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#macOS is by no means perfect (although, y’know, close). One glaring design error is the menu bar, which doesn’t handle the – uhum ­– edge case where there are too many menu bar icons to display on screen (either because they bump up against the current app’s menu or, on the laptops, the notch… which, well, don’t get me started on the notch…)

Anyway, so a lovely little indie app called Ice fixes the problem the way #Apple should have.

icemenubar.app

More tips: codeberg.org/aral/gists/src/br…

Screenshot of Ice, active, with additional menu bar icons being shown underneath the main menu bar on macOS.

gists/mac-setup.md at main

gists - A place for me to post and share small, self-contained code snippets.
Codeberg.org
#apple #macos
in reply to Aral Balkan

Ben Ramsey
Ben Ramsey
• •

I use Bartender, but Ice looks cool. I’ll check it out.

macbartender.com

Bartender 5 - Take control of your Menu bar

www.macbartender.com
in reply to Ben Ramsey

Aral Balkan
Aral Balkan
• •

@ramsey Yeah, I used to use Bartender but it was apparently sold off under dodgy circumstances. Given the level of permissions an app like this involves, I’d rather go with the solitary indie dev :)

macrumors.com/2024/06/06/alter…


Six Bartender Alternatives to Manage Your Mac's Menu Bar

Popular Mac menu bar management utility Bartender was recently quietly sold to another company, a fact that only came to light after app monitoring...
Tim Hardwick (MacRumors.com)
@Ben Ramsey
in reply to Ben Ramsey

Aral Balkan
Aral Balkan
• •
@ramsey Yeah, and… applause.com … eew! :)

Release Faster, With Confidence - Applause

Applause delivers authentic, real-world feedback on digital experience quality – with speed, scale and flexibility – so you can release faster, and with…
Applause App Quality, Inc
@Ben Ramsey
in reply to Aral Balkan

Ben Ramsey
Ben Ramsey
• •
I think you mean applause.dev ;)

Applause | We Buy Great Mobile Apps

Thinking about selling your mobile app? Started by indie devs, Applause is a developer-friendly company that buys iOS apps through a seamless 21 day process.
Applause
in reply to Aral Balkan

jospoortvliet
jospoortvliet
• •

alt-tab is another goldie, I see you also use it...

KDE Plasma's drop-down and automatic hiding is an even better approach, I think. Apple should have a look there.

in reply to Aral Balkan

cmw
cmw
• •
very cool! Do you happen to know a similar app for gnome, given your work with silverblue as a daily driver? I just recently made the move away from macOS and this is a problem I'm now facing there :-)
in reply to cmw

Aral Balkan
Aral Balkan
• •
@cmw Ah, never hit the problem there, I’m afraid. Sorry :(
@cmw
in reply to Aral Balkan

Michael Nordmeyer
Michael Nordmeyer
• •

I say it’s a user error to have that many icons in the menu bar, especially system metrics. I even remove some of Apple’s default icons. Everything else is just a CMD+Space away. My laptop battery approves.

Less is more.

in reply to Aral Balkan

blhue
blhue
• •
Used Bartender for years until the big controversy this year. Left it behind and switched to Ice. Have to say I like it a lot more than Bartender. Performs substantially better and the feature set is more interesting. The "Split" Menu Bar Shape setting is especially cool.
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