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Popular Mac app 'Bartender' acquired by new unknown developer

9to5mac.com

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Re: Popular Mac app 'Bartender' acquired by new unknown developer

#41

Post by paulirwin »

hbn wrote: post #14

Apple really needs to just build this functionality into macOS already. You shouldn't need to pay someone else to shove icons into a drawer. And on the new MacBooks with a notch through the center of the menu bar, it always seems like the icons on the right and the menus for the focused app on the left are ever encroaching towards that space.

> Apple really needs to just build this functionality into macOS already.

... or at least allow API access for third-party/OSS apps to do this without needing full screen recording permissions!

Re: Popular Mac app 'Bartender' acquired by new unknown developer

#42

Post by oidar »

hbn wrote: post #14

Apple really needs to just build this functionality into macOS already. You shouldn't need to pay someone else to shove icons into a drawer. And on the new MacBooks with a notch through the center of the menu bar, it always seems like the icons on the right and the menus for the focused app on the left are ever encroaching towards that space.

They do have it built in - but only for the default menubar items - like battery, wifi, bluetooth - etc. You can shove all of those into the control center. It works well enough for me that I don't think I need bartender anymore.

Re: Popular Mac app 'Bartender' acquired by new unknown developer

#43

Post by apothegm »

fifafu wrote: post #19

In case you are already using my BetterTouchTool app: I have created a little tutorial & example preset here on how to use it for status item management: https://community.folivora.ai/t/bartender-controversy-tutori... You can add feature requests there, it should be pretty simple to extend BTT to support the remaining required features. I have also recently been approached by shady companies trying to buy my app (I'd…

BTT is a fantastic app. I’ve been using it to tune up the ergonomics of macOS for over a decade now. Thank you for all your work on it!

Re: Popular Mac app 'Bartender' acquired by new unknown developer

#45

Post by banish-m4 »

hbn wrote: post #36
j16sdiz wrote: post #23

I don't know, but since when buyers need to identify themself? This is just a change of ownership, no malware were found

For a piece of software that has screen recording access on my device, I'd rather we have someone to hold accountable and is willing to put their reputation on the line to disincentivize them from updating it one day to start sending off images to home.

TBH, commercial software publishers with over $20M USD revenue or more than 25 employees should list a physical office and mailing address, and publish the membership of their leadership team. Hiding behind anonymity and randomly-generated nonsense brand names doesn't solve trust issues, but putting brands->reputations->names does heal it.

Re: Popular Mac app 'Bartender' acquired by new unknown developer

#46

Post by TillE »

nazgu1 wrote: post #7

What looks odd to me is this silence about acquisition. I've got a lot of emails and read enough blog posts from developers that brags about new owners and new opportunities that goes with it. Bartender is just utility app, but has permissions to e.g screen recording, so new version from new developer without prior explanation just seems shady

The Mac app scene especially is pretty small and tight-knit. Lots of indie developers have been around for decades and know each other well. That makes it even more jarring for an app to get acquired by a totally unknown company.

Re: Popular Mac app 'Bartender' acquired by new unknown developer

#48

Post by orhmeh09 »

banish-m4 wrote: post #33
k310 wrote: post #18

I dropped Evernote when it was bought and the entire U.S. staff was fired. Replacing it with another, preferably free and open source. (search going on at this time)

Evernote never worked reliably, well, or consistently. Apple Notes squished their business model and now Obsidian has somewhat juiced Apple's.

Evernote worked reliably and well for me across Windows, Linux, and macOS when I was at school in the early 2010s. It had a great web clipper and it was good at handling PDFs and images. Apple Notes could not replicate that. While I pay for Obsidian nowadays, I find it nowhere near as usable as my Evernote setup at that time.

Re: Popular Mac app 'Bartender' acquired by new unknown developer

#49

Post by kotaKat »

TillE wrote: post #46
nazgu1 wrote: post #7

What looks odd to me is this silence about acquisition. I've got a lot of emails and read enough blog posts from developers that brags about new owners and new opportunities that goes with it. Bartender is just utility app, but has permissions to e.g screen recording, so new version from new developer without prior explanation just seems shady

The Mac app scene especially is pretty small and tight-knit. Lots of indie developers have been around for decades and know each other well. That makes it even more jarring for an app to get acquired by a totally unknown company.

I'm surprised people keep trying to touch macOS apps like this. macOS productivity app users are some of the most keen and aware users on the market.

Trying to pull a move like this and trying to hide it away like a quiet fart? We can smell enshittification from a mile away and we already know it smells like shit in here.

Re: Popular Mac app 'Bartender' acquired by new unknown developer

#50

Post by banish-m4 »

orhmeh09 wrote: post #48
banish-m4 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Evernote never worked reliably, well, or consistently. Apple Notes squished their business model and now Obsidian has somewhat juiced Apple's.

Evernote worked reliably and well for me across Windows, Linux, and macOS when I was at school in the early 2010s. It had a great web clipper and it was good at handling PDFs and images. Apple Notes could not replicate that. While I pay for Obsidian nowadays, I find it nowhere near as usable as my Evernote setup at that time.

I gave up on Evernote around 2009 when they lost notes, corrupted them, and formatting was highly-inconsistent. Neither the Blackberry nor the iOS apps were entirely usable at that time. Maybe it improved after that, but it was just too slow, limited, risky, and untrustworthy.
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