April 2026
New Features
- Floating Mini Window — Always-on-top, borderless, acrylic widget. Draggable via right-click. Position saved between sessions.
- Mini Window Customization — Scale slider (1–200%), optional visible border, choose mic / speaker / both icons, DPI-aware rendering.
- Dark Mode & Light Mode — Full theme system with native Windows 11 light and dark variants. Icons auto-swap per theme.
- Custom Icon Picker — Pick any icon from any
.dllor.icofile using the native Windows icon picker dialog. All four states customizable. - Smart Device Detection — Automatic scan of all connected audio inputs and outputs. Simple dropdowns to switch between them.
- Installer Edition — Alongside the portable
.exe, a full Windows installer is now available for users who prefer a system-integrated setup with Start Menu & uninstaller support. - Hover Effects on Mini Window — Smooth highlight hover animations on each icon button for a polished, modern feel.
- Graceful Error Handling — Retries device access up to 3 times before surfacing a tray notification, preventing false mute states.
Improvements
- Right-Click Tray Context Menus — Expanded menus with direct access to Windows Sound Settings and Mic Privacy Settings from either tray icon.
- Persistent Settings — All preferences (devices, shortcuts, window position,
theme, icon paths, startup state) saved to a local
.inifile and fully restored on every launch. - Single-Click Mic Tray Toggle — Left-clicking the mic tray icon now instantly toggles mute state without opening any menu.
- Real-Time Color-Coded Status — Main panel now displays green (active) and red (muted) live status for both mic and speaker.
- Startup Reliability — Fixed edge cases where the startup registry entry was not being applied correctly on some Windows configurations.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed tray icon not updating when device state was changed externally (e.g. from Windows Sound panel).
- Fixed mini window appearing off-screen on secondary monitors after display config changes.
- Fixed keyboard shortcuts not re-registering after Settings were saved without a restart.
- Fixed icon path not persisting correctly when using non-default
.dllicon sources. - Fixed occasional crash when no audio devices were detected at launch — now falls back gracefully with a tray notification.
Changes & Removals
- Removed all product activation and licensing gates — MuteGuard is now 100% free with no restrictions.
- Replaced activation section in Settings with a clean Sponsor / Donate section linking to GitHub Sponsors.
- Renamed application from MicToggle to MuteGuard to better reflect its dual mic+speaker functionality.
- Settings layout reorganized into logical sections for improved usability and discoverability.
- Default icon theme now switches automatically based on the chosen Dark / Light mode preference.
- Mini window default size set to 120% scale.
2025
New Features
- Dual Audio Control — Initial implementation of independent mic and speaker mute controls from a single app.
- Keyboard Shortcuts — Global hotkeys Win + Alt + M and Win + Alt + S introduced.
- Dual System Tray Icons — Two separate tray icons (mic + speaker) with real-time mute state indicators.
- Run at Startup — Windows startup registry integration added to the Settings panel.
- Shortcut Rebinding — Settings panel allows remapping both hotkeys to any custom key combination.
Improvements
- Settings panel redesigned and reorganized into logical sections.
- Tray icon right-click menus now include quick-access to Windows Sound Settings.
- Improved tray icon rendering resolution for high-DPI displays.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed hotkey not releasing properly when the app was closed and relaunched.
- Fixed tray icon default state being incorrect on first launch.