PsstPsst / ChatGPT voice
ChatGPT or Claude voice mode on a Mac while music plays
Voice chat with ChatGPT or Claude is a conversation: you talk, it talks back. With a playlist running, you either pause it every time or talk over it.
Short answer: Psst, a free menu bar app for macOS, mutes every other app while the microphone is on. A voice chat that listens and speaks at the same time counts as a call, so the AI's voice stays audible and only your music and the rest go quiet.
Why a voice chat counts as a call
Psst looks at two things macOS reports for every app: is it recording, and is it playing sound. An app that only records is dictation, and everything else is muted. An app that records and plays at the same time is a conversation, the same as a Slack huddle, so that app keeps its sound and everything else is muted.
That is what you want in a voice chat: you hear the answer, not the song underneath it. When you close the voice chat and the microphone turns off, your music comes back.
In the browser or in the app
It makes no difference to Psst whether you use the ChatGPT or Claude desktop app or the website in Safari or Chrome. In a browser the browser itself is the app that records and plays; Psst keeps that browser audible during the chat and mutes the rest. Music playing in another tab of the same browser stays audible in that case, because macOS reports the browser as one app.
If you want silence from everything except your voice
Untick “Keep calls audible” in the Psst menu. Then every other app is muted while the microphone is on, the AI's voice included.
Questions
Do I have to pause my music before a voice chat?
No. Start the voice chat; as soon as the microphone turns on, Psst mutes the other apps.
Will I still hear ChatGPT's answer?
Yes. An app that records and plays at the same time is treated as a call and stays audible.