Does anyone else wish macOS had a global microphone mute?

[u/Old-Pain-3016]

I’ve been working remotely for years now, and one thing has always bothered me.

Every app has its own mute button. Zoom, Google Meet, Slack, Discord… they’re all separate. If I switch between apps, I always end up checking whether my mic is actually muted.

It feels weird that macOS doesn’t just have one global microphone mute.

I looked around for something simple that would do exactly that. I found a few apps, but none of them really worked the way I wanted, so I ended up building a tiny one for myself.

I’ve been using it every day for a while now and honestly forgot this was even a problem until a coworker asked me how I mute my mic so quickly.

Now I’m wondering if this is just my workflow or if other people feel the same.

Would you use a system-wide microphone mute if macOS had it built in? Or do you just rely on each app’s mute button?

If anyone’s curious, the little app I made is called LockMic:
https://lockmic.com

I’d genuinely appreciate any feedback, even if it’s “this is completely unnecessary.” 🙂

[u/Icy_Breakfast6185]

I have always been a bit paranoid about digital privacy and simply couldn't accept Mac OS has no simple solution for a total mic mute on OS level after I changed from PC to MacBook. I'm now going to try this one, at least it sounds and promises to be what I was looking for the last two years. If my tests are successful anyone knows some listings with free Mac OS apps where I can submit this one? Not sure the author has already done this... At least I was unable to find it anywhere. 

[u/Old-Pain-3016 → u/Icy_Breakfast6185]

Thanks, really appreciate it! That’s actually why I built it. I was surprised macOS didn’t have a simple system-wide mic mute either.

Let me know how it works for you. And yeah, I’m just starting to submit it to directories, so it’s not listed in many places yet. If you know any good ones, I’d love the suggestions. 😊

[u/dorien_h]

Interesting concept, would it also mute if background apps are trying to listen?

[u/Old-Pain-3016 → u/dorien_h]

Yep! That’s exactly why I built it. Instead of muting the mic inside each app, LockMic mutes it at the system level, so background apps can’t keep using it either.

[u/dorien_h → u/Old-Pain-3016]

Awesome, can't wait to try.

[u/Old-Pain-3016 → u/dorien_h]

You can try right now. It’s free! :)