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With the release of MacOS 13 (Ventura) and MacOS 14 (Sonoma), options for managing background processes are organized in the System Settings application (formerly known as System Preferences).
Two types of background processes are controllable in MacOS:
Several of Rogue Amoeba’s products use background items which must be enabled for the software to work correctly. This article provides more details on these processes, as well as on optional login items which improve functionality.
When you first run Airfoil for Mac, it will prompt you to install Rogue Amoeba’s Audio Capture Engine (ACE) component. This essential technology allows Airfoil for Mac to access and control audio on your Mac.
Airfoil for Mac needs the ACE process to be enabled in the background to function correctly. If it’s disabled, you’ll be prompted to re-enable it when Airfoil for Mac is launched.
The ACE component must be allowed to run in the background for Airfoil for Mac to function properly. If it’s disabled, you’ll be alerted to re-enable it when Airfoil for Mac is launched.
Re-enabling a background item is easy, and can be done in just a few seconds.
From the warning prompt in Airfoil for Mac, click the Open System Settings link.
Alternately, open the System Settings app, click the General option on the left side, then click the the Login Items option.
Find ACE listed in the Background Items section, and click the switch to re-enable it.
You’ll be prompted to enter the username and password for an administrator account on your Mac, to authorize the change.
Once complete, return to the app to continue through the process.
Airfoil for Mac will now be able to launch and run as expected.
Since background items and their notifications are new to MacOS 13 (Ventura), there are some rough edges in the initial rollout. If MacOS shows the wrong name for our ACE component, or has extra notifications and listings of our software, please use the troubleshooting steps below to help sort things out.
Initial versions of MacOS 13 (Ventura) attempted to set a recognizable name for background items, using apps which may be related to the process. Unfortunately, that resulted in the ACE component being incorrectly listed as “Audio Hijack”. As a result, you might find an item called “Audio Hijack” in the Allow in the Background section of the settings area:
While this erroneous “Audio Hijack” entry won’t cause any issues, you may wish to remove it from the Allow in the Background section. You can do so with a current version of Airfoil, Audio Hijack, Loopback, Piezo, or SoundSource.
First, quit the System Settings app. Next, uninstall ACE from within any of the aforementioned apps. Finally, launch the app again to reinstall ACE.
When you’re done, the Allow in the Background section will show the correct “Rogue Amoeba Audio Capture Engine (ACE)” item, and the “Audio Hijack” item will be gone.
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