That looks very promising. Thanks for doing this.
Ice – open source menu bar manager for macOS
41–50 of 198 posts
Re: Ice – open source menu bar manager for macOS
#42Offtopic, but am I the only person surprised how badly Apple stalled when it comes to window management and UX on MacOS? I feel that today, as a power user/professional, MacOS wouldn't be usable without applications like Bartender, external window manager such as Rectangle/Divvy etc. I feel strong attraction coming from yabai, but disabling SIP is too much for me. Personally I'm reaching the point where I'd migrate t…
I totally agree. But it also seems like a lot of people don't. Frustratingly enough when discussions like that come up a lot of people respond with a "MacOS just works differently, you just need to get used to it" discussion killer. Yeah, I know some design principles are different. That doesn't always mean they are better or couldn't be better. In general I feel like UI/UX on MacOS for the most part has stagnated in…
> But it also seems like a lot of people don't.
n=1...
I'm one who doesn't care. I didn't like to have a lot of system tray icons when I used Windows, and I don't like having a lot of them in macOS. I turn off the ones I rarely use (when I can).
However, I also feel Apple have reduced the usability of the menu bar icons in recent iterations. Their clickable area/spacing has enlarged, which is counter to having small icons in a focused space. The Clock and Control Centre can't be moved around. I didn't use Control Centre at all until I discovered some setting that can only be toggled. Since I toggled it, I've forgotten what it was and haven't touched Control Centre since. I'd turn it off if I could. Maybe I need Bartender after all.
Re: Ice – open source menu bar manager for macOS
#43Offtopic, but am I the only person surprised how badly Apple stalled when it comes to window management and UX on MacOS? I feel that today, as a power user/professional, MacOS wouldn't be usable without applications like Bartender, external window manager such as Rectangle/Divvy etc. I feel strong attraction coming from yabai, but disabling SIP is too much for me. Personally I'm reaching the point where I'd migrate t…
Window management is fine, what is missing are half-split/full-screen shortcuts. There are many apps which can set them up, but a built-in possibility would fix most issues, since only a very small subset of users cares about tiling wm even on linux. Though, there was a new project the other day on HN, where SIP can remain on: https://github.com/nikitabobko/AeroSpace
I, for my part, have configured window placement shortcuts in Hammerspoon (also possible with KM, BTT and a what feels like a million of other apps) and am completely happy. I mostly look at the maximized terminal anyway, the splits do happen in neovim and tmux.
Re: Ice – open source menu bar manager for macOS
#44Interesting! Is there a way to center the content of the bar on the screen? The split is very cumbersome to use on an ultrawide display and I'd be happy if there was a way to put the content on the middle 3rd.
Re: Ice – open source menu bar manager for macOS
#45Earlier 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?
I haven't found any apps on macOS the past 15 years where the "print" option wasn't where it's expected to be, would like an example just for the fun of it.
Re: Ice – open source menu bar manager for macOS
#46Aw, I thought it was for managing a bar. Supplies, shifts, etc..
Re: Ice – open source menu bar manager for macOS
#47I was also tilted by the Bartender debacle and removed it. Tried HiddenBar, but then I realized that a lot of apps running in background offer a possibility to hide the tray icon (it is of no use anyway) and after some clean up in the Control Center it is fine as it is. YMMV, of course and it still would be better if Apple sherlocks it. Such small QoL changes should be a no-brainer.
Re: Ice – open source menu bar manager for macOS
#48Not 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 just bought it a month ago for max support for a ridiculous price like 50eu :(
Re: Ice – open source menu bar manager for macOS
#49Offtopic, but am I the only person surprised how badly Apple stalled when it comes to window management and UX on MacOS? I feel that today, as a power user/professional, MacOS wouldn't be usable without applications like Bartender, external window manager such as Rectangle/Divvy etc. I feel strong attraction coming from yabai, but disabling SIP is too much for me. Personally I'm reaching the point where I'd migrate t…
Fully agree. For work I use Windows 11 and even without any third party tools, its ability to easily group and align windows using either the keyboard or mouse is vastly superior to what macOS has.
The only thing that macOS is still best at is Exposé. The smoothness, animations, superior Apple touchpads to make the gesture and then ths ease of picking the right window are second to none.
Re: Ice – open source menu bar manager for macOS
#50Earlier quoted context omitted.
Totally in the opposite camp, in the sense I think it’s preferable to customize your experience using 3rd party apps and it should be encouraged model by vendor.
Sadly Apple picked neither option. 3rd party apps cannot meaningfully interact with Spaces for example, even basic things like moving windows between spaces or adjusting the animation speed so it's not nauseating on ultrawides.
Agreed, just yesterday I was researching APIs in this area. Still, it’s a different criticism.