lowhum 1.1.0

Deep Brown Noise for Focus as a MenuBar App & CLI Tool

LowHum

Deep brown noise for focus, right from the macOS menu bar.

No browser tabs. No subscriptions. No account. Fully offline.

Brown noise is one of the most effective focus aids for people with ADHD and anyone who needs to block out distractions. Most options require keeping a YouTube tab open, paying for a subscription app, or relying on your phone. LowHum is a single-purpose menu bar app that generates deep brown noise locally and plays it on loop — install it, click play, forget about it.

Install

uv tool install lowhum          # recommended
# or
pip install lowhum

Usage

lowhum                          # launch the menu-bar app (runs in background)
lowhum devices                  # list output devices
lowhum generate                 # pre-generate the audio file

lhm is a shorthand alias — all commands work with either name.

Menu-bar app

• Play / Stop from the menu bar
• Output Device submenu — pick any connected audio device
• Auto-stops when headphones connect or disconnect

How it works

1. Generation — On first run, a 10-minute WAV is synthesised locally: cumulative-sum brown noise, Butterworth bandpass (1–500 Hz + 20 Hz sub-bass HP), RMS-normalised per chunk, crossfaded at boundaries. Stored at ~/.lowhum/.
2. Playback — Memory-mapped streaming through PortAudio. No full-file RAM load. Loops seamlessly.
3. Device detection — Polls audio devices every 2 seconds. Headphone unplug, Bluetooth disconnect — playback stops instantly.
4. Menu-bar icon — Template icon; macOS handles dark/light mode automatically.

Requirements

• macOS
• Python >= 3.12

License

MIT