SoundSource 6

So opened my SoundSource 5 today based on seeing this article and it noted there was an update. It was a 5.x update and not a v6 update as I paid particular attention to if it was updating me to v6. Update runs and now my paid v5 has become a trail v6 with no warning or permission. It updated the ark plugin as well and at this point I don't have the patience to sort out how to revert this back.

PathFinder used to do this BS of updating you into trail version and it's one of the reasons I no longer use them. I'll now have to sort out looking for a replacement for any Rogue Amoeba products.

Yep, also noticed this. And I'd only purchased v5 5 months ago (the free upgrade period is 3 months). It's great software, but I really hate it when devs pull shit like this. I hope it was just an accident. Regardless, I paid the upgrade fee.

I have heard that the new version of Rogue Amoeba's audio driver used in Sequoia or later, the one that does not require reducing Apple Silicon macs security, is on the whole less stable and glitchier than what came before it. Can anyone confirm that this is true?

I'm still running Ventura so it doesn't affect me, but Rogue Amoeba software working worse in a modern version of macOS would be yet another reason for me *not* to upgrade.

@Vince Which version did you have? I opened SoundSource 5.6, and it offered me the free 5.8.11 update, and I could choose to “Skip for Now” or “Install Update,” but the updater crashed, probably because it’s an old version and I’m using a newer OS. Is this what you did, but you’re saying it actually installed 6.x? When I opened SoundSource 5.6.6, it updated me to 5.8.11 without prompting.

@Bri I have not heard that, but it wouldn’t surprise me. There have been several instances (Mail extensions being the one I’m most familiar with, but also network extensions) where Apple switched from a wide open “unsafe” mechanism to a more structured one that is theoretically easier to program and safer but ended up being less reliable.

@Bri Yes I can (unfortunately) confirm that the new ARK audio driver is definitely glitchier - at least for me - than previous versions. I've had to exit SoundSource several times to get audio back and on a couple of occasions, unplug and replug my USB DAC. Having said that, it does seem to have improved with the latest iteration.

Another aspect I don't like, related to Apple's 'security' is that in full-screen there is now a blue dot in the top right of the menubar, showing that the ARK plugin is in use, which I find quite annoying and as far as I can tell cannot be removed.

Overall, a bit disappointing as I've been a happy user of Rogue Amoeba's software for almost 20 years now.

Scott: “Reached out to @RogueAmoeba support, turns out it was a bug in the updater of the slightly older version of SoundSource 5 I had installed, and I just got REALLY, REALLY (un)lucky.”

FWIW, I checked using TM what I was on before, and it was 5.8.3 from May 2025. Oddly, MacUpdater never notified me of the updates to SoundSource. If I check the Info window, it says the update entry is maintained by the MacUpdater team and the latest is still 5.6.6, so perhaps they never got around to updating it or perhaps the same bug hit their update detection, but all the other Rogue Amoeba apps seem to have been accounted for. Very strange.

Julian from MacUpdater got back in response to my feedback, and the reason I didn't hear about v6 from MacUpdater is that doesn't run on Sonoma any more. So I'll have to downgrade on my iMac, although honestly, I think I'll be doing a nuke and pave this Christmas anyway. When launched now, macOS says it's not compatible, as expected.

@Vince - I’m quite sorry you ran into this issue, and I want to assure you it was not intended.

As best as we can figure, the issue arose for users who had an older version of SoundSource 5 that was open, with a software update already waiting, when the server flipped over to version 6. We’re making adjustments to prevent this problem in the future. It’s a lousy user experience, and it’s absolutely not what we want to provide.

As Michael mentioned, version 5 will now only move you up to 5.8.11 (the latest). 5.8.11 will then alert you to version 6, but it will not update you to it. Getting version 6 requires a manual download, specifically so that your paid-for version is not overwritten.

If you have any further issues or questions, please reach out to us directly: https://rogueamoeba.com/support/contactUs.php

Worth noting, our Legacy page provides permanent access to your purchase (and indeed, to everything we’ve ever sold): https://rogueamoeba.com/legacy/

@Bri, @Boogie Pilgrim: On MacOS 14.5 and up, SoundSource uses our new ARK-based audio capture. It’s different from what came before, and while many things are better (such as the initial setup), it’s not all forward progress.

As Michael alluded to, the ARK system is (by necessity) built on top of some new code Apple added to MacOS (Lots more details here: https://weblog.rogueamoeba.com/2024/12/13/the-developers-who-came-in-from-the-cold/). That new code from Apple has had its share of bugs. Fortunately, issues have been steadily fixed as Apple has updated MacOS (see https://weblog.rogueamoeba.com/2025/11/04/macos-26-tahoe-includes-important-audio-related-bug-fixes/, for example).

On our end, we’re constantly working to improve and optimize all of our apps, and that work of course continues.

As for the purple “system recording” indicator, the presence of that is unfortunately entirely dictated by Apple. You can bet that we’d very much like it if customers could opt to hide that too! About all we can suggest there is providing feedback to https://www.apple.com/feedback/macos/. We certainly have!

@Sebby As you found, SoundSource 6 requires MacOS 15 or higher. If you’ll be sticking with v5 for now, grab the latest (5.8.11) from our Legacy page (https://rogueamoeba.com/legacy/). You can also ping our Support team for a refund on your upgrade, or just hang on to it for when you update to 15+.

@Paul Kafasis I appreciate your response here. Reading over what you said and what you linked to, plus what I've seen of other user reports and reading between the lines, I gathered that the new API Apple provided for doing what ARC used to do is buggy and half baked, because every one of their new APIs that replaces one of their older battle hardened APIs or methods has been like that! And that's just in keeping with Apple's bad software quality these days.

Rogue Amoeba is one of my favorite software companies for consistently making such high quality software, and when I heard people complaining that it was buggier in macOS 15, my first thought was immediately that Apple was primarily to blame, and while I don't have the direct experience to know that for sure, it seems pretty likely that I'm right. I'll also mention that I was aghast when I saw the hoops Apple made users jump through to use your software on Apple Silicon systems prior to macOS 15. But as that blog post mentioned, at least they did something to keep it running at all.

Basically, everything Apple has inflicted upon both Rogue Amoeba and its users since the introduction of Apple Silicon and macOS 11 has made me quite upset. Given Rogue Amoeba worked directly with Apple I'm sure you need to remain diplomatic in what you say publicly about the entire endeavor, so I'm not trolling for another comment or anything. I just wanted to express that.

I'll also note that I'm still running macOS 13 with no intention to upgrade. And I held out on macOS 10.14 for over five years until I couldn't any longer. I'm going kicking and screaming into our new shittier Apple future, because... what else can I do? It's not like there's another computing platform I can jump ship to that's any better, especially if I need to work with audio.

Thanks, Paul. I shall most definitely hang on to my v6 upgrade, which works fine on my MBP. And I really appreciate your improvements in the accessibility of your software over recent years, truly much appreciated!