Audio Capture Engine (ACE) is a deprecated audio routing technology, which enabled capture of audio from applications on the Mac. ACE was formerly used in older versions of Airfoil, Audio Hijack, Loopback, Piezo, and SoundSource. It was also used by third parties who licensed the technology for their own Mac applications. As of MacOS 15 (Sequoia), ACE is fully deprecated.
If you’re using a current version of Airfoil (5.12.0 or higher), you do not need ACE.
On MacOS 14 (Sonoma) and higher, our newer Audio Routing Kit (ARK) technology is used in place of ACE. ARK provides the same audio capture and routing capabilities as ACE, without requiring the complex installation process that was necessary to use ACE on Apple Silicon Macs.
Additional details about the transition to ARK can be found in a blog post from late 2024, entitled “The Developers Who Came In From The Cold”.
You may need ACE-related information if you’re:
While ACE is no longer in active use, we’ve preserved the following documentation:
If you need personal assistance or want to provide feedback, our friendly support team is available via email. Click below to get in touch:
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