Installation ​

KeyCream runs on macOS 14 Sonoma or later, on both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs.

Download ​

  1. Download KeyCream-x.y.z.zip from the latest release.
  2. Open the zip file. macOS unzips it next to the download.
  3. Drag KeyCream into your Applications folder.

Open it for the first time ​

Double-click KeyCream in Applications. If macOS says it can't check the app for malicious software, confirm it once:

  1. Open System Settings and go to Privacy & Security.
  2. Scroll down to the message about KeyCream and click Open Anyway.
  3. Confirm with your password or Touch ID.

If you prefer Terminal, this does the same:

bash
xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/KeyCream.app

After the first launch, KeyCream opens normally.

Allow keyboard access ​

KeyCream needs to know when a key is pressed, and macOS only allows that with the Input Monitoring permission.

  1. When KeyCream asks, click Open System Settings. You can also go there yourself: System Settings → Privacy & Security → Input Monitoring.
  2. Turn on KeyCream.

Sounds start within a few seconds, without restarting the app. Until then the menu shows Grant Input Monitoring Access…, which takes you to the same place.

Good to know

Input Monitoring lets KeyCream know which key was pressed. It can't change, block or send keys. Privacy explains exactly what it does with key presses.

Open at login ​

KeyCream adds itself to your login items the first time it runs, so it's there every time you start your Mac. Turn this off with Open at Login in its settings, or under System Settings → General → Login Items.

Update ​

Each time KeyCream opens it looks for a new release on GitHub. When there is one, it asks you first. Choose Install and Restart and it downloads the new version, checks that it came from this project, replaces itself and opens again. Your settings are kept. Choose Later and it asks again the next time it opens.

To look right away, choose Check for Updates… from the menu. To stop the check at launch, turn off Check for Updates Automatically on the About tab of its settings.

If KeyCream can't replace itself, for example because it sits in a folder you can't write to, it offers to open the release page. Download the new release there and replace the old KeyCream in Applications.

Every release from 0.1.5 on is signed with the same certificate, so macOS keeps the Input Monitoring permission across updates. Coming from 0.1.4 or earlier, it may ask one more time. If KeyCream stays silent after that update, select it in the Input Monitoring list, remove it with the − button, then add it back or reopen KeyCream.

Uninstall ​

  1. Choose Quit from the KeyCream menu.
  2. Move KeyCream from Applications to the Trash.

To also remove its settings and permission entry, run:

bash
defaults delete com.halit.keycream
tccutil reset ListenEvent com.halit.keycream