App Review - Shush - Microphone Manager

Developer: Mizage, LLC.
Platform: Mac
Price: $2.99

I’ve been using “Shush” since the first time I heard about on the Ruby Rogues podcast a couple years ago. As an independent, I have to be on a lot of phone calls, and that can be a problem when you work out of your house: kids play, dogs bark, the AC runs, and the cow says “Moo”. “Shush” allows me to mute all of that…at least for those on the other end of the call.

The app is as simple as it gets. It has two modes: “push-to-talk” and “push-to-silence”. If it’s in “push-to-talk” mode, then you just need to hold down the “hotkey” (the default is the “fn” key) to speak - just like a walkie-talkie. “Push-to-silence” works in the opposite manner. There’s a tiny bit more configuration you can do, but not much; it doesn’t need much more.

I’ve only used it with the Mac’s internal mic, my Blue Yeti microphone, and a crummy little headset: Shush worked perfectly with all of them.

My only complaint with “Shush” is that occasionally the menu bar icon gets confused about what state it’s in: it’ll show the mic is unmuted when my finger isn’t on the hotkey. This is a problem, but one which can be solved by quitting the app and restarting it. Just to be safe, I’m in the habit of restarting “Shush” before every phone call. Like I said, it’s a complaint, but one I really don’t have to deal with frequently.

I’m a big fan of “Shush” and I highly recommend this app to anyone who uses their Mac for voice/video conferences.