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Ice – open source menu bar manager for macOS

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101–110 of 198 posts

Re: Ice – open source menu bar manager for macOS

#101

I got a MacBook for a freelance development project (also needed to build an iOS app) and I have to say that the OS itself feels pretty good. Very much a walled garden and normally perhaps outside of my budget (and the button order on the keyboard feels odd), but in general it's pretty smooth so far! Nice to see various customization options, BetterDisplay was also pretty useful when dealing with an external monitor…

Apple removed sub-pixel text rendering support in macOS 3-4 years ago.

They wanted to merge their GPU driver stack across iOS and macOS when they moved to Apple Silicon.

This has come with some benefits, like the lightning fast speed that Macs can enable external monitors.

Re: Ice – open source menu bar manager for macOS

#102

Not the submitter, but I installed this a couple days ago to replace Bartender. For those not following along at home, the Bartender author just sold it to some sketchy app mill. It’s an app that legitimately requires screen recording permissions to work. I trusted the old author’s reputation. I have zero trust in the own owner. Ice isn’t as good yet. It’s not nearly so configurable. For example, you can either hide…

I didn’t know Bartender was sold. I thought it was fishy to need screen recording permissions but I assumed it was because of “security” features of the new macOS/m series chip/whatever so I just let it go because I trusted the Bartender dev. Uninstalled. What a shame.

Ice (and other menu bar managers) require the same permissions - your assumption was correct and Bartender has needed those permissions for a while.

Re: Ice – open source menu bar manager for macOS

#103
post #16
post #6

Hidden Bar is good enough https://github.com/dwarvesf/hidden

I could never get Hidden Bar to work correctly. I think it's because my MacBook has a notch. iBar (free at the App Store) so far does what I need.

You need https://apps.apple.com/us/app/say-no-to-notch/id1639306886?m...

Re: Ice – open source menu bar manager for macOS

#104
post #98

For about 4 years now, I've used Dozer [0] to hide and organize menu items. It's been mature and stable the whole time. It had many of the features still on the development roadmap for Ice. You can drag-and-drop icons, hide and reveal with clicks or keyboards, and have two levels of hidability. [0] https://github.com/Mortennn/Dozer

Same here. Only if the original author didn't abandoned the project.

Re: Ice – open source menu bar manager for macOS

#105
post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Windows also had ancient conventions, so what? > and all Mac apps adhere to the convention, or are laughed out of existence. so not all Mac apps adhere > there is no approval process indeed > Ignoring HIG without good justification Oh, but there is a very easy justification - most of these defaults are poorly (unergonomically) engineered based on design ignorance from the 80s

I have yet to see how the defaults of windows are more ergonomic. I am also not aware that humans have significantly changed as a species since the 80s, so all the the ergonomic considerations are the same. Besides, it completely misses the point - ergonomics are often about convenience and knowing what to expect. A zoo of frameworks and UI paradigms is a most terrible outcome with any kind of HIG. Microsoft is not a…

I have yet to see how I stated that Windows defaults are more ergonomic. And your limited awarenes ignores the fact that ergonomic considerations were not properly taken into account in the design in the 80s just like now there are still plenty of ergonomic issues

Re: Ice – open source menu bar manager for macOS

#106

Not the submitter, but I installed this a couple days ago to replace Bartender. For those not following along at home, the Bartender author just sold it to some sketchy app mill. It’s an app that legitimately requires screen recording permissions to work. I trusted the old author’s reputation. I have zero trust in the own owner. Ice isn’t as good yet. It’s not nearly so configurable. For example, you can either hide…

> For example, you can either hide all icons or none. I thought so at first too, but it’s just a confusing UI. The documentation says: > Simply Command + drag your menu bar items to rearrange them. What isn’t said is that this dragging also allows you to keep some of the items permanently showing. Anything you drag to the right of that double arrow icon will stay there.

I swear I tried that. Guess not! In that case, it covers 95% of what I used in Bartender.

Re: Ice – open source menu bar manager for macOS

#107
post #37
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People like the menu bar because of the global menu - no more hunting and pecking for a print or save option, with every application using disparate or bespoke UI kits having those aforementioned options be different places both visually, physically and logically. MacBooks are absurdly overpowered as a layman’s computer, but the global menu means they only need to learn the OS once.

How do you "learn it once" if the dev can put "print" option anywhere using UI kit?

Apple publishes UI guidance in terms of how/where common features are meant to be. If you drift from this, you will likely be told about it. Unlike Windows, where guidance has shifted over time, and even then, many would just ignore UI/UX standards altogether.

Linux, I find to be in the middle.. applications meant for a given DE will usually come together relatively well, others less so.

Re: Ice – open source menu bar manager for macOS

#108

Not the submitter, but I installed this a couple days ago to replace Bartender. For those not following along at home, the Bartender author just sold it to some sketchy app mill. It’s an app that legitimately requires screen recording permissions to work. I trusted the old author’s reputation. I have zero trust in the own owner. Ice isn’t as good yet. It’s not nearly so configurable. For example, you can either hide…

I didn’t know Bartender was sold. I thought it was fishy to need screen recording permissions but I assumed it was because of “security” features of the new macOS/m series chip/whatever so I just let it go because I trusted the Bartender dev. Uninstalled. What a shame.

It does need screen recording permissions because trying to do what Bartender does on a closed down system like macOS is inevitably going to require a hack.

The issue is we trusted the dev because we knew who he was and he'd have an angry mob after him if he was caught doing something sketchy. Now that it's sold to an unknown third party, there's no one to hold accountable for this software we're trusting with screen recording permissions on our machines.

Re: Ice – open source menu bar manager for macOS

#110
post #88
post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Windows also had ancient conventions, so what? > and all Mac apps adhere to the convention, or are laughed out of existence. so not all Mac apps adhere > there is no approval process indeed > Ignoring HIG without good justification Oh, but there is a very easy justification - most of these defaults are poorly (unergonomically) engineered based on design ignorance from the 80s

The Mac app ecosystem considers HIG failures to be serious bugs, and they do not survive. So yes, for all meaningful definitions, "all Mac apps adhere". You do not appear to know what you're talking about here, and I don't know why you're bothering to argue. Show me an example of an even semi-popular Mac app which uses a different convention for Print, and we might have a conversation. Your excerpted quotes are misle…

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