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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

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

hammock 6y ago
Colloquially we say "mute yourself" or "mute this or that person," so it functions in that context.
- milansm 6y ago
  In that case, “mutes yourself” would be more appropriate.
- boxed 6y ago
  Not colloquially. That's correct. Muting a mic is the colloquial expression. Think about what the word means: silence a thing. The mic does not make a sound.
- fastball 6y ago
  But you're not muting the keyboard, you're muting everything.
boxed 6y ago
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.
- machello13 6y ago
  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).
  - zarmin 6y ago
    Just want to confirm I understood this sentence. Don't speak a lick of English though.
- ghostpepper 6y ago
  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"
  - mosselman 6y ago
    But what boxed is saying is that that leap is incorrect and shouldn’t happen and that “it mutes the mic” is incorrect.
    - machello13 6y ago
      Yeah, but he's wrong.
- robbrown451 6y ago
  "Mute your microphone" is quite standard. Most UIs show a microphone, that you can click on to disable. A circle with a slash through it will appear on top of the picture of the microphone. This is referred to as "muting." This should be enough to see why it is called "muting your microphone." While you could say "disable your microphone," this can lead to confusion, such as thinking that you are talking about more permanently disabling it, such as you do in your computer settings. The most important thing about language is that it is understood. "Mute your microphone" is going to be understood.
ubercore 6y ago
Same. I know Apple does software/tactile interactions (firm press, click sound on trackpads for instance) so I assumed this had to do with that, and that new Apple keyboards created an artificial click. "Mutes your call while typing" or something similar would have been more clear. I assumed this app wouldn't apply to me, but it does.
robotsquidward 6y ago
Thanks so much for your feedback! I actually just pushed an update to the homepage to make that tweak - you're right that it was a bit misleading.
Closi 6y ago
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.
- jmmcd 6y ago
  I disagree - it's not clear. I thought it was going to be some fancy machine learning to silence keyboard sounds while keeping the mic active for voice.
masukomi 6y ago
in addition to what everyone else said about muting a microphone being a totally legit thing in English, you _can_ mute a keyboard. For example, adding soft foam to soften the hit when it bottoms out would mute your keyboard somewhat. Obviously this app doesn't "mute the keyboard" but since we're being pedantic, it's not accurate to say it can't be done. keep in mind mute does not only mean "to silence" (verb form). It's also "deaden, muffle, or soften the sound of." So, practically speaking, there are very few physical objects that produce sound that can't be muted.
- Phrodo_00 6y ago
  You definitely can't mute any random keyboard with software, though (before someone comes out with some kind of switch with a electrically controlled clickbar or something)
netizen-9748 6y ago
Thank you, this makes more sense. Initially I thought that macOS was making some sort of unturnoffable keyboard clack sounds through the speakers. This is far more reasonable than my first impression of the article title.
bargle0 6y ago
Darn. I thought it might do something clever like play interfering sounds to cancel it out, like noise canceling headphones.
dang 6y ago
Ok, I've made that edit in the title above. Belatedly but oh well. Thanks!

hammock 6y ago

Colloquially we say "mute yourself" or "mute this or that person," so it functions in that context.

milansm 6y ago
In that case, “mutes yourself” would be more appropriate.
boxed 6y ago
Not colloquially. That's correct. Muting a mic is the colloquial expression. Think about what the word means: silence a thing. The mic does not make a sound.
fastball 6y ago
But you're not muting the keyboard, you're muting everything.

boxed 6y ago

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.

machello13 6y ago
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).
- zarmin 6y ago
  Just want to confirm I understood this sentence. Don't speak a lick of English though.
ghostpepper 6y ago
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"
- mosselman 6y ago
  But what boxed is saying is that that leap is incorrect and shouldn’t happen and that “it mutes the mic” is incorrect.
  - machello13 6y ago
    Yeah, but he's wrong.
robbrown451 6y ago
"Mute your microphone" is quite standard. Most UIs show a microphone, that you can click on to disable. A circle with a slash through it will appear on top of the picture of the microphone. This is referred to as "muting." This should be enough to see why it is called "muting your microphone." While you could say "disable your microphone," this can lead to confusion, such as thinking that you are talking about more permanently disabling it, such as you do in your computer settings. The most important thing about language is that it is understood. "Mute your microphone" is going to be understood.

ubercore 6y ago

Same. I know Apple does software/tactile interactions (firm press, click sound on trackpads for instance) so I assumed this had to do with that, and that new Apple keyboards created an artificial click. "Mutes your call while typing" or something similar would have been more clear. I assumed this app wouldn't apply to me, but it does.

robotsquidward 6y ago

Thanks so much for your feedback! I actually just pushed an update to the homepage to make that tweak - you're right that it was a bit misleading.

Closi 6y ago

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.

jmmcd 6y ago
I disagree - it's not clear. I thought it was going to be some fancy machine learning to silence keyboard sounds while keeping the mic active for voice.

masukomi 6y ago

in addition to what everyone else said about muting a microphone being a totally legit thing in English, you _can_ mute a keyboard. For example, adding soft foam to soften the hit when it bottoms out would mute your keyboard somewhat. Obviously this app doesn't "mute the keyboard" but since we're being pedantic, it's not accurate to say it can't be done. keep in mind mute does not only mean "to silence" (verb form). It's also "deaden, muffle, or soften the sound of." So, practically speaking, there are very few physical objects that produce sound that can't be muted.

Phrodo_00 6y ago
You definitely can't mute any random keyboard with software, though (before someone comes out with some kind of switch with a electrically controlled clickbar or something)

netizen-9748 6y ago

Thank you, this makes more sense. Initially I thought that macOS was making some sort of unturnoffable keyboard clack sounds through the speakers. This is far more reasonable than my first impression of the article title.

bargle0 6y ago

Darn. I thought it might do something clever like play interfering sounds to cancel it out, like noise canceling headphones.

dang 6y ago

Ok, I've made that edit in the title above. Belatedly but oh well. Thanks!