My greatest pet peeve with assembly apps is that every one has a unique shortcut for muting your mic or turning off your webcam. It’s arduous to recollect which keys do what if you’re mid-meeting and making an attempt to make a degree or ask a query. I at all times needed a bodily, common button for mute and digicam management — one thing I might hit with out considering. Project Mirage’s Dune, a tiny, three-key aluminum keypad — concerning the dimension of a stick of gum — that plugs into your MacBook’s USB-C port, does simply that.
The $119 gadget has three buttons, and it modifications context primarily based on what app you’re looking at. For example, in assembly apps and websites, it might be toggle mic, toggle video, and convey window to the entrance. For Excel or Sheets, it might be copy, paste, and undo. For Chrome, it might be refresh, leap to URL bar, and paste. You get the gist. Builders may also use it with apps like VS Code or GitHub to merge, approve, or shut a pull request.
The startup builds every unit to match your particular Mac mannequin, so it sits flush towards the laptop computer with no hole beneath. In case your ports are already in use, you possibly can join it via a dongle as an alternative. Dune has no battery and wishes no separate charger — it attracts energy straight from the MacBook.
Presently, the startup helps M2 Air or later and M1 Professional or later fashions of MacBook working macOS 15 Sequoia or a later model.
The gadget seems to be and feels good, however I felt the keys wanted extra resistance. Proper now, it’s straightforward to push a key by mistake. A couple of occasions, I mistakenly unmuted myself or killed my digicam as a result of my hand brushed the gadget whereas reaching for a water bottle or espresso mug. It shouldn’t be this straightforward to press a key.
Dune ships with a companion app for configuring shortcuts, both per-app or system-wide. Inside a given app, you possibly can assign a Dune key to a keyboard shortcut, a command, or a hyperlink that opens an app or URL.
By the app, Dune additionally syncs together with your calendar and surfaces your subsequent assembly a couple of minutes earlier than it begins, so you possibly can be part of, dismiss, or ship an “I’m working late” message with one faucet.
If you would like deeper customization, you possibly can write and run your personal Python script. For those who don’t code, Dune has a straightforward integration with Claude Desktop: You describe the shortcut you need in plain language, and Claude writes it and assigns it to a key for that app — no handbook setup required.
I constructed a shortcut that, at any time when I’m on a startup’s web site, pulls up a fast temporary on the corporate: its opponents, traders, and questions I would ask if I booked a gathering with them. For anybody whose job includes sizing up firms shortly — traders, founders, operators — it’s a activity tailored for Dune. I additionally constructed one which converts pictures to JPEG so I can add them shortly to WordPress or social platforms. Each had been straightforward to construct and wanted no handbook configuration, although getting a shortcut absolutely working nonetheless takes some back-and-forth with Claude, together with debugging when you really run it.
The app additionally has a market, from the place you possibly can discover abilities made by different Dune homeowners. If {the marketplace} takes off, it might grow to be core to Dune’s development and retention technique — {hardware} as a skinny entrance finish for a Claude-powered abilities ecosystem, the place every new talent offers homeowners another reason to stay round.
Nevertheless, in the mean time, there are solely restricted abilities. Plus, there isn’t a option to take a look at out a talent with out assigning it to the {hardware} button — ideally, the app would allow you to preview a talent earlier than committing it to {hardware}. The startup additionally must proactively add extra of its personal instructed abilities for various apps to its customers.
Venture Mirage’s gadget retails for $149 after its introductory worth expires, and it’s a strong decide for anybody productivity-minded. MuteMe covers simply mute/unmute, and Stream Deck affords business-focused macros, however Dune is less complicated to customise on each {hardware} and software program.
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