Need a last-minute stocking stuffer?

AirBuddy is a good choice for anyone who has AirPods and a Mac.

The clever app makes your Apple earbuds (and other gear) play nice with your Mac. Just open your AirPods case near your machine, and up pops the battery status — just like on iPhone.

It also shows battery info for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Beats headphones, select Sony headphones, mice, keyboards and other hardware.

And there’s a lot more. Version 2.5 offers low-battery alerts, widgets, integration with Shortcuts, trackpad gestures for changing listening modes and more.

AirBuddy is the Bluetooth-management app Apple should build into macOS as standard, and one of the first things I install when I get a new Mac.

The app normally costs $10, but we have it on sale for just $7.97 through December 25 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific. It includes five licenses for use on five separate Macs.

— Leander Kahney, EIC.

Get better Bluetooth controls with AirBuddy

AirBuddy: Faster Bluetooth and AirPods switching

AirBuddy was originally created with a simple mission: Give your Mac the same beautiful animations and interface when you connect your AirPods (or Beats) that you’re used to seeing on your iPhone. And they do look fantastic!

But it has since grown to be an all-encompassing app that lets you keep a close eye on all your Bluetooth devices.

Manage and share devices across all your Macs

If you juggle between a Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and Apple Watch, your devices will try to coordinate which device has dibs on your AirPods at any moment. It’s easy to get frustrated when they get it wrong. AirBuddy gives you more control.

If you sit down at your Mac and your headphones are still playing from your phone, just hit the AirBuddy icon in the menu bar and click on the device to pair it with your Mac.

If you have Magic Handoff enabled, you can see all the Bluetooth devices paired to all your Macs. If you have two Macs on your desk, you can switch headphones, keyboards, mice, trackpads or other devices between them.

Even more advanced features to dig into

AirBuddy also can notify you when your devices are running low on battery — you can customize the threshold for each one.

AirBuddy also supports Shortcuts, with actions like “Connect Headset,” “Disconnect Headset,” “Get Device Battery Information” and more.

Another great feature is checking whether your AirPods are running the latest firmware. Apple’s insistence on making sure “it just works” means that it’s hard to tell if your AirPods have updated or not. If you’re waiting on a new feature, you can use AirBuddy to quickly see which firmware they’re running.

If you are one of the many people covered in our Setups posts with two (or more) Macs at your desk, AirBuddy will be an indispensable tool. And it’s even great if you only own an iPhone and a MacBook (and you’re frustrated by Apple’s own “automatic” switching).

AirBuddy normally costs $10 — but you get five licenses for five separate machines — but we have it on sale for just $7.97.

Download from: Cult of Mac Deals