AirBuddy, the popular third-party tool for controlling AirPods and other nearby Apple devices and accessories, is receiving a notable update today. Version 2.4 of AirBuddy brings new battery alerts for when your devices are low on battery or fully charged, basic support for Beats Studio Buds, and more.

Today’s update to version 2.4 brings support for low battery and charged notifications to AirBuddy. Using the new “Create Battery Alert” option, you can now configure notifications for when your device’s battery is running low or fully charged. This is similar to the notifications offered natively in iOS for Apple Watch and AirPods.

For example, with AirPods, you can receive notifications on your Mac when your AirPods are fully charged or running low on battery.

Today’s update to AirBuddy also includes the ability to quickly connect to your favorite devices using the AirBuddy menu bar icon. Here’s the full list of new features in AirBuddy 2.4:

  • You can now configure low battery and charged notifications for your devices by right-clicking the device on the list and picking “Create Battery Alert”
  • There’s a new setting that allows you to quickly connect to your favorite device by clicking the AirBuddy icon in the Menu Bar
  • Adds basic support for Beats Studio Buds
  • Adds support for the new Magic Keyboard with Touch ID

The update also includes a variety of bug fixes and performance improvements, and you can find the full changelog below.

AirBuddy is available for download for $9.99, and version 2.4 is a free update to existing users and is rolling out now.

Improvements:

  • The list of devices in the menu bar will now grow to show all devices when there’s enough space available on screen
  • Some device icons have been refined
  • AirBuddy will now use simplified monochrome glyphs for Macs just like it does for other device types
  • When using the “connect to favorite device” and “disconnect” shortcuts, AirBuddy will now attempt to connect/disconnect directly, even when the given device can’t be immediately seen nearby
  • In Device settings, AirBuddy will now dim devices that have not been seen recently and suggest that you remove them (this will apply after a device hasn’t been seen by AirBuddy in two weeks)
  • The “connect to nearest headset” shortcut and the shortcut to manually show the status window are now better at picking the expected device when multiple devices are present
  • AirBuddy now uses the new Big Sur icon style regardless of which version of macOS it’s running on
  • Improved reliability when connecting to a headset with auto-switching enabled

Bug Fixes:

  • Addresses an issue that caused the microphone on/off shortcut to not work when a Mac doesn’t have a built-in input
  • The right-click menu for devices on the menu bar list is now accessible to VoiceOver
  • Addresses an issue where the big “Enable AirBuddy” switch would be read by VoiceOver as disabled even though it’s enabled
  • Addresses an issue that caused the status window to be shown even when “Don’t show when Do Not Disturb enabled” was set in preferences
  • Addresses an issue where the status window would show up repeatedly when one of the buds of an AirPods pair was poorly engaged with the charging case
  • Addresses an issue where a renamed device wouldn’t have its name immediately updated in the app
  • The contextual menu on the list of devices will now correctly and immediately reflect the current listening mode as expected
  • Addresses an issue that caused the listening mode to not change or change to the incorrect listening mode when connecting a headset to the Mac
  • Addresses a rare crash that could occur during setup