Remotely testing with audio in Mac OS

Once, I had to test a desktop app on a Mac device, and I was accessing it remotely via TeamViewer (because of Covid lockdown). I had to test whether a notification feature was making the correct sound. Unfortunately, Mac OS does not send audio to computers remotely accessing it.

My workaround: Trick Mac OS into sending the audio to a Google Meet session where you can also join and listen to the the audio.

Steps

1. On the Mac device you want to hear audio from, install a virtual audio device like Sound Flower or BlackHole.
2. Go to the audio settings and select this virtual device as the output
3. Now join a Google Meet session and select the virtual device as the audio input
4. Enter the same Google Meet session from your computer (the one you are using physically)

Now I can test remotely test the desktop app and also hear the audio.

Audio data flow

Choosing audio device on Mac OS

Choosing audio device on Google Meet

References

1. The Mac OS audio settings image is taken from How to Record Application Audio With Soundflower