What is audioanalyticsd?

audioanalyticsd is a process tied to the sound recognition feature on macOS.

What is audioanalyticsd?

audioanalyticsd powers macOS Sound Recognition, which listens for certain sounds around you and alerts you when it spots them. It is mainly an accessibility feature built for users who are deaf or hard of hearing.

What sounds can it spot?

When turned on, Sound Recognition can pick up:

• Doorbells and knocking
• Smoke and fire alarms
• Sirens
• Cat and dog sounds
• Baby crying
• Household devices (kettle, washing machine)
• Water running
• Car horn

When a sound is spotted, macOS shows a notification so you know what is happening.

Is it always listening?

Only if you have turned on Sound Recognition in System Settings, then Accessibility, then Sound Recognition. If it is off, audioanalyticsd is not processing audio.

When turned on, it uses on-device machine learning to analyse audio from your Mac's microphone. The processing happens locally. Audio is not sent to Apple.

Does it use many resources?

When active, it uses some CPU for real-time audio analysis. The machine learning models are built for speed, but you may notice slightly higher energy use if Sound Recognition stays on all the time.

Should you worry?

No. It is an accessibility feature that processes audio entirely on your device. If you do not use Sound Recognition, the daemon does nothing.

Enjoyed this post?

Well, you could share the post with others, follow me with RSS Feeds and/or send me a comment via email.

Tags