Our Verdict
Over the retiring decennium or so , TiVo and like DVRs have changed the room we check TV — so much so that many of us take for grant that we can pause live TV , rewind to watch something again , and jump forth to skip commercials . These features have become such an ingrained part of my sensitive - consuming experience that I often escape them when hear to euphony on my Mac .
Sure , iTunes has a interruption button , and if I ’m listening to tracks in my iTunes library , I can skim forward and back . But I ’ve got flock of other ways to listen to medicine on my Mac that do n’t necessarily leave such feature film : In add-on to iTunes and other apps for playing local music tracks , I ’ve set about streaming - audio apps such as Pandora and Spotify ( and , of course , iTunes Radio ) , and I ’ve got myriad site and online divine service providing medicine , podcasts , and online “ radio ” shows . Some of these let me skip forrad and back , but not all ; some have ads , while others do n’t . And while most have a pause button , I have to retrieve which app I ’m presently using , switch to that app , and then hesitate or summarise — I do n’t have a universal Pause release .
At least I did n’t until I started using Rogue Amoeba’sIntermission , which shoot for to bring TiVo - like feature to your Mac ’s audio , regardless of the source of that sound recording . Like TiVo on your TV , Intermission forever immortalize your Mac ’s audio so as to create a buffer you could browse .
Click Intermission ’s systemwide menubar icon , and you get commands to hesitate / resume sound , jump back , jumpstart forward , or jump to live , along with a scouring yellow-bellied terrapin that displays the current buffer emplacement and lets you quickly move to any location in the fender . By default , the jump back and forward buttons skip ten second , though you customise those durations ; parachute To Live skips you all the way of life to live playback . you may also assign keyboard cutoff to each of the four clitoris action . That ’s all there is to it — suspension is dead unproblematic to use .
break ’s most - obvious benefits are let you temporarily pause music and letting you quick rewind audio frequency when you omit something . But it ’s also expectant if , say , you need to hear an iTunes Radio track over … and over and over and over . likewise , if you ’re not a fan of the ad on your favorite music service , or you want the option to pass over raceway more oft than the music serve allows , just start playback and then right away pause it using break — you could later start playback with up to three minute of buffer , letting you skip ads and track as much as you like .
Keep in mind that Intermission capturesallyour Mac ’s non - system audio , so its buffer will also pick up , for example , audio from YouTube videos that you might play while listening to music ; however , Intermission ignores thing like lively sounds , so you ’ll still try those in real time . And when music is bet live — with no Intermission fender — the app passes it through untouched .
In fact , my big complaint about Intermission is that given how much it feels like TiVo , I sometimes wish I could schedule transcription time and apps . Interestingly , you may pair interruption with Rogue Amoeba’sAudio Hijack Proto record audio from Intermission ’s buffer store . Rogue Amoeba let in instructions for such a apparatus in Intermissions ’s electronic manual of arms , accessible from within the app .
Despite a few quibbles , I ’ve been enjoying Intermission , especially when listening to Internet radio and cyclosis - euphony services . It brings these audio sources into the 2000s .
This limited review is part of Macworld’sGemFest 2014 . Every weekday from July until September , the Macworld staff will habituate the Mac Gems web log to briefly cover a standout complimentary , low - cost , or great - time value program . you may view a list of this year ’s apps , updated daily , on our handy GemFest chart , and you may shoot the breeze the Mac Gems home page for preceding Mac Gems reviews .
