Hushbar
Control the music in your other tabs without leaving your call.
Hushbar puts a small remote inside Google Meet. Play, pause, seek and switch between tabs that are playing. When you unmute your mic, the music pauses on its own.
No account. No tracking. Nothing leaves your browser.
How it works
-
Add Hushbar to Chrome
One click from the Chrome Web Store. No account, no setup.
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Play something in another tab
A YouTube mix, a Spotify playlist, a lecture on Vimeo. Any tab with a video or audio player.
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Join your call
The remote appears in Google Meet. Drag it anywhere. It hides when nothing is playing.
Unmute, and the music stops. Mute, and it comes back.
This is where the name comes from. Hushbar watches your mic button in Google Meet. When you unmute to speak, it pauses the media in your other tabs. When you mute again, it resumes what it paused.
You never have to reach for the music before you talk. Turn it off in Settings if you prefer to do it yourself.
| Listening | Talking | Listening | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your mic | Muted | On | Muted |
| Music | Playing | Paused | Playing |
A remote, not a player
The widget sits on top of your call. It controls media that is already playing in your other tabs.
- Play, pause and seek
- Skip back or forward 10 seconds, or drag the scrubber to any point.
- Volume and mute
- Turn the other tab down without finding it first.
- Many tabs, one remote
- Switch between playing tabs with chips, the mouse wheel or a shortcut.
- Go to tab
- Jump straight to the tab that is playing.
- Pause all New
- Stop every playing tab at once with one button or Alt+Shift+P.
- Lock source New
- Keep control on the tab you chose. An autoplay video in another tab can't take over.
- Playback speed New
- From 0.5x to 2x, for lectures, podcasts and tutorials.
- Two layouts
- A pill that opens into a panel, or a single-line strip.
- Any size
- Resize from 0.7x to 1.8x so it fits your screen and your eyes.
- Follows your system
- Light and dark match your OS. Reduced motion is respected. Every control works from the keyboard.
- Shortcuts and media keys
- Keyboard shortcuts, OS media keys and headphone buttons all work.
- Toolbar popup
- The same controls from the Chrome toolbar, on any tab.
Every feature can be switched on or off in Settings.
Works with what you already play
YouTube, Spotify Web, Netflix, Vimeo, SoundCloud, and any site that uses a standard video or audio player.
Shows up where you need it
The widget appears on Google Meet by default. You can turn it on for Zoom on the web, Teams on the web, or any other site from the toolbar.
Keyboard shortcuts
They work from any tab, so you can stay in your call.
| Play or pause | Ctrl+Shift+MOn Mac: ⌘⇧M |
|---|---|
| Next source | Ctrl+Shift+. |
| Previous source | Ctrl+Shift+, |
| Pause all | Alt+Shift+P |
Your keyboard's media keys and your headphone buttons also work. To change a shortcut, open chrome://extensions/shortcuts in Chrome.
Nothing leaves your browser
Hushbar has no server. It can't send your data anywhere, because there is nowhere to send it.
- No data collection, no analytics, no accounts.
- No remote code. The only network use is Chrome loading the small icons of your tabs.
- Your settings stay on your device, in Chrome's own storage.
- It reads only what it needs: whether a tab is playing, the playback position and volume, and the tab title.
Questions and limits
What Hushbar does, and what it can't do.
Is it free?
Yes. Hushbar is free, with no ads and no paid tier.
Does it work in Zoom or Microsoft Teams?
The remote does. Open the toolbar popup on Zoom or Teams in the browser and turn the widget on for that site. You can do the same for any other site, or choose Every site in Settings.
Auto-pause on unmute reads Google Meet's page to see your mic state, so it works only in Google Meet for now.
Can it control a video that someone shares in the call?
No. Hushbar controls media playing in your own browser tabs. It can't control media that other participants share.
Why does the volume slider do nothing on Spotify?
Some sites, such as Spotify, manage volume themselves. On those sites the slider may have no effect. Play, pause and seek still work.
Why doesn't the remote appear on some pages?
Chrome doesn't let extensions run on its own pages, such as chrome:// settings pages. Also, by default the widget shows only on Google Meet and the sites you add, and it hides when nothing is playing. To show it on every site, open Settings and choose Every site. The toolbar popup works from any tab.
An autoplay video keeps taking over the controls. What can I do?
Turn on Lock source. The remote then stays on the tab you chose, even when another tab starts playing.
Why does it ask to "Read and change all your data on websites"?
Hushbar needs to find the video or audio player on each tab and send it commands like play and pause. It reads only the media state and the tab title. It sends nothing off your device. The privacy policy explains each permission.
Can I turn off features I don't use?
Yes. Every feature, including auto-pause, Pause all, Lock source and playback speed, has its own switch in Settings.