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Show HN: Unclack – a macOS app that mutes your microphone while you type

unclack.app

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Re: Show HN: Unclack – a macOS app that mutes your microphone while you type

#141

Post by robotsquidward »

oceliker wrote: post #60

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.

I wish! I spent a long time considering if I could detect keyboard sounds through the active microphone and mute on a certain decibel level or typing velocity, etc. or even get as fancy as that sort of noise-cancelling approach. In the end I went with a much more simplistic MVP - though I hope to explore more interesting ways to optimize in the future.

Re: Show HN: Unclack – a macOS app that mutes your microphone while you type

#142

Post by zarmin »

machello13 wrote: post #124
boxed wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can't mute a microphone. Mute is when something can't make a sound. You put a mic on mute. So no, the text is correct. But obviously it's wrong. It doesn't ONLY mute the keyboard, it mutes everything for the person typing. The keyboard, the person, the squeaking chair.

You can absolutely mute a microphone, since you can say "I muted my microphone" and any English speaker will understand exactly what you mean. edit: in fact I would go so far as to say that the majority of English speakers, at least here in America, would prefer saying "mute the mic" instead "put the mic on mute" (I've never heard anyone say the latter in actual conversation, to be honest).

Just want to confirm I understood this sentence. Don't speak a lick of English though.

Re: Show HN: Unclack – a macOS app that mutes your microphone while you type

#143

Post by cmroanirgo »

pkulak wrote: post #102
boogies wrote: post #18

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…

For folks like me who _had_ to hear this in action: https://youtu.be/Y7dKyGoqn9w?t=30

It would be awesome if this app provided a toggle you could click that would scramble/unscramble the sounds while you're entering passwords, that way evedroppers can't get anything meaningful (other than your password length)

Re: Show HN: Unclack – a macOS app that mutes your microphone while you type

#144

Post by robotsquidward »

EE84M3i wrote: post #2

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.

Yeah, a little confusing. I updated the text on the Unclack landing page to specify that it mutes your microphone, not your keyboard. Appreciate the feedback!

Re: Show HN: Unclack – a macOS app that mutes your microphone while you type

#145

Post by robotsquidward »

layer8 wrote: post #135

So, people will instead see your mute indicator flicker haphazardly while you’re typing. ;)

Haha Unclack actually does let you configure the Menu Bar icon and mute indicator appearance, including being able to disable the mute indicator altogether! :)

Re: Show HN: Unclack – a macOS app that mutes your microphone while you type

#146

Post by Theodores »

korse wrote: post #131
Theodores wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really keyboards should be engineered to be completely silent. Then, under each key there should be a small piezo electric speaker to make a key click noise for reasons of haptic feedback. The app that goes with this should then be able to do things like make the keyboard sound like an Apple keyboard, or a classic IBM one or even a typewriter. It should be one of those features like how digital cameras have a speaker…

Please elaborate on why keyboards should be engineered to be completely silent. I don't think it a bad trait, and it may be beneficial in certain applications but I don't understand why this should be a universal property of keyboards (like suspension is a universal property of cars).

So that you don't wake up others such as cats or coworkers.

Re: Show HN: Unclack – a macOS app that mutes your microphone while you type

#147

Post by machello13 »

mosselman wrote: post #129
ghostpepper wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a native english speaker, I was confused about how it was possible to mute a keyboard. I did not immediately make the leap to "it mutes your mic when it detects typing on the keyboard"

But what boxed is saying is that that leap is incorrect and shouldn’t happen and that “it mutes the mic” is incorrect.

Yeah, but he's wrong.

Re: Show HN: Unclack – a macOS app that mutes your microphone while you type

#148

Post by robotsquidward »

joelschw wrote: post #3

Is it Big Sur only?

Unfortunately yes... I'm using some of the latest SwiftUI API's to build the UI that I haven't back-ported for Catalina just yet.

Of course my work laptop is also locked on Catalina, so I kind of played myself there as well! I'll definitely consider adding that backwards compatibility in the future if possible.

Re: Show HN: Unclack – a macOS app that mutes your microphone while you type

#149

Post by robotsquidward »

apetresc wrote: post #59
smcleod wrote: post #31

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.

I'm almost certain that Unclack isn't doing any audio-processing magic. It simply knows when you're typing because, you know, keyboard are part of your computer, and mutes when enough keys are pressed in a short enough window of time. It shouldn't use any significant resources at all.

Yeah I can confirm haha. It's dead simple, but also hopefully has the benefit of that simplicity on your performance.

Re: Show HN: Unclack – a macOS app that mutes your microphone while you type

#150

Post by Closi »

shawabawa3 wrote: post #90

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

I actually quite like the phrase ‘mute your keyboard’ for this purpose.

If it said ‘mutes your microphone when you type’ the use case isn’t immediately clear unless you add ‘so people can’t hear your keyboard’. Adding the rest makes it clear but less concise.

Each to their own, but I think this is fine for marketing copy. It’s clear what it means, and redbull doesn’t actually give you wings.

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