robshakir / mutemeet

Mute Google Hangout meetings using your keyboard regardless of where the damn browser tab is.

MuteMeet

Mute Google Meet meetings using your keyboard regardless of where the damn browser tab is.

Why does this exist?

I work remotely and use Google Meet meetings for probably 50% of my day. As a good citizen of remote meetings, I like to mute my microphone when I'm not speaking. I especially like to do it if I'm drinking or eating or breathing heavy from an intense session of code review.

Google Meet has a keyboard command to mute and unmute the microphone. However, this only works if the window is active and the tab is selected. Since I have multiple screens, windows, and tabs, it can be difficult to find the right one when I want to unmute to say something.

I wrote this AppleScript to solve that problem. It allows you to find the correct window, the correct tab, and send the mute/unmute command to Google Meet.

How do I use it?

Requirements:

• Mac OS X
• Google Chrome
• Google Meet

First, you'll need an app that lets you bind global keyboard shortcuts to firing AppleScript. Here are some options:

• FastScripts - (Free) Allows you to map up to 10 shortcuts to AppleScripts. You can pay if you need more. This is what I use.
• Alfred - (Paid PowerPack has the feature you need, Free otherwise) A powerful replacement for Spotlight with lots of other useful features.
• Quicksilver - (Free) A precursor to Alfred as a launcher app but handles keyboard shortcuts, too.
• Keyboard Maestro - (Paid) This will make you a keyboard wizard.
• No 3rd-party apps - (Free) This is a StackExchange answer for how to set this up manually through Automator.

Once you decide on which app to use, clone this repository wherever you like. Or just save the .scpt file somewhere on your machine. Depending on the instructions for your chosen app, assign the keyboard shortcut you want. I use Shift-Command-M.

Here's what you can expect when firing the script:

• MuteMeet finds all your Chrome windows
• MuteMeet loops through all the tabs and finds the Meet window
• MuteMeet brings that window and tab to the front and focuses it
• MuteMeet sends the keyboard shortcut to mute/unmute your microphone