What is the best way to occasionally play a sound?

Question

I have a speaker (Bose SoundLink Mini) connected to my MacBook Pro, and it switches off after periods of non-use. This means that it will shut off even while I am at the computer, if a sound hasn't been played in awhile. What is the most sensible way to have a very quiet (ideally inaudible) sound played every fifteen minutes? I have a little familiarity with AppleScript and am happy to learn more; I don't yet know anything about other scripting methods.

Create an applescript or perhaps try chron ? Two possibilities you can check. — Solar Mike
– Solar Mike, Commented Apr 13, 2020 at 9:26
/usr/bin/afplay might help. What's your level of expertise regarding shell scripts, AppleScript, launchd/cron? — nohillside
– nohillside ♦, Commented Apr 13, 2020 at 9:27
Thanks! My level of expertise is minimal with AppleScript, and none with shell scripts and cron. (On the other hand, I like to learn.) — Wallfacer
– Wallfacer, Commented Apr 13, 2020 at 9:41
Please add your own solutions as one answer below, this makes it easier to find them in the future. — nohillside
– nohillside ♦, Commented Apr 14, 2020 at 14:04

klanomath · Accepted Answer · 2020-04-13 12:09:01Z

Simply create a launch agent which repeatedly says something (or plays a sound) and load it:

Create a plist with nano in Terminal:

nano ~/Library/LaunchAgent/usr.home.bose.wakeup.plist

Copy the following lines and paste it into the Terminal window:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>Disabled</key>
    <false/>
    <key>Label</key>
    <string>usr.home.bose.wakeup</string>
    <key>ProgramArguments</key>
    <array>
        <string>/usr/bin/say</string>
        <string>wake</string>
        <string>up</string>
        <string>you</string>
        <string>lazy</string>
        <string>Bose</string>
        <string>SoundLink</string>
        <string>Mini</string>
    </array>
    <key>RunAtLoad</key>
    <true/>
    <key>StartInterval</key>
    <integer>887</integer>
</dict>
</plist>

Save the file with ctrlO and exit nano with ctrlX

Load the plist with:

launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgent/usr.home.bose.wakeup.plist

You can use other voices by adding the option -v $VOICE. To get the list of all available voices enter say -v ? in Terminal.

Example:

...
<array>
    <string>/usr/bin/say</string>
    <string>-v</string>
    <string>Agnes</string>
    <string>wake</string>
...

The downside of say: you can't set a sound level!

Therefore an alternative launch agent with afplay instead (you can set the sound level with the -v option):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>Disabled</key>
    <false/>
    <key>Label</key>
    <string>usr.home.bose.wakeup</string>
    <key>ProgramArguments</key>
    <array>
        <string>/usr/bin/afplay</string>
        <string>-v</string>
        <string>0.05</string>
        <string>/System/Library/Sounds/Submarine.aiff</string>
    </array>
    <key>RunAtLoad</key>
    <true/>
    <key>StartInterval</key>
    <integer>887</integer>
</dict>
</plist>

So the entire say part of your answer is not an answer to the question? Should it be two separate answers, or re-ordered so the useful answer is more prominent? — user150109
– user150109, Commented Apr 13, 2020 at 11:47
@theonlygusti The say part answers the question "What is the best way to occasionally play a sound?" but doesn't meet one contraint: to [be] very quiet (ideally inaudible). I rather wanted to show how to use a launch agent to repeatedly play a sound. — klanomath
– klanomath, Commented Apr 13, 2020 at 11:59
Thank you! Yes, I'm sure I could record something more quiet, or perhaps even a recording of silence would work. — Wallfacer
– Wallfacer, Commented Apr 14, 2020 at 11:13

Wallfacer · Accepted Answer · 2020-04-15 15:05:44Z

1

For this specific speaker, it turns out there is an easier answer: just press and hold the bluetooth and + buttons until it verifies that auto-off has been disabled. Still, thank you all for the input!

answered Apr 15, 2020 at 15:05

Wallfacer

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