Ice: Manage and Customize the macOS Menu Bar

Overview

Ice is a menu bar manager for macOS that helps keep a crowded menu bar organized. It lets users hide items, reveal them when needed, and arrange them without removing the underlying apps.

It also offers appearance controls and shortcuts, making it useful for people who want to tailor the menu bar as well as reduce clutter. Ice is actively developed, and its README identifies some features as planned rather than implemented.

Key Features

• Hide menu bar items in a separate hidden section, with options to reveal them on hover, click, scrolling, or swiping.
• Arrange individual menu bar items using drag and drop.
• Automatically rehide items and hide application menus when they overlap with shown items.
• Show hidden items in a separate bar, useful for displays with a notch.
• Search menu bar items and adjust item spacing, which is marked beta.
• Customize the menu bar with tint, shadow, borders, and rounded or split shapes.
• Assign hotkeys to toggle sections, show search, enable the Ice Bar, and control other available functions.
• Launch at login and receive automatic updates.

Use Cases

• Mac users with a crowded menu bar can hide infrequently used items while keeping them accessible.
• MacBook users with a notch can display hidden items in a separate bar.
• People who frequently change their setup can rearrange items and use hotkeys to switch menu bar sections.
• Users who want a customized menu bar appearance can adjust its tint, shadow, border, and shape.

Getting Started

Install with Homebrew:

brew install --cask jordanbaird-ice

For manual installation and further details, see the README. Download the latest release or visit the project website.

Alternatives

• Boring Notch: Boring Notch adds controls and widgets around the MacBook notch, while Ice focuses on hiding, arranging, and styling menu bar items.

Considerations

• Requires macOS 14 or later. The project cites its use of system APIs introduced in that version and has no plans to support earlier macOS releases.
• Ice is in active development, and its README notes that some features have not yet been implemented. Menu bar item spacing is marked beta.
• The project uses the GPL-3.0 license.
• Some behavior depends on macOS system APIs and menu bar layout, so check the README and release notes for current details.