Music is playing through your desk speakers. You connect your headphones, and you want the sound to follow, right then, without opening the volume menu and picking them by hand. macOS sometimes manages this on its own and sometimes doesn't, which is exactly the gap a Chorus Auto-Switch rule closes: connect the headphones, and a rule you set once fires the same way every time.
Why doesn't macOS just do this reliably on its own?
macOS has never had one consistent rule for what happens when a new output appears. Plug wired headphones into certain built-in jacks and the Mac often does switch to them, because that specific connection has hardware-level detection behind it. Connect Bluetooth headphones, or plug into a USB or Thunderbolt interface, and the outcome is far less predictable. Sometimes the Mac switches straight away, sometimes it keeps playing through whatever was already selected, and there is no setting in Sound preferences that makes the behaviour consistent.
It shows up the other way round too. A Bluetooth speaker that was playing earlier reconnects, and macOS sometimes grabs the output back to it on its own, even if you had deliberately switched away in the meantime. Both problems come from the same place: macOS treats "a device is now present" as a hint about what to do with the output, not a dependable instruction, so it acts on it inconsistently. An Auto-Switch rule removes the guessing. You decide what a given device connecting should mean, and Chorus does exactly that, every time.
Build a rule that reacts to your headphones connecting
Open Auto-Switch in Chorus and add a rule with your headphones as the required device. Chorus watches for macOS's own device-connected signal, the same event the system fires the instant any new output appears, and checks your rules against it. As soon as your headphones show up in that list, the rule matches and Chorus makes them the default output immediately. Nothing needs to be playing yet and nothing needs opening first; the connection itself is the trigger.
Rules are checked in order, and the first one that matches wins. That matters if you also have a rule for a dock or a set of desk speakers, since it lets you put headphones above everything else so they take priority whenever they're present, rather than fighting with another rule for the same moment. Chorus only actually switches anything when the winning rule changes from the last time it checked, so it doesn't repeatedly re-apply the same choice or fight a manual override you make later while the headphones are still connected.
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Download for MacWired or Bluetooth, it doesn't change how the rule works
Chorus doesn't treat the two connection types differently. A wired pair plugged into the headphone jack and a pair of Bluetooth headphones both show up to Chorus as an output device becoming available, and a rule targeting either one fires the same way. That's useful if you switch between the two, a wired pair at your desk and Bluetooth ones for walking around the house, since you can give each its own rule rather than relying on macOS's jack-only detection to cover just one of them.
The one connection event that behaves slightly differently is waking your Mac from sleep, since Bluetooth hardware can take a moment to be redetected after wake. That case, and the short pause Chorus builds in for it, is covered in full in the laptop wake guide linked above; a headphone you connect directly, with the Mac already awake, doesn't need that pause at all.
What happens when you unplug or disconnect them
The same rule works in reverse without any extra setup. Unplug wired headphones or turn off Bluetooth ones, and Chorus checks your rules again. If another rule now matches, your desk speakers being connected, for example, that one takes over as the new default. If nothing else matches, Chorus falls back to whichever output you've set as your regular priority device, so the Mac never ends up talking to an output that just disappeared. You don't have to remember to switch back manually either way.
For every option available on a Mac, see Apple's own guide to sound output settings.
Frequently asked questions
How do I make my headphones become the default output automatically?
Open Auto-Switch in Chorus and add a rule that requires your headphones. The moment they connect, wired or Bluetooth, Chorus makes them the default output automatically, no trip to the volume menu needed.
Does this work for both wired and Bluetooth headphones?
Yes. Auto-Switch reacts to the same device-connected event either way, so a rule targeting Bluetooth headphones behaves exactly like one targeting a wired pair plugged into the headphone jack.
Why does macOS sometimes switch to headphones on its own, and sometimes not?
macOS's own behaviour here is inconsistent. A wired connection to certain built-in jacks tends to switch on its own, but Bluetooth and other outputs often don't, and there's no setting that makes it reliable. Auto-Switch replaces that guesswork with an explicit rule that fires the same way every time.
What happens to the audio when I unplug or disconnect the headphones?
Chorus falls back to whatever rule matches next, such as your desk speakers, the moment the headphones disconnect. If nothing else matches, it falls back to your regular priority device, so you're never left on an output that no longer exists.
Will Auto-Switch fight me if I manually pick a different output?
No. Auto-Switch only acts when the matching rule changes, so it won't repeatedly force the same choice back if you manually pick a different output while your headphones stay connected.
