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Show HN: What if your menu bar was a keyboard-controlled command center?

60 points by pugdogdev 9mo ago

Hey Hacker News The ones that know me here know that I am a productivity geek. After DockFlow to manage my Dock and ExtraDock, which gives me more space to manage my apps and files, I decided to tackle the macOS big boss: the menu bar. I spend ~40% of my day context-switching between apps — Zoom meetings, Slack channels, Code projects, and Figma designs. My macOS menu bar has too many useless icons I almost never use. So I thought to myself, how can I use this area to improve my workflows? Most solutions (Bartender, Ice) require screen recording permissions, and did not really solve my issues. I wanted custom menus in the apps, not the ones that the developers decided for me. After a few iterations and exploring different solutions, ExtraBar was created. Instead of just hiding icons, what if the menu bar became a keyboard-controlled command center that has the actions I need? No permissions. No telemetry. Just local actions. This is ExtraBar: Set up the menu with the apps and actions YOU need, and use a hotkey to bring it up with full keyboard navigation built in. What you can do: - Jump into your next Zoom call with a keystroke - Open specific Slack channels instantly (no menu clicking) - Launch VS Code projects directly - Trigger Apple Shortcuts workflows - Integrate with Raycast for advanced automation - Custom deep links to Figma, Spotify, or any URL Real-world example: I've removed my menu bar icons. Everything is keyboard- controlled: cmd+B → 2 (Zoom) → 4 (my personal meeting) → I'm in. Why it's different: Bartender and Ice hide icons. ExtraBar uses your menu bar to do things. Bartender requires screen recording permissions. Ice requires accessibility permissions. ExtraBar works offline with zero permissions - (Enhance functionality with only accessibility permissions, not a must) Technical: - Written in SwiftUI; native on Apple Silicon and Intel - Zero OS permissions required (optional accessibility for enhanced keyboard nav) - All data stored locally (no cloud, no telemetry) - Very Customizable with custom configuration built in for popular apps + fully customizable configuration actions. - Import/export action configurations The app is improving weekly based on community feedback. We're also building configuration sharing so users can share setups. Already got some great feedback from Reddit and Producthunt, and I can't wait to get yours! Check out the website: https://extrabar.app https://extrabar.app ProductHunt: https://www.producthunt.com/products/extrabar https://www.producthunt.com/products/extrabar

maximgeorge 9mo ago
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crazygringo 9mo ago
How does this work on laptop screens? E.g. running Chrome on my MBA with a notch, the Chrome menus take up 3/4 of the screen width, and then the remaining ~6 icons there is space for are utilities I need. There are even a couple more icons I regularly use and have to switch to Finder to access them, just because it has less menus. The idea is interesting, but it's not clear at all from the homepage how/if this works on laptops as opposed to large monitors, when you're using an application with lots of menus. I'm also curious how this compares to other similar solutions -- QuickCMD, Raycast, Keyboard Maestro, Command Keeper, etc. It seems clear that its featureset is different, but it's hard to figure out which ones do which things. If you included a comparison features chart it might be helpful so potential customers can see what makes this one unique -- i.e. it's the only one that does X and Y and Z, because every other app only does 2 but not all 3.
- pugdogdev 9mo ago
  Good question! For that I built the floating mode for the app (You can see an example on the website) You can hide and show it on demand with a simple hot key, of course, so it will be visible only when you need it. Regarding the similar solution, we don't replace them, instead, we make them much more accessible and integrate with them amazingly well. A lot of our users are saying that this app is the missing part for Keyboard Maestery and also a huge improvement for Raycast. Because everything works with Deeplinks, it's super easy to integrate, and with the keyboard-only navigation options, everything is much faster. If you have any more questions feel free to ask
  - crazygringo 9mo ago
    Thanks. I think you just need to make this all clearer on the homepage! The app looks cool but I think the big challenge is in demonstrating what makes it unique/better. You spend time comparing with icon managers, but that is not the competition. It would be much more helpful to me in understanding how it differs from the actual competition. And saying that it is the "missing part" or a "huge improvement" doesn't tell me anything factual. Don't some of the competitors use keyboard triggers? Do they not also allow you to create deep links? Don't some of them also sit in the menu bar? This is why it's not immediately clear to me what specifically makes your product better. I'm assuming you have an answer, but that's where a feature comparison chart would really help.

antaviana 9mo ago

Why do you have a 14-day money back guarantee instead of a 30-day free trial? My perception (although I never tried it) is that it reduces the number of people actually trying it and avoids that you have to still pay for the payment platform fee when there is a refund, plus I presume there is also some dedication needed for handling the refund itself. I speculate that there might be a sweet spot between the impulse purchase and the price level where you do not bother to ask for a refund, even if the tool does not work for you, but still it is counterintuitive for me why not to reach as many potential users as possible at a nearly zero marginal cost and sort of pray for conversion with a much higher user base. In other words, at this price range with no recurring income, what is the percentage of users who actually to ask for a refund? Is it very low?

pugdogdev 9mo ago
Hey there, This topic always pops up from time to time. First, when I started building macOS apps, the extra work of building a trial mechanism was something I wanted to keep for later. Today, my key management backend already supports that, and when a user personally asks for a trial key, I give it to them. But from my experience, when someone has a free trial, 2 thing can happen: 1. Download and never use 2. Use a little bit, stop using it, and leave the app without buying it. When someone pays for the app, they try it most of the time immediately. He explores the app, finds issues, and, because he paid for it, will be much more involved, which will provide me with much more accurate feedback. Also, if something is not working well for him, he writes me, and I benefit from these interactions with the users. A lot of my improvements for my apps are based on "Refund talks" Overall, the upsides outweigh the downsides. I don't have many refunds, but when I do, it really helps me improve the app. I already had users who asked for a refund, and a few versions later, the app improved based on their feedback, and they repurchased it. I am sure that some users don't buy without trying, And this is why I am super responsive to refund requests and handle them faster and without "playing games" with this topic. Hope this makes sense in some way
- eps 9mo ago
  You are leaving a lot of money on the table. The amount of people who do not want to pay upfront, but would buy after a trial, is not just substantial, but game changing. You can also add the same pressure to test the app after installing by offering a 14 or even a 7 day trial.
  - pugdogdev 9mo ago
    Maybe, This has a lot of different opinions, In SaaS, I can understand why you would give this trial version. You can improve the onboarding and user progress tracking in the tunnel. Making rapid updates and improving the onboarding process. But for Mac apps that nothing is tracked or sent to my server, I have no idea what the user is doing or not doing with the app, I can't roll out fast updates or even force users to get the newest version So I won't be able to really improve it. Maybe in my future Saas I will have some kind of trial. But for now, I will stay with this model. Anyway, thank you so much for the feedback, Super appreciated!
    - eps 9mo ago
      I was speaking from experience selling single-fee end-user Windows apps for about a decade. Trials are basically a must as virtually no one would pre-buy to test. Perhaps on Macs it's different, or maybe it's due to your price point, but still your approach automatically drives away a large swath of potential, but cautious buyers, or those who don't want to be bothered by the refund process. Your pitch is "here is some good stuff, and here are the hurdles if you want to test it".
      - pugdogdev 9mo ago
        Thank you :) Got your point, Maybe I will give it a try for a month and see how it goes.
      - maxkfranz 9mo ago
        The apps by Rogue Amoeba on Mac are a great example of the trial model on Mac: https://www.rogueamoeba.com https://www.rogueamoeba.com I'm not affiliated with them, but I am a customer. They put a lot of effort into finding the right balance of what to unlock upfront in the trial. And their license/unlock process is pretty seamless. I don't dispute the power of a free trial, but it can be a fair bit of work to get the details right.
maxkfranz 9mo ago
I'm not the author, but generally: It could depend on whether those trial users are worth supporting. You could potentially get a free-rider problem. You could get a lot of support emails from people who never convert anyway. It's only 10€, so it's pretty well in the impulse-buy category. To the author: I'd suggest localising the currency, if possible. At least for English speaking locales (US, UK, CA, AU, NZ). The EUR pricing made it look to me like you might not be able to buy it if you're not in Europe. (Edit: I'm in Canada and it shows EUR, not CAD.)
- pugdogdev 9mo ago
  Thank you for the suggestion! I need to handle this multi-currency in all of my products This is on my tasks list
  - maxkfranz 9mo ago
    Great, thanks. Very interesting product. Best of luck!
    - pugdogdev 9mo ago
      Thank you
  - antaviana 9mo ago
    I see you use Stripe. They have this Adaptative Pricing feature where you get paid in EUR and customer pays in their own currency. It has some drawbacks (fewer payment methods and higher cost perception for customer due to Stripe’s upfront currency exchange comission), but it can do the trick.
- eps 9mo ago
  Just provide limited support to non-paying customers. Keep it forum-based, for example. That's it.
  - pugdogdev 9mo ago