01
Near-zero latency
Samples preloaded and mixed on a real-time audio thread — the sound lands with the keypress, not after it.
26 sound packs · 2 real typewriters
Every keystroke should sound like something
Kachunk is a macOS menu bar app that answers your typing with real recorded audio — vintage Underwood and Olivetti typewriters, or 24 mechanical switch packs. Anywhere on your Mac.
🔊 your keyboard is live on this page —
type
anything
Type here. Hear it work.
Every strike gets its own pitch and gain, ±3 semitones — the reason a paragraph never turns into a loop. Pick a sound from the K menu in the menu bar, exactly like the real app.Kachunk
Underwood 1938
Sound pack
Return bell
Carriage slide
Mute Kachunk⌃⌥M
July 28, 2026 at 1:02 PM
this note is listening.
click here & start typing — or anywhere on the page
pick your sound from the K menu above
click here & start typing — or anywhere on the page
pick your sound from the K menu above
UNDERWOOD 1938
COL 0/60
🔔 MARGIN BELL
Two typewriters.
Twenty-four switches.
Not synthesised clicks. Each pack is a set of real recordings — strike, release, and the mechanical tail between them — swappable mid-sentence from the menu bar. Click any card to audition it, then keep typing.
Sound is easy.
Sounding right is not.
Six things we lost sleep over so your typing never feels like a toy.
02
No two strikes alike
Per-strike pitch and gain variation across 12 distinct strike recordings, so a long paragraph never collapses into an obvious loop.
03
Silent in password fields
Secure text inputs are detected system-wide and muted automatically. Nothing you type is ever read or logged.
04
Per-app mute list
Keep the typewriter for writing and silence it in Zoom, Terminal, or anything else you pick.
05
Global mute hotkey
One shortcut kills the sound from anywhere — plus volume and pack switching without leaving the menu bar.
06
Lightweight by design
6 MB, no dock icon, no window, near-zero idle CPU. It behaves like part of the system.
How Kachunk compares
Kachunk
Typical typing-sound app
Real recorded typewriters
2 machines
None
Mechanical switch packs
24
6–10
Per-strike pitch variation
Yes, ±3 st
Rarely
Return bell & carriage slide
Yes
No
Per-app mute list
Yes
No
Pricing
Free · $4.99 for all packs
Subscription
Questions,
answered.
Does Kachunk work in every app?
Yes. It listens for keystrokes system-wide, so the sound follows you from your editor to Slack to the terminal. You can silence specific apps from the menu bar list.
Can it see what I type?
No. Kachunk needs the Input Monitoring permission to know a key moved, but it never reads, stores, or transmits characters. Secure text fields are muted automatically, and the app works fully offline.
Will it lag behind my typing?
Samples are decoded into memory at launch and mixed on a real-time audio thread, so playback is effectively instantaneous even at 120+ words per minute.
What's actually in a sound pack?
Individual recordings for the strike and its mechanical tail — up to 12 per pack — plus dedicated space and backspace sounds. Typewriter packs add a return bell and carriage slide, each toggleable.
How many Macs does one licence cover?
Every Mac you own. One purchase, no account, no seat counting.
Is it a subscription?
No. Kachunk is free to download and keep forever, with the Underwood 1938 typewriter and the Cream mechanical pack included. A single $4.99 purchase unlocks the complete sound pack — including every pack we add later.
Free forever.
Unlock it all for $4.99.
Download free and keep the Underwood 1938 typewriter and the Cream mechanical pack forever. No subscription, no account, no analytics. Kachunk never records what you type — it only knows that a key moved, and it forgets that instantly.
Notarised by Apple · works offline · refund within 30 days · also on the Mac App Store
$4.99
one time · complete sound pack
- Free forever: Underwood 1938 + Cream
- $4.99 unlocks all 26 packs — and every pack we add
- Every Mac you own
