There’s something about the sound that a typewriter makes, when you, type-write; a kind of a… therapuetic value associated with the sounds of those keystrokes. If you are somone who has been born during the 80s, having seen your parent(s) use one and/or, have used a typewriter yourself, you know what I am talking about here.
A typewriter is definitely on my “to-get” list. While on the hunt, it doesn’t hurt to hear the sounds of those keystrokes while writing something. Here’s a list of some apps that make your keyboard sound like a typewriter. They make that sound come alive, in their own way, while you are writing on your digital keyboard.
1. Noisy Typer: This one’s, for OS X. Has a minimal footprint and, is invisble. The typewriter sound it makes is, just perfect. Not to loud, not to soft either. It’s invisible when you launch it. There is no preferences or anything to set. Just launch it and it makes the typewriter sound. The only way to quit is to type “qaz123”, anywhere, on the keyboard. Awesome app and it’s what I use. Totally free!
2. Typewriter Keyboard: Minimal, shareware program; has some preferences you can set. It’s a shareware - you can use it, but without buying a license, it auto shuts down after some minutes of usage. The thing, I liked about Typewriter Keyboard, is that it lets you select the sound(s) you want to assign. So you could download and/or record the sound of a typewriter you like and use that with Typewriter Keyboard. Typewriter Keyboard is OS X only.
3. Sound Pilot: A Windows application. You have the option of switching sound schemes here. You could use the ICQ sound scheme; there’s even a sound scheme based on Morse code typing. It’s not free and costs about 15.55USD, at the time of writing this post. Once you buy it, you can download a bunch of sound schemes from the developers home page. I haven’t tested this one out.
4. Jingle Pilot a.k.a Jingle Keys: Quiet popular, and fully customisable. It makes typewriter sounds when you use your keyboard. Jingle pilot, too, allows you to change sound schemes and you can use your own. You can assign different sounds, to different group of keys. For e.g. the arrow keys can be assigned a different scheme, from rest of the keyboard. I haven’t used this one, but it sure does sounds fun, to use! Windows only and you have to buy it. At the time of writing this post, it costs around ~20USD.
5. Qwertick: Minimal footprint, with the exe being ~33kb. This one’s free and for Windows only. It’s quite popular.
6. Qwertickle: A clone of Qwertick, but for Linux. The sound effect it use’s is from SoundJay.com. It’s free to use, but you cannot distribute it yourself. More info here.
7. Linux Typewriter: The name may be misleading, as it can work with any *ix or windows machine, provided all the libraries used are present. Uses Python, Ruby and Rubygems to recreate the sound of a typewriter, while you use your keyboard. Definitely an interesting angle to make your keyboard sound like a typewriter.
If you use or know of, any other app or software, to make your keyboard sound like a typewriter, leave a comment and let me know! Would love to add it to the list here!
