Chirpy plays a different notification sound per Slack channel, person, or Mac app. $19.99 one-time, 3-day free trial, macOS 13+. Features and verdict.
Researched and fact-checked by Bartu Cavusoglu · Updated October 26, 2026
Chirpy is a macOS menu-bar app that plays a different notification sound for every Slack channel, contact, or Mac app. macOS gives every notification the same sound, so the only way to judge importance is to look at the screen. Chirpy adds a rule layer on top of Notification Center, letting users hear whether a ping is a production alert or a reaction in a social channel.
The app is built by Danilo Znamerovszkij, an independent developer based in Barcelona, Spain, and has been in development since 2024. It is funded by one-time license sales rather than investors or advertising. The current release listed on the site is version 3.9, dated 8 October 2026. It runs on macOS 13 (Ventura) or later, on both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs.
Chirpy uses the macOS Accessibility API to read notification text as it appears on screen, then compares that text against rules the user has built. When a rule matches, Chirpy plays the assigned sound at the volume set for that rule. It does not connect to the Slack, Teams, or Discord APIs, requires no account, and the vendor states that notification content never leaves the Mac.
Because it observes notifications at the operating-system level, it can only react to what macOS already displays. If an app is silent, Chirpy stays silent, and it does not filter or block notifications. Rules are ordered by priority, so a specific rule such as one for #prod-alerts takes precedence over a catch-all rule for all of Slack.
Each rule can match on app, channel, person, or keyword. Conditions combine with AND and OR, wildcards such as #prod-* cover whole families of channels, and a NOT keyword excludes matches, for example "deploy" but not "failed". Volume is set per rule, with a boost of up to 200% for alerts that need to cut through other noise on the desk.
The app ships with 72+ built-in sounds and accepts uploads in .mp3, .wav, and .caf, with previews before a sound is assigned. Rules can also speak a notification aloud with a chosen voice, or run a Shortcuts.app shortcut instead of playing a sound, a feature added in version 3.3. Built-in diagnostics help verify setup and can turn a missed notification into a rule.
Chirpy is a macOS menu-bar app that plays a different notification sound for every Slack channel, contact, or Mac app. Users build rules that match notifications and assign each a sound and volume. It works with any app that shows notifications in macOS Notification Center.
Chirpy costs $19.99 USD as a one-time purchase. The license is lifetime, per person, and covers up to 3 Macs. All future updates are included, and there is no subscription.
Yes. The 3-day trial includes every feature and does not require a credit card. A 30-day money-back guarantee also applies after purchase.
Yes. Slack lets users pick sounds by type but not per channel, and Chirpy adds per-channel, per-person, and per-keyword rules on macOS. Wildcards such as #prod-* match whole groups of channels.
Chirpy reads notification text through the macOS Accessibility API and matches it against rules on the Mac. According to the vendor, nothing is sent to a server, and it does not connect to the Slack, Teams, or Discord APIs.
Chirpy requires macOS 13 (Ventura) or later and runs on both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs. It is a 5.8 MB native app and needs accessibility permission to detect notifications.
Yes. Chirpy accepts uploads in .mp3, .wav, and .caf, and it includes 72+ built-in sounds. Every sound can be previewed before it is assigned to a rule.
No. Chirpy is a macOS menu-bar app and does not run on iPhone, iPad, or Windows.