Taptix: Mechanical Keyboard & Mouse Sounds

[gloogloo]

TAPTIX

Mechanical Keyboard and Mouse Sounds for Alfred

~ Full Documentation ~ | ~ Latest Release ~ | ~ Video Overview & Setup ~

 

REQUIREMENTS

• This workflow supports Fuzzy Search (thank you for this code!). This is useful in case users decide to make a long list of custom sound packs. This is the first time I'm incorporating this in a workflow and I'm not familiar with Python at all. I have no clue if users need to install anything for this to work. My guess is that it should work out of the box, but any issues let me know.
• This workflow includes a small Go app. I'm not an "official developer" so users need to authorize the app for it to work. Other option is that users can compile it themselves from its source code.

 

FEATURES

• Realistic sound playback for key presses (up and down) and mouse clicks.
• Custom sounds for spacebar and return key.
• Randomized sounds for other keys to enhance realism and simplify custom sound packs.
• Customizable settings:
  • Keyboard and mouse sounds.
  • Global and per-device volume.
  • Mute status per device.
  • Do not disturb mode.
• Easy access to settings via Alfred's search bar ("tt" keyword), keyboard shortcuts, or external triggers.
• Advanced: Create custom presets by modifying multiple settings at once using external triggers.

 

 

HOW TO

1. Upon installation you must AUTHORIZE Taptix for it to work. 

2. The welcome screen configuration settings are used each time Taptix starts. I suggest you keep the defaults at first and change them later—once you familiarize yourself with how the Workflow works and your preferred sounds/settings.

3. The most straight-forward way to use Taptix is with its keyboard: "tt" or "taptix". The menu options are self explanatory, but there’s two things you must know:

• Fuzzy search is supported (e.g., "tt sk" for "Set Keyboard Sound").
• Hold CMD or OPT when selecting "Set Volume" to adjust keyboard or mouse volume separately.

 

There are customizable hotkeys, external triggers (with lots of possible arguments, which provide absolute control of the workflow even without interacting with Alfred's bar), and there's the possibility of creating custom sound packs. If interested, please take a look at the full documentation over at Github. 

 

 

[vitor]

Interesting idea. Good looking configuration too! And great production values on the video. I found it entertaining and clear and watched it the whole way through with pleasure. You clearly take great care to having things be and look organised.

Shame about it not being signed and notarised, but I understand not everyone can justify spending the 100$ to Apple for that. But tangential to that, two small notes:

• The binary is compiled only for Apple Silicon, which means it won’t run for people on Intel Macs. If you search for something like “Go macOS universal binary”, you should find how to compile one binary for both architectures. It will be a single file, same as now (albeit bigger) with no further changes necessary. If you get lost, let me know and I’ll see if I can clarify whatever you need.
• Regarding authorisation, right-click → open might no longer work from macOS Sequoia onwards. Running the binary should still be possible, but the process to allow it might differ.

Back to the video, may I enquire two small things? Specifically, your clicks had a kind of “fish eye” effect that made them pop more (see around 2:15). Is that post-production, or a feature of your screen recording software? And around that same time frame, what’s the “Hyper Actions” thing you used?

 

Best of luck with the channel. I’m going to poke around a bit more later to see what else you’ve posted and give you some well deserved views.

[gloogloo]

Thank you so much @vitor for the heads up. It took me a bit of researching but finally compiled the binary for both architectures, so it should now work for both Silicon and Intel. Also, thanks for the note about Sequoia... I'll add a note in the readme.

 

On regards to the video, every time I click there's a "ripple effect" that comes from the screen recording app (Screen Studio). I also have a white indicator/highlight which comes from the app Presentation Assistant, but I think you are asking about the ripple effect.

 

The Hyper Actions is one of my submenus in Kando. Kando is a pie menu that I have setup for my mouse so that I can perform custom actions (launch apps, manage windows, macros, etc) with my mouse alone. I usually prefer keyboard but it's still useful in those cases I am on the mouse and don't want to switch device. I think on the video I used it for hiding Alfred temporarily.

 

Thanks!

[sepulchra]

as a sound person and someone with too many mechanical keyboards, this workflow puts a smile on my face.

[dood]

Wow, this is magical! 🤯

[gloogloo]

A few important updates for this workflow have taken place since I posted it. 

 

• Taptix can now play WAV files (24 bit & 16 bit). This allows for better audio quality and faster speed, since these do not need decompressing as MP3s. MP3 files are still supported and will be used as a fallback for custom sound packs if no WAV files are found.
• All default sound packs in the workflow have been rebuilt using WAV files.
• Implemented some thresholds both for key down & key up events which should be helpful for users that use this workflow on a laptop and for users that use macros/automations. Basically, key down & key up sounds need at least 10 milliseconds between them—otherwise we only get a key down sound. Also, when keys are pressed down or released at the same time they will produce a single key down or key up sound. This should only make the sounds much more cleaner, and avoid the playing of more than one audio files at exactly the same time (which was sometimes resulting in a sudden higher volume).
• There’s been several under-the-hood code optimizations which, with all the above, make the workflow feel much more snappier and with less lag.
• The workflow can now load sounds from multiple paths at the same time, which allows for a new “Extended Sound Packs” option in the configuration. This makes it easier for users to to be able to choose their own personal sound packs in addition to the default ones.
• Users can now hold CMD on the “Activate/Deactivate Taptix” option in Alfred’s bar to quickly jump to the Workflow’s configuration.
• I’ve incorporated the auto-updater script for users to easily keep this workflow up to date.

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