Friday, June 15, 2018

A New Home for ToothFairy

ToothFairy has been one of my favorite little Mac utilities since I first heard about it last year. If you’ve used AirPods with a Mac, you know that they don’t auto-switch the way you might expect. ToothFairy fixes that, as much as third-party utility can, by letting you click a menu bar icon (or press a hotkey) to connect the AirPods to your Mac. It also shows you the battery level and can help ensure that you’re getting the best audio quality. I keep referring to AirPods because that’s what I use, but it also works with other Bluetooth headphones and headsets.

I use ToothFairy nearly every day, so I was sorry to see that it had been removed from sale. The developer, Robin Lu (whose code is also in the IAPKit that I mentioned yesterday), got a new job and was no longer able to work on it. Happily, he’s let me acquire the app so that I can ensure that development continues. I’m pleased to report that ToothFairy is now back in the Mac App Store (exclusively, for now), and I’ve released a maintenance update. My thanks to Robin for developing ToothFairy in the first place and for trusting me with his creation.

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Hi there, i'm interested in this - does this improve the workflow for switching back to an ios device? I.e. if i disconnect the airpods from a mac using this app, will the phone they were previously connected to connect to them without having to manually select them?

@Adrian No, it doesn’t change that. The AirPods already know how to auto-disconnect from the Mac. (ToothFairy can help you quickly disconnect other Bluetooth devices that don’t have a W1.) However, the iPhone still has to want to use them, and I don’t think that can be controlled from the Mac side.

Congratulations on the acquisition!

This is great, Michael. I'm glad that ToothFairy is in good hands!

Nice! Could not have found a better home. I have always referred clients on the Mac to your software, and my list of go to developers is not a very long one. Maybe 10 developers/shops? I digress. Congratulations and good look with the new acquisition.

Thank you all for your support.

Belated congrats Michael!

Hey man that's great news. ToothFairy has become a MUST utility for me every day, glad to see you are able to keep it going.

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