Connect and disconnect
Click Connect next to your headphones. Hermes connects them and moves your Mac’s sound to them. Click Disconnect to disconnect them, so your phone or another device can use them.
Hermes Audio Help
Using Hermes.
Set up once, then switch your headphones with a click. Everything Hermes does, in the order you’ll need it.
Getting started
Pair your headphones in System Settings → Bluetooth, then click the wing in your menu bar to open Hermes. Click Allow when macOS asks for Bluetooth access, and your headphones appear under Your Devices.
Need Hermes? Download it for Mac. It needs macOS 14 Sonoma or later.
Choose where sound goes
Pick a device under Output to send your Mac’s sound to headphones, speakers or a display. Drag the slider above the list to change the volume.
Switch without opening Hermes
Press Control–Option–Command–H to connect or disconnect your headphones from anywhere. If they’re on a linked Mac, it takes them over. Option-clicking the wing does the same.
Let go when you step away
When your Mac sleeps, or locks with nothing playing, Hermes disconnects your headphones so your phone can use them. They reconnect when you unlock, unless another device has them. Both are on to start with, under Lock & Sleep.
Link your Macs
Link your Macs once with a shared code. After that, they find each other by themselves, and Take Over moves your headphones to the Mac you’re using. Before you start, install Hermes and pair your headphones on each Mac.
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Make a code
On your first Mac, click Link Macs… under Linked Macs. Hermes suggests a new ten-character code. Click Link Macs to use it.
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Enter the code
On your other Mac, click Link Macs… and replace the suggested code with yours. Type it, or copy and paste it across. Click Link Macs, then allow Local Network access when macOS asks.
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You’re linked
Each Mac lists the other by name under Linked Macs. For a third Mac, click Add a Mac… to see your code, then enter it on the new one.
Taking over
When your headphones are connected to another linked Mac, Hermes shows Take Over next to them. Click it, or press Control–Option–Command–H. Hermes asks the other Mac to disconnect them, then connects them to this one.
If they’re on a call on the other Mac, Hermes leaves them there and tells you. Click Take Over again within 30 seconds to switch anyway.
Hand Off from iPhone
Headphones stuck on your iPhone? Hand Off is a free Shortcut that turns your Bluetooth off for five seconds, so your Mac can pick them up.
Add it
On your Mac
Scan the code with your iPhone’s camera. Or add it on your Mac, and iCloud syncs it to your phone.
Use it
On your iPhone
Run Hand Off. Bluetooth turns off for five seconds, then back on by itself.
On your Mac
While it’s off, click Connect in Hermes or press Control–Option–Command–H.
Run it from the Shortcuts app, by asking Siri for “Hand Off”, or from the Action button on iPhones that have one. While Bluetooth is off, your watch and other accessories disconnect from your phone too, then reconnect. If your Mac misses the window, just run it again.
Home Screen icon Optional
- Download the icon on your iPhone and save it to Photos or Files. On a Mac, AirDrop it to your phone.
- In Shortcuts, touch and hold Hand Off, then tap Share → Add to Home Screen.
- Tap the small icon, choose Choose Photo or Choose File, pick the image, then tap Add.
Troubleshooting
Headphones
My headphones aren’t listed
Check they’re paired in System Settings → Bluetooth and that Bluetooth is on. Then check Hermes is turned on in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Bluetooth. Hermes lists Bluetooth headphones and speakers, so keyboards, mice and other accessories don’t appear.
They’re connected to another device
Most headphones connect to one device at a time. If they’re on another of your Macs, link your Macs and click Take Over. If they’re on your iPhone, use Hand Off. Otherwise, disconnect them on that device first.
Linked Macs
My other Mac isn’t appearing
Check Hermes is running on both Macs and both use the same code. Allow Hermes in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Local Network, or click Allow Local Network Access… in Hermes. Keep Wi-Fi on, even without a network, so nearby Macs can find each other directly.
Hermes says “Different link code”
Hermes can see another Mac, but it uses a different code. Click Add a Mac… on one Mac and copy its code. On the other, open the same window, enter that code and click Save.
I want to unlink a Mac
On that Mac, click Add a Mac…, then Unlink This Mac.
Hand Off
I stopped it and Bluetooth stayed off
If you stop Hand Off during the pause, Bluetooth stays off. Turn it back on in Control Centre or in Settings → Bluetooth.
Can I run Hand Off on my Mac?
No. It checks it’s on an iPhone before it changes anything, so on a Mac it does nothing. To disconnect headphones on a Mac, use Disconnect or Take Over in Hermes.
Still stuck? Email info@littlevictori.es and say which Mac and headphones you’re using.
Privacy
Linking needs no accounts or servers, and Hermes has no analytics. Your linked Macs talk only to each other.
- Encrypted
- Macs talk over TLS 1.2 with a key made from your code (ECDHE-PSK with ChaCha20-Poly1305). A Mac with a different code can’t connect.
- Local only
- Your Macs find each other on your network, or over peer-to-peer Wi-Fi as AirDrop does.
- Hard to guess
- Each code has 50 bits of randomness, and every guess costs 600,000 rounds of PBKDF2-SHA256.
- Audio only
- Linked Macs share their names and which headphones are connected. They can never see or disconnect keyboards, mice or trackpads.
More in the privacy policy.