A brand new model of AirBuddy for macOS Monterey is offered beginning right now, including the choice to shortly shift some non-Apple Bluetooth headphones and different units between Macs and iPhones. The authentic AirBuddy app for macOS that launched in 2019 was a easy resolution to let AirPods interface together with your Mac simply as seamlessly as they already did on iOS units — full with the animated pop-up many iPhone customers are accustomed to seeing.

AirBuddy 2.5 takes benefit of recent under-the-hood macOS Monterey modifications to allow issues like low battery notifications, switching from transparency mode to noise-canceling on AirPods that aren’t even at the moment outputting sound from the Mac, and straightforward management over automated switching between units. This model additionally lets energy customers benefit from extra actions within the Shortcuts app and create automation (to examine battery degree or shortly join and disconnect) and profiles. An entire record of the actions that may be carried out is revealed on the release notes.

AirBuddy now works with some third-party units in macOS Monterey, such because the Sony WF and WH collection headsets. These units don’t have Apple’s W1 or H1 chip, so performance is restricted. They are solely proven whereas linked to the Mac, however might be pinned to the record for fast connection. Battery alerts can be configured for such units, so long as they supply battery data to macOS.

The Verge was offered a beta launch to check out the brand new options, so we put in it on a Mac operating the most recent model of macOS Monterey and one other Mac operating macOS Big Sur (each methods are M1).

I had entry to a pair of Sony WF-1000XM3 wi-fi earbuds and a few LG neckbuds and was ready so as to add them to my units in AirBuddy on macOS Monterey. Unfortunately, this and another options didn’t work in Big Sur since it is a beta launch particularly designed for Monterey. The developer plans to launch AirBuddy 2.5 for older macOS variations subsequent week.

Screenshot: Umar Shakir / The Verge

The hero function of the brand new AirBuddy is a quicker connection change utilizing what developer Guilherme Rambo (a former 9to5Mac author) is asking Proximity Engine 2.0 — “a complete overhaul of the AirBuddy Bluetooth Low Energy stack that talks to your AirPods, faster and more reliable than ever.” From our testing, AirPods and Beats Solo headsets popped up inside a second, which feels quicker than the way it exhibits up on iPhones.

AirBuddy isn’t the one app with Bluetooth handoff skills, however AirBuddy feels extra like an OS function and never an app.

Image: Umar Shakir / The Verge

For me, probably the most helpful function is definitely handing off the Magic Keyboard and Magic Trackpad to a second Mac (out there within the earlier model of AirBuddy as nicely). I’m at the moment engaged on two MacGuide Air M1s, and to swap my Keyboard and exterior Trackpad between them, I plug a USB-C hub into the pc I wish to work on and depend on the Lightning cost cable to re-sync to the opposite laptop. It sounds cumbersome however I’m fast about it. And with Apple additional delaying Universal Control (which helps you to drag and drop recordsdata and home windows between two Macs whereas additionally utilizing one set of peripherals), AirBuddy is an effective wi-fi KVM-ish kind of resolution for me, proper now.

Screenshot: Umar Shakir / The Verge

The 2.5 replace is offered free of charge to anybody who has bought AirBuddy 2.0 (as an automated replace on macOS Monterey, with older OSes receiving them subsequent week). For new clients, the worth is $9.99 — increased than the minimal $5 cost for the unique model however the identical value for the reason that 2.0 launch.