Do you want to hear keyboard sounds when you’re typing? This little app lets you hear exactly that.
Now before you ask me I have to say that I’ve little idea exactly who might want to use this app. Nor can I tell you that “it’s especially useful for…” .
But I love the idea behind it, especially as it lets you hear typewriter sounds while typing.
I may be showing my age here but I have really strong nostalgic attachments to the sound of typewriters.
I’ve never actually had one, but I still associate the heavy clanking of keystrokes and whirrs-ding of a new line with productivity. I love the sounds so much I often make use of Tom Hanks’ ‘Hanx Writer’ app on iOS!
But back to this app.
Tickeys for Linux
Tickeys for Linux says it gives you ‘instant audio feedback when typing’. It’s an app that’s available for all major operating systems but we’re (naturally) only referencing the Linux version here.
Although the app is likely to get super annoying if you happen to type more than 140 characters it could, perhaps, be a fun way to annoy people (for a short period of time, of course).
Tickeys has a decent set of sound effects including:
- Typewriter
- Mechanical keyboards (including Cherry G80)
- Bubbling
- Drum sounds
- Sword
You can see a clip of the app running on Mac OS X below:
Download Tickeys for Linux
You can find Ubuntu installers for the nifty noise generating app on its GitHub project page below, but please note that the product page is in Chinese and so, sadly, is most of the application’s GUI.
Notes
Privacy
It would be remiss of me to not mention the glaringly obvious potential privacy issues that might stem from using an app that works by listening to and reacting to keyboard events… But as the app is open-source you can review all of its code on GitHub to make sure it’s not logging or transmitting keystrokes somewhere it shouldn’t.
python-pip
This app is available on PyPi, which makes it easier to install. Make sure you have python-pip installed first, and then run:
sudo pip install tickeys
Troubleshooting
If you encounter errors about missing dependencies after installing the app do make sure you have the following installed:
sudo apt-get install python-dev python-pip python-kivy xdotool
Alternatives
It’s not the only Linux app capable of making typewriter sounds while you type, with Qwertickle and Linux Typewriter being among two apps to do it, though neither has been updated for quite some time.
Thanks to Hugo V!