Apple Researching Methods to Offer Customized Control of Browser-Based Audio Content

[jw2002]

I hope this gets implemented, and I hope Apple doesn't receive a patent.

Agree. While this would be a nice feature, it would be a joke of a patent. And seriously, the solution to frivolous patents ***IS NOT*** to preemptively file your own frivolous patents as Apple is doing here. The solution is to overhaul the patent system. There are presently millions of US patents in existence, and the dirty secret is that huge numbers of them them are frivolous and obvious, especially in the case of software. Remember, Amazon's 1-Click was patented!

In addition, there are like 3 million genome patent applications right now! This is a total abuse of the system. Patents are an antiquated holdover from the 18th century and simply too ill equipped and too easily abused by today's standards. Time to bring the entire conceptual framework into the 21st century.

 

[foobarbaz]

I've seriously been waiting for this feature for 10 years now. Sure, the number of MIDI background music websites has gone down, but they're still there. The only reason I use flashblock is the noise, too.

I don't need such fine-grained settings, though. Just one big mute button. Is that really so hard?

If Safari is the first to provide this, I'd seriously consider switching.

 

[AdeFowler]

I hate when I'm using iTunes to "DJ" an event and every time that I get a notification window (ie: are you sure you want to delete this song from this playlist), I get that "thud" noise resonating throughout the party.

You do know that you can turn the volume of alerts right down?

System Preferences > Sound > Sound effects > Alert volume

 

[Powerbooky]

All apps need graphic eq. My 1st gen MacBook's speakers are so damn quiet on maximum volume. I was trying to show someone a video clip the other day and they couldn't hear it above the whirring of the fans (thanks Flash).

I know... for iTunes I could solve that by using VolumeLogic. Unfortunately, development and sales was killed by PlantTronics.

Anyway... it's positive if Apple adds this to Safari. That way it's also possible to mute annoying sounds coming from ads or website controls.

If they're adding equalizer options too, it would be nice to have different equalizer settings for different outputs too. This way I can tune different sets of speakers more alike, when I have them on at the same time (multiple Airport Express for example). I've asked RogueAmoeba for this feature in AirFoil too.

 

[Radiomarko]

"Hear" is good for controlling audio from applications amongst other things. From the Joesoft link already posted.

 

[Don't panic]

implement it already and kill the annoying videoads.

 

[s8film40]

And seriously, the solution to frivolous patents ***IS NOT*** to preemptively file your own frivolous patents as Apple is doing here. The solution is to overhaul the patent system.

I don't think Apple is trying to solve the issue of frivolous patents by filling patents. They are simply trying to protect their interests within the government they operate under. Overhauling the patent system is the job of the politicians, until they change it Apple has to operate under the laws at hand.
It's also hard to say a patent is frivolous until it's full potential is seen. Some of the greatest inventions have been some of the simplest and when patented could have easily been described as frivolous, take post it notes and white out for example.

 

[mikeinternet]

I don't think it is as simple as 'I always want this at this level' sometimes I want to hear itunes sometimes I want to hear myspace. Sometimes i want to hear ichat alerts.

 

[honus]

And if Apple is patenting the specific implementation of the concept, unique in its form, then it is indeed patentable.

That is not true. There still has to be no prior art and it has to be non-obvious to an expert in the field. Save a URL and a volume level in a file is pretty obvious. I haven't read the patent, so maybe it is more involved.

 

[s8film40]

And here is a perfect illustration of why patenting your ideas is so important.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/691475/

 

[haravikk]

Wouldn't it be better if the volume control menubar addition (System Preferences -> Sound -> Show volume in menu bar) had an option to apply the selected volume to a particular application only, and some way for the application to leverage this to add additional options (apply to single website).

Give us a shortcut key to hold when adjusting volume to make it application-only and this would be perfect.

There's no need for in-app controls like that, it's clumsier, and requires every app that this could benefit to have the feature added by their developer.

A more universal system that affects an application's actual output at a system-level would be much better overall IMO.