Tag Archives: menu bar

Evernote For Mac Gets New Menu Bar Helper; Adds Drag & Drop Clipper

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Evernote for Mac underwent a major design overhaul a short while ago and the difference between the old and new version’s interface isn't just monumental; it’s amazing! Evernote 5 looks like a real Mac app now - beautiful and well designed. While the app's UI was overhauled significantly, Evernote didn't do much about its Menu Bar options until now. The Evernote Mac app has just been bumped to version 5.0.6 now, and this latest update features a Menu Bar popup that actually goes with the look of the rest of the app. The functionality is pretty much the same as before, but the new interface is easier to use and allows you to add files by dragging & dropping them on the popup. Read More

RedditTab Is A Simple Reddit Browser That Lives In The Mac Menu Bar

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RedditTab is a Mac app available for free in the Mac App Store that runs in the Menu Bar and lets you browse Reddit. You can upvote/downvote submissions if you’re signed in, browse the front page or any of the subreddits, search Reddit, and email any of the posted links to anyone via the Mail app. As far as Reddit apps go, RedditTab is quite basic when it comes to the features it offers, but it’s great for quickly checking the website without having to open it in your browser or any conventional Reddit app (and getting caught by your boss while not working). It works with Mountain Lion’s Notification Center and will alert you when you have a new message. RedditTab does not have its own browser, so links all open in your default web browser. Read More

Add Custom File & Folder Actions & Access Them From Menu Bar With MenuBrowser

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There are quite a few app launchers available for Mac and almost equal number of apps that give you easy access to your frequently used files, folders and apps, but seldom do we come across an app that makes it easier to access these items as well as the context menu options. Context menu options mean more than just copying or pasting files and include other options like adding a file as an email attachment. MenuBrowser is a free Mac app that does all this with only one catch; some actions prompt you to upgrade and buy a $5 license to stop the prompts. You can dismiss the prompt and continue to use the app to its full potential, but if you find it extremely useful, you may want to get rid of these interruptions. You can add actions for opening a file with any app, adding a file as an attachment, sending it over Skype and adding custom scripts for file and folder actions. Read More

Amelita: Use Context Menu Options From The Mac Menu Bar

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Right-click context menu shows the app-related settings and options in a menu, and that's why the options we see vary accordingly. Some options in the context menu are recurring, but being the context menu, it needs to be called separately in each app. Amelita is a free Mac app that runs in the menu bar and consolidates context menu options. It includes several of its own functions that allow you to send a command from one app to the other without having to launch the applications. A very common example of this would be text copied to your clipboard. You can paste this text to a number of apps, and Amelita makes it easier to do so. Pasting is of course an option you have available in the system context menus; Amelita also adds additional options that can be used with different apps. Read More

Tracks: iTunes Menu Bar Controls With Growl & Last.fm Support [Mac]

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Tracks is a Mac app worth $2.99 in the Mac App Store that controls iTunes from the Menu Bar. When launched, it automatically starts iTunes in the background and adds a play icon to the Menu Bar, clicking which opens a search bar that allows you to query your iTunes library. Of course, this isn’t why you’re paying $2.99 for the app. Tracks has excellent and fully customizable universal shortcuts for controlling iTunes. You can play/pause, move to the next or previous track, increase/decrease volume and rating and open the current song in iTunes. It gives you Growl notifications when a new song is played or changed, and allows you to connect with your Last.fm account. Read More

Signal Displays WiFi Connection Strength & Stats In The Menu Bar [Mac]

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A while back, we covered Network Strength (reviewed here), a free Mac app that shows the Wi-Fi signal strength as a percentage in the Menu Bar. Additionally, the app tells you the Ping time, local and public IP and the noise level. Signal is a free Mac app that is similar in concept, but differs slightly in the stats it reports. This app shows connection strength as a series of vertical bars and gives you information about the router you’re connected to, including the signal quality, strength, noise level and signal to noise ratio. The app icon changes to show when you’ve lost connectivity or when there is an error in the connection. Read More

Manage Grooveshark Playback In Chrome From Mac Menu Bar

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You would've undoubtedly heard or read about the million or so apps that allow you to control iTunes from the Mac Menu Bar, and the hundreds of apps that exist for services like Pandora and Spotify. Grooveshark Control Center is a free Mac app that lets you control Grooveshark from the Menu Bar. The app is meant to let you control the online music service if Chrome is your default browser, and you use Growl. Seeing as how Chrome just surpassed Internet Explorer to become the No.1 browser worldwide, it might just be an excellent time to install this app if you regularly use Grooveshark. The app negates the need to have a similar extension installed in your browser, and makes more sense, since Chrome isn’t the only application you use when working. Read More

Bartender Adds A Hidden Toolbar To Unclutter The System Menu Bar [Mac]

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Although Mac OS X menu bar lets you quickly access frequently used applications and their different functions, it doesn’t provide you with an option to manage as well as, hide/unhide all menu bar applications and system utilities’ icons. If you often struggle finding the application icon in menu bar, Bartender may help. The application works just like Windows notification icon customizer that lets users keep only selected applications icons and indicators in system tray, and all other icons can be easily accessed with a click. Bartender offers an additional toolbar, where you can not only keep the applications’ icons of your choice, but also manage them with ease. Furthermore, it comes with a wide range of features that let you easily organize menu bar applications' icons. You can select any active/passive menu bar app from Applications folder and add it to Bartender’s bar. Talking of the additional menu bar, it can be viewed by clicking Bartender’s icon in system menu bar. You can also bring it up using a specified hotkey combination. Keep reading for more details. Read More

Broomstick: Hide & Reorder Third-party Mac Apps’ Icons In Menu Bar

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Most Mac OS X applications reside in menu bar to provide instant access to their frequently used functions, but unlike Windows where one can easily hide icons from Notification area, Mac OS X doesn’t allow hiding all icons from the menu bar. In order to hide an icon of third-party application, you either have to change application icon position from menu bar to system dock (if supported) or remove/quit the application. Broomstick is a miniscule application that lets users keep only specified icons in menu bar. Supporting hide and show menu bar icons feature, it also lets you re-order the applications’ icons in menu bar. Using this feature, you can choose to keep most frequently used applications’ icons next to Spotlight search bar or date / time icon. Apart from Mac OS X native applications’ icons, Broomstick supports numerous third-party applications’ icons including Avira, Click.to, Droplr, GrowlTunes, Hiss, MuteCon, NoSleep, QuitRead, RemotelessHelper, WallpaperClocks and more. Read More

AccessMenuBarApps: Hide Menu Bar Items When Pressed For Space [Mac]

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If you’re someone who has transitioned from a Windows PC to a Mac, one of the many things you will appreciate is having a bar at the top and a dock at the bottom to house all your icons. When it comes to apps’ icons, both the menu bar and dock are precious real estate. While the menu bar is an easy access point for apps, you have to share it with app menus, and if you’re on a small screen, not all your icons will be visible. AccessMenuBarApps is a free Mac app that acts as a hider for app menus, letting you quickly hide and unhide menus either by a keyboard shortcut or a simple mouse gesture. Think of it as hiding unnecessary menus which you don’t need with a simple flick (or two) of the mouse. Read More

Lock Firefox Menu Bar With A Password, Limit Access To Private Data

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If you have privacy concerns and want to limit access to the Firefox menu bar, then Hide Your Menubar, a Firefox add-on, can be of great help. This is a simple, but useful, tool that locks the menu bar with a simple click on an option in the context menu. Once you’ve locked it, the next time you launch Firefox and click an option in the menu bar, Firefox will ask you for a password. To unlock this bar, simply enter the password and gain access. You should note that the menu bar stays locked as long as you don’t unlock it. It increases privacy and prevents other users from accessing your history, bookmarks and other private browsing data. Read More

Skip Tunes: Control The Default Music App In Mac From Menu Bar

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If you use iTunes, you are likely to have an app that lets you control iTunes from the menu bar. Either that, or, at some point, you may have tried using one to make using iTunes more convenient. For whatever reason you didn’t stick with the utility you tried, Skip Tunes is a Mac app worth $0.99 in the Mac app store that lets you control music in your default music player. This means it can work for either iTunes, or any other app that you use as your default music player. The app adds play/pause and forward controls to the menu bar, but expands to reveal a complete media player with a seek bar, a shuffle button and a backward and forward button. Skip Tunes itself present a neat interface that Mac lovers like to see in apps. Read More

Gmail Notifr: Check For New Emails In Multiple Accounts [Mac]

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We’ve covered quite a few apps that allow you to monitor your Gmail account from the Mac menu bar. MailTab for Gmail was just one of the apps covered that gave you complete access to you inbox, and BackUp Gmail allows you to backup messages in your inbox to your hard drive. Gmail Notifr is a simple app that lets you periodically check for new email messages from the menu bar. The functionality isn’t really something to get excited over, but the app lets you monitor new messages from multiple accounts. You don’t have to sign in and out to switch between them; the app lets you add any number of both Gmail and Google App accounts and check for new messages either individually or collectively. Read More

Screen Shade: Darken Your Screen While Keeping Dock Bright [Mac]

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We recently covered Brightness Slider and Shady, both of which allow you to adjust your screen’s brightness from the menu bar. While Brightness Slider is simple in its functionality, Shady allows you to use keyboard shortcuts to adjust brightness. Screen Shade is yet another free Mac app that lets you control the screen’s brightness without darkening the menu bar or the Dock. The app can be set to start at login and will remember the previous state it was set to, so that you don’t have to adjust it each time. You can darken the Dock and menu bar if you like by selecting the option from the app’s menu. Read More

QuickMailer: Quickly Send Emails With Auto Complete From Mac Menu Bar [Paid]

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The default Mail app on Mac may or may not your idea of what a desktop mail client should be. Whether you use it because you like it or because it’s free and already on your system with Apple’s seal of approval, whenever you open it to send an email or switch from one folder to another, the spinning beach ball tells you you’re in a for a bit of waiting. If you’ve got a slower system, then switching to the Mail app can take even longer. QuickMailer is a simple Mac app available for $0.99 that lets you send emails form the menu bar. The app uses the primary account you’ve configured with the Mail app, supports auto-complete for recently emails contacts, lets you type in all basic email fields - subject, body and attachment - and send the email from the menu bar. You will need to keep the Mail app running in the background, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be open or active. Read More

MenuBar ReArranger: Define An Order For Menu Bar Icons On Mac [Paid]

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Do you favor apps that will add icons to the menu bar as opposed to the Dock? If yes, then no doubt you save plenty of precious space on the Dock and trade it out for a little clutter on the menu bar. For many users this isn’t a bad trade off, but what can be a little annoying, to downright counter productive, is the order these app icons appear in. Every time you start your system, all apps that you've set to start at login rearrange themselves on the menu bar. It is makes it utterly pointless to remember which icon was where, and means you will need to take a good squint-eyed look at the menu bar each time you want to launch an app. MenuBar ReArranger is a very useful Mac app available for $4.99 in the Mac App Store that can solve this problem forever. The app does what you would expect to be native behavior in Mac (but isn’t), and lets you re-order the icons on the menu bar to suit your needs. Read More

You Control: Feature Rich iTunes Controller For Mac Menu Bar

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iTunes controllers that sit in your system menu bar aren’t hard to find; you can find both paid and free utilities that will do nothing more than adding media controls and perhaps the song name to the menu bar. The point of these apps is to provide easy access without having to switch back to the iTunes app window, since it can be slow. You Control is a similar Mac app with two great qualities; it is feature rich, and is free. It gives you the usual media controls and song name displayed in the system menu bar, but the menu bar controls give you access to pretty much your entire media collection in iTunes. From the menu bar, you can access favorites, albums, artists, recent tracks and playlists. Controls like play/pause, stop, Next Track, Previous Track, Volume and shuffle can also be used. Read More

TopHat Folders Menu Lite: Access Your Favorite & Most Used Folders From Menu Bar [Mac]

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A while back, we reviewed TopHat App Menu, a Mac app that lets you view and access your favorite and frequently used apps from the menu bar. TopHat Folders Menu Lite is a Mac app from the same developer that enables you to access your favorite, frequently accessed, and recently opened folders from the menu bar. Favorite folders can be added by dragging them over the app window. You can open the folders from both the app’s window and menu bar. When accessed from the menu bar, the app shows the folder hierarchy, letting you browse the folder’s content and open any sub-folder or file with a click. Read More

Get Date, Calendar & Time From Multiple Cities In Mac Menu Bar [Paid]

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Very few of us work without a clock on our screens; some either check it regularly to ensure they are not late for something, while others check it to see how much longer until the work day is over. For whatever reason, many might find that the default clock displayed in the Mac menu bar, is somewhat bare bone, displaying only the current time. The Clock is a Mac app available for $2.99 in the Mac App store that will add a feature rich clock to the menu bar. The app not only lets you see what time it is, but also lets you view the day and date. Clicking the clock opens a full calendar, and you can add clocks from different cities and time zones to it. The app also has a feature to view how much time you have left until business hours in a particular city are over, and it lets you set break alerts to make sure you take a break at regular intervals. Read More

MailTab for Gmail: Get Full Gmail Functionality From Menu Bar [Mac]

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If you learn about what you’re having for dinner via email, then it's fair to say that email is more than an integral part of your life. Email, as anyone will testify, isn’t just a work thing, and you probably check your email as often as often as you check Facebook. If you’re a Gmail user, and looking for a simple way to get alerts for new mail and be able to quickly view and reply to emails, then MailTab for Gmail is a Mac app that will give you access to your inbox from the system menu bar. You can view, search and compose email just as if you were using it from your browser; the app checks for emails automatically, loads any new emails and sounds out an audio alert when a new message is received. Read More