My cat Charlie follows the sound of typing, which makes using a laptop around him an invitation. He has one eye and is blind, but he has no trouble finding a keyboard I’m actively trying to use.
To test Cats Lock, I skipped my usual monitor, mechanical keyboard, and mouse. I chatted with friends on my MacBook Pro and waited for Charlie to investigate. Right on cue, he approached the sound and stood on the keys.
There are probably more rigorous ways to test software, but Charlie had volunteered for the exact job I needed done.
Charlie gets his turn at the keyboard
Cats Lock is a $4.99 Mac app that locks the keyboard so a cat can stand on it without entering anything. That’s a one-time purchase, with no subscription. It runs entirely offline and doesn’t require creating an account.
The default Command+L shortcut handles locking manually, but I was more interested in Smart Detect. I wanted to see whether I could leave the app to deal with Charlie instead of watching for an approaching paw.
According to the developer, Smart Detect recognizes keypress patterns such as several keys held down together or rapid, scattered presses. It locked automatically when Charlie arrived, and no stray characters reached the chat. I didn’t have to press anything myself.
My typing survived the cat test
I was less certain about how it would handle me. I type quickly, and being repeatedly mistaken for a cat would get annoying well before it stopped being funny.
Fast typing didn’t trigger a lock during my testing. Neither did playing Fantasian Neo Dimension. I only tried that one game, so I won’t pretend this was an exhaustive gaming test. Still, I could leave Smart Detect running through both activities without having to intervene.
I then returned the MacBook to my desk setup and tried the external mechanical keyboard. Both manual locking and Smart Detect worked there too, so I could use it with my usual setup.
Four cats make a convincing argument
I have four cats, including one I’ve turned into an “iPad kid” by putting cat games and videos on YouTube. My monitor has scratches that suggest this wasn’t my strongest parenting decision so far.
They’re going to investigate whatever I’m doing. I’d rather make room for Charlie than keep moving him away whenever I need to type, and spending $5 to make that easier feels reasonable. I liked that I could get back to chatting once I’d seen it work.
Windows users have a separate option called CatLock, a free, open-source keyboard locker from a different developer. I haven’t tested it, but I’m curious how it would handle the same household.
Cats Lock is staying on my Mac. It caught the interruption I wanted it to catch and left my own typing alone. Charlie can still follow the clicking and claim the keyboard. He just no longer gets a say in what I send my friends. The monitor, unfortunately, will have to fend for itself.
