5 ms·

Making 1 click to access is faster than typing the app name in finder. Dock is usually full and used for different type of apps. Makes also constantly visible o

Making 1 click to access is faster than typing the app name in finder. Dock is usually full and used for different type of apps. Makes also constantly visible output possible with standard ui patterns.

UqWBcuFx6NV4r 6mo ago
OK, thanks. We understand what a menu bar is. How is this conducive to the typical usage pattern of an app like this?
- awakeasleep 6mo ago
  Are you saying you wish this was a desktop app and you would just open it occasionally when curious? If so, it feels like a needlessly indirect and combative way to go about it.
  - teh_klev 6mo ago
    Why is it "combative"? Seems like a needlessly hyperbolic description of launching a desktop app.
- kranner 6mo ago
  For some reason the app supports a separate standalone window mode as well [0]. It's not clear why the developer took the trouble to support two different modes when the menubar mode doesn't seem to add anything (like a live-updating icon for throughput). Well, I can think of one reason why it wasn't that much more trouble. François Chollet had a nice tweet [1] on why removing human cognitive friction is resulting in needless software complexity. [0] https://github.com/darrylmorley/whatcable/blob/main/Sources/WhatCable/App.swift https://github.com/darrylmorley/whatcable/blob/main/Sources/... [1] https://x.com/fchollet/status/2045929951539707957 https://x.com/fchollet/status/2045929951539707957
  - jaffee 6mo ago
    > removing human cognitive friction is resulting in needless software complexity This is kind of a hilarious statement just on the surface. Isn't removing burden from humans the whole purpose of software? How can you call the complexity "needless"?! (the actual tweet seems to go into a bit more detail around being incentivized to find good abstractions)
    - kranner 6mo ago
      I think you're conflating the burden of creation with the burden of relevance, suitability, usability and usefulness of the created artifact. The more the person in charge is disengaged, the sloppier the output is likely to be.
    - hdndjsbbs 6mo ago
      Making it trivial to generate software is making people turn their brains off. They don't think through the details and accept the "default" from an LLM which has no concern for the user experience.
  - wlonkly 6mo ago
    > It's not clear why People asked for it in these comments here and the developer added it.
    - kranner 6mo ago
      Thanks, from the git log I see it was committed 20 minutes before my comment. I was going by the HN title and description and missed those comments.
lxgr 6mo ago
> Dock is usually full My menu bar is also full and, unlike the Dock, I can’t resize it to fit more.
- poisonborz 6mo ago
  You can put it in a secondary onclick taskbar with Ice (similarly to Windows)
  - alexcroox 6mo ago
    Just a heads up Ice is abandoned and broken on upcoming versions of MacOS. I still need to look into an alternative
    - borski 6mo ago
      https://www.macrumors.com/2024/06/06/alternatives-bartender-mac-menu-bar/ https://www.macrumors.com/2024/06/06/alternatives-bartender-...
      - philsnow 6mo ago
        Thank you for posting this, I've been increasingly frustrated with ice recently and have been considering paying for bartender, now i won't.
    - wlonkly 6mo ago
      Thaw is a fork of Ice which is maintained and woks on Tahoe. https://github.com/stonerl/Thaw https://github.com/stonerl/Thaw
  - lxgr 6mo ago
    There's also Bartender, Hidden Bar etc., but they all come with some downsides. I just don't get why Apple doesn't recognize this as a problem. Do the engineers working on macOS all have two of these 5:1 aspect ratio ultra wide monitors!?
Someone 6mo ago
And ‘every’ Mac developer thinks people will want to run their tool all the time. For this kind of read-only tool, I doubt that’s the case. A regular application probably serves most users better. Also, if you want users to have the option of permanently displaying this kind of info, a desktop widget (https://developer.apple.com/documentation/widgetkit https://developer.apple.com/documentation/widgetkit) may be a better option than a menu bar item.
- sgt 6mo ago
  Exactly, this should just be a regular app with an optional menu bar option for those who want to switch it on.
- sleepingNomad 6mo ago
  I like this idea.
kdkdodjckejfj 6mo ago
[dead]
johanyc 6mo ago
Spotlight exists. Typing is much faster than moving your cursor to a small target like a menu bar item.

UqWBcuFx6NV4r 6mo ago

OK, thanks. We understand what a menu bar is. How is this conducive to the typical usage pattern of an app like this?

awakeasleep 6mo ago
Are you saying you wish this was a desktop app and you would just open it occasionally when curious? If so, it feels like a needlessly indirect and combative way to go about it.
- teh_klev 6mo ago
  Why is it "combative"? Seems like a needlessly hyperbolic description of launching a desktop app.
kranner 6mo ago
For some reason the app supports a separate standalone window mode as well [0]. It's not clear why the developer took the trouble to support two different modes when the menubar mode doesn't seem to add anything (like a live-updating icon for throughput). Well, I can think of one reason why it wasn't that much more trouble. François Chollet had a nice tweet [1] on why removing human cognitive friction is resulting in needless software complexity. [0] https://github.com/darrylmorley/whatcable/blob/main/Sources/WhatCable/App.swift https://github.com/darrylmorley/whatcable/blob/main/Sources/... [1] https://x.com/fchollet/status/2045929951539707957 https://x.com/fchollet/status/2045929951539707957
- jaffee 6mo ago
  > removing human cognitive friction is resulting in needless software complexity This is kind of a hilarious statement just on the surface. Isn't removing burden from humans the whole purpose of software? How can you call the complexity "needless"?! (the actual tweet seems to go into a bit more detail around being incentivized to find good abstractions)
  - kranner 6mo ago
    I think you're conflating the burden of creation with the burden of relevance, suitability, usability and usefulness of the created artifact. The more the person in charge is disengaged, the sloppier the output is likely to be.
  - hdndjsbbs 6mo ago
    Making it trivial to generate software is making people turn their brains off. They don't think through the details and accept the "default" from an LLM which has no concern for the user experience.
- wlonkly 6mo ago
  > It's not clear why People asked for it in these comments here and the developer added it.
  - kranner 6mo ago
    Thanks, from the git log I see it was committed 20 minutes before my comment. I was going by the HN title and description and missed those comments.

lxgr 6mo ago

> Dock is usually full My menu bar is also full and, unlike the Dock, I can’t resize it to fit more.

poisonborz 6mo ago
You can put it in a secondary onclick taskbar with Ice (similarly to Windows)
- alexcroox 6mo ago
  Just a heads up Ice is abandoned and broken on upcoming versions of MacOS. I still need to look into an alternative
  - borski 6mo ago
    https://www.macrumors.com/2024/06/06/alternatives-bartender-mac-menu-bar/ https://www.macrumors.com/2024/06/06/alternatives-bartender-...
    - philsnow 6mo ago
      Thank you for posting this, I've been increasingly frustrated with ice recently and have been considering paying for bartender, now i won't.
  - wlonkly 6mo ago
    Thaw is a fork of Ice which is maintained and woks on Tahoe. https://github.com/stonerl/Thaw https://github.com/stonerl/Thaw
- lxgr 6mo ago
  There's also Bartender, Hidden Bar etc., but they all come with some downsides. I just don't get why Apple doesn't recognize this as a problem. Do the engineers working on macOS all have two of these 5:1 aspect ratio ultra wide monitors!?

Someone 6mo ago

And ‘every’ Mac developer thinks people will want to run their tool all the time. For this kind of read-only tool, I doubt that’s the case. A regular application probably serves most users better. Also, if you want users to have the option of permanently displaying this kind of info, a desktop widget (https://developer.apple.com/documentation/widgetkit https://developer.apple.com/documentation/widgetkit) may be a better option than a menu bar item.

sgt 6mo ago
Exactly, this should just be a regular app with an optional menu bar option for those who want to switch it on.
sleepingNomad 6mo ago
I like this idea.

kdkdodjckejfj 6mo ago

[dead]

johanyc 6mo ago

Spotlight exists. Typing is much faster than moving your cursor to a small target like a menu bar item.