[Un]MuteMic is one of my favorite macOS utility apps. It's simple: a button placed on the menu bar that lets you toggle the microphone status. Since we are in the age of teleconferencing, it's a handy app, but it got compiled a long time ago, about four years B.A.S. (Before Apple Silicon).

One of the first things I did after I got my new MacBook was to compile the app for aarch64. It worked great!

Then I started adding a feature: global hotkey. I added this feature on the existing codebase, initially written in Objective-C.

I've never really bonded with Objective-C. I find the syntax unnecessarily verbose, so two days ago, I decided to rewrite the entire app in Swift and SwiftUI.

At WWDC2022, Apple introduced MenuBarExtra, a Scene that renders a persistent item in the system menu bar. It seemed appropriate to rewrite the app using this new Scene.

brew install eliseomartelli/eliseomartelli/muteunmute

Changelog:

• The app is compiled as a Universal Binary, no more Rosetta!
• Complete rewrite in Swift and SwiftUI using MenuBarExtra.
• Accessibility Service so you can decide to have a global hotkey.
• The app icon is redesigned. It feels right at home on modern macOS.
• What input am I using? Now you can know.
• SFSymbols so everything is pixel-perfect.

The app in action: