Ice – open source menu bar manager for macOS

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Reactions to Ice (open‑source menu bar manager)

  • Many welcome an open‑source replacement for Bartender, especially after its controversial sale.
  • Some users find Ice fast, minimal, and already sufficient for basic hide/show needs.
  • Others see it as promising but immature: fewer features than Bartender, especially around handling many icons and notched MacBooks.

Features, UX, and Limitations of Ice

  • Core mechanic: Command‑drag to rearrange icons and choose which stay always visible (to the right of Ice’s chevron). This was initially non‑obvious and poorly documented.
  • Missing or requested features:
    • Proper notch handling; extra “second bar” below the main menu bar.
    • Scrolling through icons, search, folders/grouping, and better notch‑safe layouts.
    • Adjustable spacing/padding directly in the app (currently only via Terminal defaults).
  • Some find configuration difficult when many icons are present, especially on notched laptops.

Bartender Sale, Trust, and Permissions

  • Strong backlash that Bartender was sold quietly to an unknown company while holding “Screen Recording,” Accessibility, and Location permissions.
  • Users emphasize that they had trusted the original developer personally; trust does not transfer automatically to new, opaque owners.
  • Debate over whether criticism of the original seller is fair or a “mob” overreacting to a niche utility.
  • Some suggest staying on a known‑safe Bartender version and firewalling it to block updates/network access.

Screen Recording Permission Debate

  • Explanations: needed to “see” and relocate other apps’ menu bar icons on a locked‑down macOS; similar to remote desktop and color‑picker tools.
  • Others note alternatives (e.g., Dozer, Hidden Bar) that avoid this permission, suggesting Bartender/Ice use deeper “hacks” to achieve richer behavior.

Alternatives and System‑Level Workarounds

  • Alternatives mentioned: Hidden Bar, Dozer, iBar, Vanilla, SketchyBar, xbar, BetterTouchTool, Parallels’ toolbox, old Bartender 4.
  • Some rely on macOS’s own capabilities:
    • Built‑in Command‑drag reordering.
    • Moving items to Control Center.
    • Changing menu bar spacing/padding via defaults commands.

Broader macOS UX Debate

  • Thread branches into discussion of:
    • The ergonomics of the global menu bar vs per‑window menus.
    • Apple’s slow progress on window management and reliance on third‑party tools.
    • Comparisons with Windows, Linux/GNOME, and tiling WMs.