FAQ
Questions,
answered properly.
Everything below is checked against what the app actually does, not what would be convenient to say. Where the answer is “no” — and a couple of them are — it says no.
Can't find yours? Email thisdudestartedsomething@gmail.com and a person will reply.
Free forever for the charger sounds. macOS 14 Sonoma or later · Apple Silicon or Intel.
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The basics
What the app is, what it runs on, and what it costs.
Does Noisy Laptop work on a MacBook?
Yes. It runs on any Mac on macOS 14 Sonoma or later · Apple Silicon or Intel. The charger, battery and sleep/wake events are the ones laptop owners notice most; on a Mac mini or Studio the charger triggers just never fire, and everything else works the same.
Which versions of macOS are supported?
macOS 14 Sonoma or later · Apple Silicon or Intel. It's a universal build, so it runs natively on Apple Silicon and on Intel Macs. There's no version for macOS 13 or earlier.
Does it run in the menu bar?
Yes. It's a menu-bar app with no Dock icon (LSUIElement, if you like that sort of detail). The menu shows what it last played and lets you mute, pause for a while, switch packs or open the main window.
Is Noisy Laptop free?
The download is free and stays free. Free covers Charger connected and Charger disconnected with the Classic pack — no time limit, no account, no nagging. Pro is a one-time $6.99 for the rest. What's in each.
Is it a subscription?
No. Pro is $6.99 once — a personal licence for the Macs you own, with free updates for version 1. No renewal, no account.
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Sounds and events
What can set a sound off, what's in the library, and how to use your own.
What can trigger a sound?
26 Mac events, in six groups: Power, System, Devices, Network, Apps and Calls. Each one can be switched on or off on its own, and each one gets its own sound. The full list is on Mac system sounds.
How do I change the sound my Mac makes when it starts charging?
macOS has no setting for this, so you need a small app that watches the power source. Install Noisy Laptop, open Triggers, and pick a sound for “Charger connected”. The next time you plug in, that's what plays. Both charger triggers are free — see MacBook charging sounds.
How many sounds are there?
12 packs, 234 clips across the 14 Mac moments. A pack ships the sounds it does well rather than padding out all fourteen, and the free Classic pack covers anything it skips, so nothing is ever silent. Most moments have more than one take, and the app plays a different one each time so a sound you hear ten times a day doesn't wear out. Browse them.
Can I use my own sounds?
Yes, with Pro. The app has a My Sounds pane: drop in m4a, mp3, wav, aiff or caf files and they show up in the sound menu for any trigger, alongside the packs. Clips are copied into ~/Library/Application Support/Noisy Laptop/CustomSounds/ and never leave your Mac. More on using your own audio.
Does it work with AirPods?
Yes, in two ways. AirPods connecting and disconnecting are events you can assign a sound to, and the app plays through whatever output your Mac is currently using — so when your AirPods are connected, that's where the sounds land.
Is the moaning charger sound real?
Yes — it's the Moan pack. Cheeky on plug-in, giggles and sighs for everything else. It's flagged as adult humor in the app, it's never the default, and it only plays if you pick it. Hear it and set it up.
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Permissions and privacy
The short version: it asks for nothing and sends nothing. The long version is the privacy page.
Does it need Accessibility permission?
No. It never installs an event tap or a global key monitor. It listens to notifications macOS already broadcasts — power source, sleep and wake, screen lock, device connections, network reachability, app launches — and none of those sit behind a permission prompt.
Does it need microphone access?
No. To notice a call, it checks whether another app currently has a camera or microphone running — a yes/no flag the system exposes to any process. It never opens an input stream, never records and never transmits audio. You can also just turn the Calls triggers off.
Does it need screen recording permission?
No. It doesn't read your screen, your windows or their contents, so there's nothing for that permission to grant.
Can it change the sound of macOS notifications?
No — and nothing else can either. Banner and alert sounds belong to macOS and to each app. What Noisy Laptop adds is sound for the hardware and system moments macOS is usually silent about. The honest, longer version is on Mac notification sounds.
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Living with it
The practical questions people ask in week two.
Will this get annoying?
It's built so it doesn't. Only 13 of the 26 events are on to start with, each has a cooldown, and device and network events are ignored for a few seconds after your Mac wakes — that burst is macOS reconnecting, not you.
There's also a whole Settings section for this. Meeting mode is on out of the box and keeps the app quiet whenever your camera or microphone is in use. Quiet hours silences it between times you set. Only play through headphones does what it says. And the menu bar has a mute and a pause.
Is there a free trial of Pro?
There's no timed trial, because the free version is the trial — it keeps working forever rather than expiring. If you buy Pro and it isn't for you, email thisdudestartedsomething@gmail.com and we'll sort it out.
What's the typing beat on the home page?
It's a website toy for now: type on the home page and it builds a drum pattern out of your keystrokes. A version exists in the Mac app's source but it's switched off in the shipping build, so treat it as coming later rather than something you get today.
How do I uninstall it?
Quit it from the menu bar and drag Noisy Laptop out of Applications. Its settings live in your preferences and your own clips in ~/Library/Application Support/Noisy Laptop/, which you can delete as well. If you have Pro and you're moving to a different Mac, deactivate the key from the License pane first.
Longer answers
Pages that go deeper
- Charging soundsThe free part of the app, twelve clips to try, and why the unplug sound matters.
- Every eventAll of them, with what each one really means and whether it's on by default.
- Your own audioFormats, storage, lengths that work, and how to assign a clip to an event.
- Notification soundsWhat can and can't be changed about the sounds macOS plays with banners.
- The packsAll twelve, playable on the page.
- PricingFree vs Pro, line by line, including when free is genuinely enough.
Still curious? Just install it.
The free version answers most of these faster than reading about it does, and it doesn't expire.
macOS 14 Sonoma or later · Apple Silicon or Intel · Noisy Laptop Pro is $6.99, once, if you want the rest.