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How to change QC35 II noise cancelling on a Mac

macOS treats the QC35 II as a plain Bluetooth headset. It plays audio through it, but it has no control for Bose's noise cancelling levels. You have three options.

What the three levels do

• High blocks the most outside noise.
• Low is meant for quieter places, and Bose recommends it when it's windy.
• Off turns noise cancelling off. Bose notes this also turns off the headphones' active EQ, so music sounds different.

1. Use the Action button

The QC35 II has an Action button on the left earcup. Out of the box it starts Google Assistant in countries where Assistant is available; elsewhere it already controls noise cancelling. In the Bose Connect app you can set it to cycle noise cancelling levels instead. After that, each press steps to the next level, whatever device the headphones are connected to.

The catch: you need the phone app once to change the button, and you give up the assistant shortcut.

2. Use the Bose Connect app on your phone

Open Bose Connect, tap the settings icon, choose Noise Cancellation and pick High, Low or Off. This works while the headphones are playing from your Mac too, as long as the phone is also connected to them.

3. Switch it from the Mac's menu bar

Lull adds the controls macOS is missing. Click the battery ring in the menu bar and choose Off, Low or High. Lull waits for the headphones to confirm the change; if they don't, the control goes back to the level they're really on.