by boogies on 1/5/21, 1:39 PM
For the opposite effect, install `bucklespring` to enjoy an authentic classic clacking on any keyboard (most convenient on GNU/Linux, packaged for the biggest distros).
“This project emulates the sound of my old faithful IBM Model-M space saver bucklespring keyboard while typing on my notebook, mainly for the purpose of annoying the [heck] out of my coworkers.
Bucklespring runs as a background process and plays back the sound of each key pressed and released on your keyboard, just as if you were using an IBM Model-M. The sound of each key has carefully been sampled, and is played back while simulating the proper distance and direction for a realistic 3D sound palette of pure nostalgic bliss” — https://github.com/zevv/bucklespring
by shawabawa3 on 1/5/21, 4:37 PM
The sentence explaining what it does has a typo which makes it confusing:
> Unclack is the small but mighty Mac utility that mutes your keyboard while you type.
This should say "mutes your _microphone_ while you type". You can't mute a keyboard
by oceliker on 1/5/21, 3:09 PM
I thought this was going to be an app that emits some kind of inverse sound through the laptop speakers to neutralize the keypress sound in real life. I wonder if that's possible.
by wheybags on 1/5/21, 1:18 PM
A solution like rtx voice seems a better way to go tbh. For those who don't know, it's an nvidia thing that uses a GPU accelerated (ofc, it's nvidia) neural network to denoise voice calls, from all kinds of noise, not just typing. It's really pretty impressive, here's a demo:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uWUHkCgslNEI wish it wasn't proprietary though (and worse, hardware specific). And windows only of course.
by cmiller1 on 1/5/21, 2:34 PM
Here's a tip from people I know that do streaming from their computer: get the microphone off your desk. Find something else to put it on or buy an arm it can attach to. The fact that your device or mic are sitting on your desk where the keyboard clack vibrations are traveling right through amplifies them.
by EE84M3i on 1/5/21, 1:13 PM
This made me do a double take: "The key board on Macs has artificial clacking?" but of course this actually mutes your microphone, not your keyboard.
by srtjstjsj on 1/5/21, 2:32 PM
It doesn't "mute your keyboard" it "mutes everything" which isn't very useful in a meeting.
by C4K3 on 1/5/21, 3:54 PM
I wish push-to-talk was more common. On linux I've been using this little python script that implements global push-to-talk by (un)muting the microphone in pulseaudio when you push a button.
https://gitlab.com/somini/inpulse-to-talkTime to see if there's something equivalent for mac.
by JamesMcMinn on 1/5/21, 4:18 PM
After seeing this and being a bit disappointed it was for Mac only, I wrote a very quick and dirty script for Linux that does something similar [1].
Probably has lots of bugs and missed edge cases (although it should handle not unmuting you if you mute yourself), but was fun to write none the less and might be useful.
If you want to play it, please have a read before using it (it has to capture key presses using xinput but does nothing with actual key values) and I won't accept any responsibility if it mutes / unmutes you at an inopportune time, etc.
[1] https://pastebin.com/CRuLWjzr
by rjmunro on 1/5/21, 3:19 PM
When I downloaded it the DMG file was 12.2Mb. I was suspicious of why an app this small in function would require such a large download, and looked inside, but the actual contents was only 1.4Mb, half of which was icons etc., which seems much more reasonable. If I right click on Unclack.app and choose "compress", I get a file under 1Mb in size.
Does this always happen with DMG files, or is there something weird going on here? This file is 10× bigger than it could be.
by pluc on 1/5/21, 1:30 PM
You already have a mute button.. do you really want to deal with unplanned un-muting as opposed to planned muting?
by Diggsey on 1/6/21, 12:52 AM
I work with someone who just installed this. The effect was that he accidentally muted himself every time he started typing. Not ideal...
Filtering out key-presses from the audio stream without completely muting it would be much better.
by serpico7456 on 1/6/21, 12:32 PM
I wonder why the developer didn't notarize this app? Seems especially relevant since there could be keylogging concerns. You can bypass the warning message, but not a good first impression for users: "Unclack can’t be opened because Apple cannot check it for malicious software. This software needs to be updated."
I really like the app concept!
by robotsquidward on 1/5/21, 9:10 PM
by faizshah on 1/5/21, 1:18 PM
This is genius but I usually mute myself before and after speaking. Great idea though for us mechanical switch folks.
by smcleod on 1/5/21, 2:11 PM
For anyone that's tried them both - how does it compare to krisp.ai?
I've been using Krisp since the start of 2020 and have been really happy with both its audio performance and that it doesn't seem to use excessive CPU/GPU, not to mention that it doesn't require nvidia hardware. Krisp is a paid, closed source product however.
by interactivecode on 1/5/21, 1:17 PM
by mparramon on 1/5/21, 1:51 PM
Beautiful homepage, great app UX so far. Will give it a try on my next call. Thanks a lot OP!
by joelschw on 1/5/21, 1:16 PM
Is it Big Sur only?
by rkapsoro on 1/5/21, 10:07 PM
Oh man. I literally wrote a utility for OS X that does exactly this, in Swift, 6 years ago, as a test project to get my feet wet in that environment.
https://github.com/orospakr/suppressor
I don't imagine it still builds. Perhaps I should have followed through with it!
Congrats to the author.
by SNACKeR99 on 1/10/21, 5:41 PM
by theli0nheart on 1/5/21, 5:58 PM
Does Zoom does this automatically? I hardly ever hear keyboard sounds during video calls.
by shadykiller on 1/5/21, 6:50 PM
I thought this mutes(disables) the inbuilt keyboard on my macbook. Would be super helpful for me since my son randomly presses key on my macbook keyboard while I'm trying to type from my external keyboard.
Still, a slick utility. Good luck !!
by robotsquidward on 1/14/21, 1:05 PM
For anyone stumbling upon this thread now, Unclack now supports macOS Catalina! I pushed an update today that is available from the landing page. Check it out! Thanks again for your support of Unclack!
by rasfincher on 1/5/21, 3:27 PM
I can't believe this just appeared on the front page. A co-worker and I were just talking about this happening on calls. I'm going to send this to a few people unsolicited.
by breakfastduck on 1/5/21, 9:32 PM
This is a god send. What a great little tool.
I am constantly being berated by colleagues when I start loudly typing on my mechanical keyboard without thinking...
by rickyc091 on 1/5/21, 2:22 PM
Anyone know of a big overlay that stays in the foreground lets you know if you're muted/muted?
by layer8 on 1/5/21, 7:27 PM
So, people will instead see your mute indicator flicker haphazardly while you’re typing. ;)
by als0 on 1/6/21, 11:02 PM
Is this app trustworthy? It isn't even notarized.
by jldugger on 1/5/21, 11:54 PM
"Forward to your annoying coworker today!"
by kahmos on 1/5/21, 10:41 PM
Great stuff, but has wider functionality krisp.ai
by tdy721 on 1/6/21, 1:42 AM
I need this app. But that’s not what it does :)
by anvarik on 1/5/21, 6:26 PM
hmm why can't i open the dmg? i'm on big sur
by johnbellone on 1/5/21, 5:59 PM
Dude, take my money.
by refulgentis on 1/5/21, 6:48 PM
Sad to hear macOS lets apps snoop on my keystrokes.
