Thlick
A native macOS menu bar app that plays mechanical keyboard sounds as you type, in any app.
Project Overview
Thlick is a free, open-source macOS utility that lives in the menu bar and plays a mechanical keyboard sound for every key you press, system-wide. It ships with four sound profiles (Cobalt, Walnut, Onyx and Ember), mutes itself while the microphone is in use, supports per-app exclusions and global shortcuts, and runs as a signed, notarized universal binary on macOS 13 Ventura and later.
Privacy is built in: the key listener is listen-only and only sees the key category, never the characters. Nothing is stored or sent anywhere, and password fields are skipped.
Links
- Website: https://thlick.com
- Source code: https://github.com/khamkarsuraj/thlick
- Download: Releases
Features
- System-wide sounds: one sound per keypress in any app, with a sub-20 ms key-to-sound latency target.
- Four profiles: Cobalt (sharp), Walnut (soft, office-friendly), Onyx (deep thock) and Ember (light, quiet).
- Menu bar first: popover controls, timed mute, optional Dock icon and launch at login.
- Auto-mute: goes silent while the microphone is in use, with per-app exclusions for apps that should stay quiet.
- Global shortcuts: toggle sound, mute, volume and profile from anywhere, with an on-screen HUD and cheat sheet.
- Accessible: VoiceOver, keyboard navigation, Reduce Motion, and light and dark mode.
Technology Stack
- App: Swift and SwiftUI, sandboxed, with separate direct-download and Mac App Store targets
- Audio: low-latency sound engine measured with a repeatable latency bench
- Testing and CI: Swift Testing unit tests, GitHub Actions on Apple silicon and Intel runners
- Distribution: Developer ID signed and notarized DMG