callmac

Callmac Skill

Remote voice control for your Mac from mobile devices. Broadcast announcements, play alarms, tell stories, wake up kids - all triggered from messaging apps like Telegram or WhatsApp. Uses edge-tts with mixed Chinese/English support.

从移动设备远程控制 Mac 语音功能。广播公告、播放闹钟、讲故事、叫孩子起床 - 全部通过 Telegram 或 WhatsApp 触发。使用 edge-tts 支持中英文混合。

Quick Start | 快速开始

快速开始使用语音技能，生成和播放中英文混合的 TTS 音频。

Basic Usage | 基本用法

# Generate and play a simple announcement
python3 scripts/generate_tts.py --text "Hello world" --play

# Generate mixed Chinese/English content
python3 scripts/generate_tts.py --text "Hello 你好" --play

# Save to file
python3 scripts/generate_tts.py --text "Your message" --output announcement.mp3

Voice Selection

Edge TTS provides high-quality neural voices:

• English (US): en-US-JennyNeural (friendly), en-US-AriaNeural (confident)
• Chinese (Mandarin): zh-CN-XiaoxiaoNeural (warm), zh-CN-XiaoyiNeural (lively)
• Other languages: See VOICES.md for complete list

Features

1. Mixed Language Support

Automatically detects language segments and uses appropriate voices:

• English segments → English neural voice
• Chinese segments → Chinese neural voice
• Other languages → Default or specified voice

2. Playback Control

• Local playback on Mac using afplay
• Loop playback support (1-∞ times)
• Volume control (0-100%)
• Background/foreground playback options

3. File Management

• Save as MP3 files
• Concatenate multiple audio segments
• Batch processing support

4. Advanced Features

• Custom voice selection per segment
• Speech rate adjustment
• Pitch modification
• SSML support for advanced control

Workflows

Workflow 1: Simple Announcement Playback

1. User provides text to speak
2. System detects language(s)
3. Generates appropriate TTS audio
4. Plays locally on Mac

Workflow 2: Mixed Language Audio Creation

1. User provides Chinese/English mixed text
2. System splits by language segments
3. Generates separate audio for each language
4. Concatenates into single MP3 file
5. Optionally plays or saves

Workflow 3: Scheduled/Repeated Announcements

1. User provides text and playback schedule
2. System creates cron job or loop
3. Plays at specified intervals
4. Can be stopped on demand

Scripts

scripts/generate_tts.py

Main script for TTS generation and playback.

Usage:

# Basic generation and playback
python3 generate_tts.py --text "Message" --play

# Save to file
python3 generate_tts.py --text "Message" --output file.mp3

# Mixed language with custom voices
python3 generate_tts.py --text "Hello 你好" --voice-en "en-US-AriaNeural" --voice-zh "zh-CN-XiaoyiNeural"

# Loop playback
python3 generate_tts.py --text "Message" --play --loops 5

# Volume control
python3 generate_tts.py --text "Message" --play --volume 80

# SSML support
python3 generate_tts.py --ssml "<speak>Hello <break time='500ms'/> world</speak>"

Parameters:

• --text: Text to convert to speech
• --ssml: SSML markup for advanced control
• --output: Save to MP3 file
• --play: Play immediately after generation
• --voice: Default voice (overrides auto-detection)
• --voice-en: English voice override
• --voice-zh: Chinese voice override
• --loops: Number of times to play (default: 1)
• --volume: Playback volume 0-100 (default: system volume)
• --rate: Speech rate adjustment (+/- %)
• --pitch: Pitch adjustment (+/- Hz)

scripts/play_audio.py

Audio playback control utilities.

Usage:

# Play existing audio file
python3 play_audio.py --file audio.mp3

# Loop playback
python3 play_audio.py --file audio.mp3 --loops 3

# Volume control
python3 play_audio.py --file audio.mp3 --volume 75

# Stop all playback
python3 play_audio.py --stop

scripts/merge_audio.py

Merge multiple audio files.

Usage:

# Merge two files
python3 merge_audio.py --files part1.mp3 part2.mp3 --output combined.mp3

# Create playlist and merge
python3 merge_audio.py --playlist playlist.txt --output combined.mp3

References

VOICES.md

Complete list of available Edge TTS voices with language, gender, and style information.

INSTALLATION.md

Setup instructions for edge-tts and ffmpeg dependencies.

EXAMPLES.md

Example usage patterns and common scenarios.

Dependencies

1. edge-tts: pip3 install edge-tts
2. ffmpeg: brew install ffmpeg (for audio merging)
3. macOS tools: afplay (built-in), osascript (volume control)

Common Patterns

Pattern 1: Welcome Message

python3 scripts/generate_tts.py --text "Welcome to the system. 系统欢迎您。" --play --voice-en "en-US-JennyNeural" --voice-zh "zh-CN-XiaoxiaoNeural"

Pattern 2: Scheduled Reminder

# Create audio file
python3 scripts/generate_tts.py --text "Time for your meeting. 会议时间到了。" --output reminder.mp3

# Schedule playback (using cron)
echo "*/30 * * * * afplay /path/to/reminder.mp3" | crontab -

Pattern 3: Multi-language Announcement

python3 scripts/generate_tts.py --text "Alert: System update in progress. 警报：系统更新进行中。" --play --loops 3 --volume 90

Troubleshooting

No Audio Output

1. Check system volume: osascript -e "output volume of (get volume settings)"
2. Check mute status: osascript -e "output muted of (get volume settings)"
3. Test with simple audio: afplay /System/Library/Sounds/Ping.aiff

edge-tts Not Working

1. Verify installation: python3 -m edge_tts --list-voices
2. Check internet connection (edge-tts requires online access)
3. Update package: pip3 install --upgrade edge-tts

Audio Quality Issues

1. Use neural voices for best quality
2. Adjust speech rate if too fast/slow
3. Consider SSML for precise control

Notes

• Edge TTS requires internet connection for voice synthesis
• Local playback uses macOS built-in afplay command
• Volume control uses osascript to adjust system volume
• For offline use, consider alternative TTS solutions
• Large texts may be split into multiple segments automatically