Add satisfying mechanical keyboard click sounds to a MacBook's built-in keyboard without buying a physical mechanical keyboard.
Display a floating keyboard overlay that lights up keys as you type, or show your words-per-minute in real time.
Create named profiles for different contexts and set sleep rules that auto-mute during calendar events, specific hours, or when a chosen app is in front.
Requires macOS 26 (Tahoe) and a local iUX dependency that must be cloned alongside the repo before building.
Clonk is a free, open-source Mac app that makes every keystroke sound like a mechanical keyboard. It runs in the menu bar, listens for key presses and mouse clicks, and plays a click sound in response. The app ships with zero audio files. Every sound is generated on the spot using a technique called DSP (digital signal processing), which constructs a realistic thock from mathematical parameters rather than recordings. There are five sound voices to choose from, each modeled on a different type of mechanical switch. Clicky Blue is sharp and bright, Tactile Brown is a balanced everyday click, Linear Red is soft and smooth, Deep Thock is low and rounded, and Vintage Typewriter is loud and metallic. Wide keys like the spacebar and return key automatically get a slightly deeper sound. Each press is also subtly randomized so fast typing never sounds repetitive. You can also import a folder of your own audio files if you prefer real recordings over the synthesized sounds. On top of the sounds, Clonk includes optional floating overlays that visualize your typing. A full keyboard layout lights up as you press keys, a minimal overlay shows just the keys you are currently pressing, a words-per-minute counter tracks your typing speed, and a piano mode maps keys to musical notes. All overlays are transparent panels you can drag anywhere on screen without interrupting other apps. Profiles let you save complete configurations under a name and switch between them quickly. Sleep rules can automatically mute Clonk under specific conditions, such as when the laptop is on battery, during certain hours of the day, when a particular app is in front, or during calendar events. Privacy is straightforward: Clonk needs the macOS Accessibility permission to detect when a key is pressed, but it never reads, stores, or transmits what you type. All sound generation happens on the device. There is no network activity, no analytics, and no accounts. The app requires macOS 26 (Tahoe) and a local dependency called iUX that must be cloned alongside it before building.
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