A macOS menu bar app that disconnects your real microphone system-wide
by swapping it with a silent virtual device.
macOS 13+ · Apple Silicon & Intel
Hush gives you a one-click kill switch for your microphone, right in your menu bar:
- Grey mic icon – Microphone available (not in use)
- Green mic icon – Microphone is actively in use by an app
- Red mic icon – Microphone is disconnected (apps receive silence)
Click the icon to toggle. Hush remembers your preference across restarts.
Hush uses BlackHole, a free open-source virtual audio driver, as a decoy input device. When you activate blocking:
- Hush saves which microphone you're currently using
- It replaces your macOS default input device with BlackHole – a null audio device that can only ever produce silence
- Apps recording from the default input are now connected to a device that has no microphone hardware at all
When you deactivate, Hush switches back to your real microphone.
This is stronger than muting. A muted mic is still your active input device – it could be unmuted by a bug, an app, or the OS. Hush removes your real mic from the equation entirely. Apps aren't talking to a silenced microphone – they're talking to a virtual device that has no audio to give. There's nothing to unmute.
- One-click mic disconnect across all apps, no digging through System Settings
- Stronger than app-level mute – your real mic isn't the input device at all, not just silenced
- Hot-mic prevention – Zoom/Teams left running in the background can't hear you
- Visible status – always know when any app is using the mic via the menu bar icon
- Peace of mind for everyday use
Hush is a practical privacy tool, not a security tool. It's worth understanding the boundaries:
- Apps can select a specific device. Any app that explicitly targets a particular audio device (rather than using the system default) will still reach your real microphone. Most apps use the default, but some audio-focused apps don't.
- It doesn't revoke permissions. macOS per-app microphone permissions (System Settings > Privacy & Security > Microphone) are enforced at the kernel level and are stronger. Hush operates in userspace and doesn't change these permissions.
- Already-recording apps may not be affected. If an app opened a specific device before you activated blocking, it may continue recording from that device.
- It won't stop kernel-level threats. If your system is compromised at the driver or kernel level, no userspace app can protect you.
For defense in depth, use Hush alongside macOS's built-in per-app microphone permissions. They complement each other – Hush for quick daily control, system permissions for hard enforcement.
- macOS 13.0 (Ventura) or later
- BlackHole 2ch (free virtual audio driver)
- Download and install BlackHole 2ch
- Restart your Mac after installing BlackHole
- Download Hush.dmg from the latest release
- Open the DMG and drag Hush to your Applications folder
- Launch Hush – it will appear in your menu bar
The app is signed and notarized by Apple.
- Click the menu bar icon to toggle mic blocking on/off
- Right-click (or click and hold) to access the menu:
- See current microphone status
- See which input device is active
- Enable/disable launch at login
- Quit the app
Requires Xcode 15 or later.
git clone https://github.com/madebysan/hush.git
cd hush
xcodebuild -project Hush.xcodeproj -scheme Hush -configuration Release
# The app will be in build/Release/Hush.appHush runs entirely on your Mac. No data collection, no network connections, no telemetry. The app only:
- Monitors which audio input device is active
- Detects when your microphone is in use (via CoreAudio)
- Switches between audio input devices
- Stores your preferences locally (mute state, launch-at-login, saved microphone)
Found a bug or have a feature idea? Open an issue.
- SimplyCoreAudio for audio device management
- BlackHole virtual audio driver
Made by santiagoalonso.com