Editor’s note: The following review is part of Macworld’s GemFest 2012 series. Every weekday from mid June through mid August, the Macworld staff will use the Mac Gems blog to briefly cover a favorite free or low-cost program.
BeQuiet ( Mac App Store link) is a refreshingly simple utility that ensures your computer’s external speakers stay quiet when you want them to, no matter what.
Launch the app and your Mac’s external speakers are immediately muted. Better yet, they remain muted, even if you launch another application, or if your headphones come unplugged. If you do have headphones plugged in, however, that volume is maintained and can be freely adjusted.
An icon floats on your desktop and allows you to toggle BeQuiet on or off. Alternatively, you can hide the desktop icon completely and keep BeQuiet running in the background, and turn it on or off via a drop down menu in the menu bar.
You can also password protect BeQuiet so that it cannot be disabled without said password. This would be a useful feature for computer labs in schools, libraries, or other public places where computers are shared and a quiet environment is necessary.
BeQuiet’s easy functionality make it a good choice for anyone who needs to ensure their computer speakers stay quiet for any length of time.