on 27.2. - One user tested every 3.8 build on the public 27.2. All of them crash at launch.
The developer last answered on the tracker on 14 August. The 27.2 reports have no reply from MediaMate, and a question asking when 3.8.5 is coming has no answer.
We couldn’t test it ourselves, because our Mac runs 27.0.1. Here’s what users report working:
- Download 3.7.3 from the releases page. We checked it: same Developer ID, notarized by Apple.
- Replace the copy in Applications and open it.
3.7.3 is from April 2025, before the macOS 26 fixes in 3.8.0. You lose those and the Liquid Glass look, and its built-in updater will likely offer 3.8.4 again. If you’re still on 27.1 or older, 3.8.4 is the one to have.
Put Your Notch To Work
That black bar already takes up space. Give it music, timers, and voice typing.
Download for free
The macOS 15.4 change
MediaMate has hit a macOS wall before. Apple’s macOS 15.4 restricted the tools MediaMate used to see what’s playing, and Now Playing stopped working. Version 3.7.0 moved to another method that covers Apple Music and Spotify. 6 days later, 3.7.1 brought back the old system-wide mode, but it’s off by default. If Now Playing ignores your browser, look for the “system-wide” option in its settings.
MediaMate vs Seam
Seam is our app, so read this table with that in mind. MediaMate makes the overlays look better. Seam moves them into the notch and adds things like a focus timer.
| MediaMate | Seam | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | €6.99 once, up to 5 devices | $19.90 once, 2 Macs |
| What it does | Volume, brightness and Now Playing HUDs | Now playing, HUDs, focus timer, calendar, drop zones |
| Runs on | Apple silicon and Intel, macOS 13+ | Apple silicon, macOS 14+ |
| Macs without notch | Yes | Yes |
| Notarized by Apple | Yes (3.8.4) | Yes |
| Trial | Demo mode | 48 hours, no credit card |
Our pick
Pick MediaMate if you want nicer volume and brightness overlays on any Mac, you aren’t on macOS 27.2, and €6.99 for 5 devices sounds right. Apple notarized the build, and Gumroad buyers give it 4.9 stars.
If you’re on 27.2 today, either run 3.7.3 and wait for a fix, or try Seam, $19.90 once for 2 Macs. We compare the 2 feature by feature in Seam vs MediaMate, and our best Mac notch apps roundup covers the rest.
Frequently asked questions
Is MediaMate free?
No. MediaMate costs €6.99 once on Gumroad for up to 5 devices. The download has a demo mode, so you can try it before you buy.
Is MediaMate safe?
Version 3.8.4 is signed with Wouter Hennen’s Developer ID and notarized by Apple, which we checked with Apple’s own tools on 3 November 2026. Download it from wouter01.github.io/MediaMate, not mediamate.web.app.
Does MediaMate work on macOS 27?
Version 3.8.4 added macOS 27 support, but users report it won’t open on macOS 27.2. Going back to 3.7.3 works for them. No fix had shipped by 3 November 2026.
Does MediaMate work on a Mac without a notch?
Yes. It runs on every Mac with macOS 13 or later. Touch Bar Macs need a separate mode that the developer says is less reliable.
Is MediaMate on the Mac App Store?
No. It’s sold on Gumroad and downloaded from its own site, which links to GitHub.
Related reading
Put Your Notch To Work
That black bar already takes up space. Give it music, timers, and voice typing.
Download for free