Tickeys Redux

Native Apple Silicon menu bar app that brings mechanical keyboard sounds back to modern macOS.

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Free, open source, local-only. No microphone. No telemetry. No cloud.

Download from Releases · Build from source · 中文说明

Tickeys Redux is a modern macOS port of Tickeys by Ying Yuandong. It keeps the playful typing feedback of the original app, but rebuilds the runtime for Apple Silicon with Rust, objc2, rodio, CoreAudio, and a clean menu bar interface.

Apple Silicon only. This project targets arm64 Macs. Intel Mac users should use the original Tickeys.

Why Try It

• Instant typing feedback with bundled mechanical, typewriter, sword, drum, bubble, and Cherry G80 sound packs.
• Native menu bar workflow: switch schemes, adjust volume, and tune pitch without opening a full app window.
• Privacy-respecting by design: uses macOS Input Monitoring to detect key events, not a microphone.
• No background web services: no telemetry, cloud sync, analytics, or update beacon.
• Modern native stack: Rust 2024, objc2, rodio, CoreAudio, and an auditable app bundle script.
• Classic Tickeys spirit: preserves the original fun while removing legacy dylib dependencies.

Demo

The app lives quietly in the menu bar. Pick a sound scheme, set volume and pitch, then type. Each key-down event plays a short local WAV sample immediately.

Menu bar -> Sound Scheme -> Mechanical / Typewriter / Sword / Drum / Bubble / Cherry
Menu bar -> Volume       -> 25% / 50% / 75% / 100%
Menu bar -> Pitch        -> 0.5x / 1.0x / 1.5x / 2.0x

Install

Download Tickeys.Redux.v1.0.5.dmg from Releases, open it, and copy Tickeys Redux.app to Applications.

On first launch, grant Input Monitoring permission when macOS asks. Tickeys Redux needs this permission to know that a key was pressed; it does not record text or use the microphone.

What's New in v1.0.5

	Original	Redux
Architecture	x86_64	arm64 native
Audio engine	OpenAL + libalut (.dylib)	rodio (pure Rust → CoreAudio)
UI framework	cocoa 0.2 + XIB	objc2 0.6 + NSStatusBar
Rust edition	2015	2024
Settings	Unfinished XIB window	🎹 Menu bar — scheme/volume/pitch
Permissions	None	Input Monitoring (native macOS prompt)
Update checker	Built-in	Removed
macOS target	10.10+	11+ (arm64 baseline)

Usage

1. Launch Tickeys Redux.app
2. Grant Input Monitoring permission when the system prompt appears
3. Click 🎹 in the menu bar to:
   • Switch sound schemes (bubble, Cherry G80-3000/3494, drum, mechanical, sword, typewriter...)
   • Adjust volume (25%/50%/75%/100%)
   • Adjust pitch (0.5x–2.0x)
4. Start typing — instant key sounds

Building the App Bundle

Requires Rust 1.77+.

git clone https://github.com/E-R-Butch/TickeysRedux.git
cd TickeysRedux
./scripts/package_app.sh

This script handles:

• cargo build --release
• Creates Tickeys Redux.app bundle with all resources
• Writes Info.plist (version read from Cargo.toml)
• Ad-hoc codesigns and verifies the bundle

Manual Build

cargo build --release
mkdir -p "Tickeys Redux.app/Contents/MacOS"
mkdir -p "Tickeys Redux.app/Contents/Resources"
cp target/release/tickeys-redux "Tickeys Redux.app/Contents/MacOS/"
rsync -a --exclude='*.bak' --exclude='*.wav.bak' assets/data/ "Tickeys Redux.app/Contents/Resources/data/"
cp assets/tickeys_redux.icns "Tickeys Redux.app/Contents/Resources/tickeys.icns"
# Write Info.plist, then:
codesign --force --deep --sign - "Tickeys Redux.app"
codesign --verify --deep --strict "Tickeys Redux.app"

Verification

After building, verify the bundle is healthy:

cargo build --release
./scripts/package_app.sh
codesign --verify --deep --strict --verbose=2 "Tickeys Redux.app"
plutil -lint "Tickeys Redux.app/Contents/Info.plist"

Custom Sound Schemes

Add your own .wav files under assets/data/ and edit assets/data/schemes.json:

{
    "name": "myScheme",
    "display_name": "My Scheme",
    "files": ["1.wav", "2.wav", "3.wav"],
    "non_unique_count": 3,
    "key_audio_map": {}
}

Tech Stack

Component	Library	Purpose
Audio	rodio 0.20	WAV decode + playback via CoreAudio
UI	objc2 0.6	NSStatusBar, NSMenu, NSAlert
Keyboard	CGEventTap (FFI)	Global key-down monitoring
Concurrency	crossbeam 0.8	Audio worker thread channel
Config	serde + serde_json	Scheme definition parsing
Prefs	NSUserDefaults	Persist scheme/volume/pitch

Permissions

Tickeys Redux uses CGEventTapCreate to listen for global key-down events. This requires Input Monitoring permission on macOS. The system prompt appears automatically on first launch. No Accessibility permission needed.

Note: each cargo build changes the binary's ad-hoc code signature hash. Re-grant Input Monitoring permission after rebuilding. A proper Developer ID signature eliminates this.

Project Metadata

Suggested GitHub topics are listed in docs/github-metadata.md.

License

MIT — original work by 应元东, Redux port by Sinclair.