Barback 0.2.3

What's changed

Changed

• Automate Developer ID signing and Apple notarization in the hosted release workflow using Glint's temporary-keychain approach, with unconditional credential cleanup before publication.
• Publish a fresh universal ZIP and DMG with stapled notarization tickets. App behavior is unchanged from 0.2.2; the signing team, bundle identifier, and quarantine-preserving Homebrew installation remain stable.

Install

brew install --cask mrashrhodes/tap/barback

Or download Barback-0.2.3.zip and its matching Barback-0.2.3.zip.sha256 below into the same folder, then verify the download before opening it:

cd ~/Downloads
shasum -a 256 -c "Barback-0.2.3.zip.sha256"

Continue only if the command reports Barback-0.2.3.zip: OK. If verification fails, stop and download the pair again from this release. Then extract the zip and move Barback.app to your Applications folder. A matching checksum confirms the download matches the published file; it is not notarization.

This release is Developer ID signed and notarized by Apple, with the ticket stapled to the app. Leave quarantine enabled; no Gatekeeper bypass is needed. If macOS rejects the download, stop and report the error rather than disabling its protections.

Alternatively, download Barback-0.2.3.dmg and Barback-0.2.3.dmg.sha256, verify with shasum -a 256 -c "Barback-0.2.3.dmg.sha256", then open the disk image and drag Barback to Applications. The DMG is also signed, notarized and stapled.

Core hiding needs no Screen Recording or Accessibility permission. The optional drop-down panel requires Accessibility to open an item's menu. To hide an item, hold ⌘ and drag it to the left of Barback's separator; click the chevron or press ⌃⌥⌘B to show or hide it.

Update an existing installation

Quit Barback first. Homebrew: brew update && brew upgrade --cask barback. Manual: repeat the download and verification steps above and replace Barback.app. Your settings and item positions are kept.

When upgrading from an ad-hoc build (including 0.2.1), grant Accessibility again if you use it: remove the old Barback entry in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility, add /Applications/Barback.app again, enable it, and reopen Barback. Later releases retain the same bundle identifier and signing team.

Changelog · README

Barback 0.2.2

What's changed

Fixed

• Add a Developer ID signing and notarization path with hardened runtime, secure timestamps, stapled tickets, and verification of extracted release archives. Reject wrong-team signatures and failed notarization instead of distributing an ad-hoc fallback.
• Preserve quarantine in the Homebrew cask and document the one-time Accessibility regrant when upgrading from ad-hoc releases through 0.2.1. Future production builds retain the bundle identifier and signing team.

Install

brew install --cask mrashrhodes/tap/barback

Or download Barback-0.2.2.zip and its matching Barback-0.2.2.zip.sha256 below into the same folder, then verify the download before opening it:

cd ~/Downloads
shasum -a 256 -c "Barback-0.2.2.zip.sha256"

Continue only if the command reports Barback-0.2.2.zip: OK. If verification fails, stop and download the pair again from this release. Then extract the zip and move Barback.app to your Applications folder. A matching checksum confirms the download matches the published file; it is not notarization.

This release is Developer ID signed and notarized by Apple, with the ticket stapled to the app. Leave quarantine enabled; no Gatekeeper bypass is needed. If macOS rejects the download, stop and report the error rather than disabling its protections.

Core hiding needs no Screen Recording or Accessibility permission. The optional drop-down panel requires Accessibility to open an item's menu. To hide an item, hold ⌘ and drag it to the left of Barback's separator; click the chevron or press ⌃⌥⌘B to show or hide it.

Update an existing installation

Quit Barback first. Homebrew: brew update && brew upgrade --cask barback. Manual: repeat the download and verification steps above and replace Barback.app. Your settings and item positions are kept.

When upgrading from an ad-hoc build (including 0.2.1), grant Accessibility again if you use it: remove the old Barback entry in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility, add /Applications/Barback.app again, enable it, and reopen Barback. Later releases retain the same bundle identifier and signing team.

Changelog · README

Barback 0.2.1

What's changed

Fixed

• Replace empty-group management with a complete panel editor: choose real menu bar items, name and style each panel, set its list/grid layout, and reorder panels and selections. Adding a panel enables normal left-click opening.
• Always open the configured dropdown on a primary click or hotkey in panel mode, even while hidden icons are already revealed. Option-click and the traditional strip mode keep their existing behavior.
• Show only explicitly selected, safely identified items, with names in both layouts. Remove the automatic wall of generic icons and the implicit Other group. Preserve existing groups and unavailable selections without guessing new identities.
• Make Accessibility requirements visible and disable item opening without permission, with an explicit Show in Menu Bar fallback. Report opening failures and prevent obsolete scans or uncertain presses from triggering repeated actions.
• Refresh item identification after permission changes and deduplicate items mirrored across displays.

Install

brew install --cask mrashrhodes/tap/barback

Or download Barback-0.2.1.zip and its matching Barback-0.2.1.zip.sha256 below into the same folder, then verify the download before opening it:

cd ~/Downloads
shasum -a 256 -c "Barback-0.2.1.zip.sha256"

Continue only if the command reports Barback-0.2.1.zip: OK. If verification fails, stop and download the pair again from this release. Then extract the zip and move Barback.app to your Applications folder. A matching checksum confirms the download matches the published file; it is not notarization.

Barback is signed ad-hoc and not notarized, so macOS may block the first launch of a manual download. If you trust this release and verified the download, clear the quarantine flag, then open the app:

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Barback.app

Barback needs no Screen Recording or Accessibility permission. To hide an item, hold ⌘ and drag it to the left of Barback's separator; click the chevron or press ⌃⌥⌘B to show or hide it.

Update an existing installation

Quit Barback first. Homebrew: brew update && brew upgrade --cask barback. Manual: repeat the download and verification steps above and replace Barback.app. Your settings and item positions are kept.

Changelog · README

Barback 0.2.0

What's changed

Added

• Carlos’ Marañon toggle icon: a hand-drawn cashew apple with its nut, selectable last in the Settings › Appearance icon picker. It is outlined while items are hidden and filled while they are revealed, follows the icon weight setting, and is drawn as a template image so it adapts to light and dark menu bars.
• Optional drop-down panel: in Settings › Panel, set Click Barback to Open a drop-down panel to open a borderless panel under the Barback icon instead of revealing items in the menu bar. It is made of Liquid Glass on macOS 26 and a system material on macOS 14 and 15, and honors Reduce Transparency, Increase Contrast and Reduce Motion. The default is unchanged (reveal the items in the menu bar).
• The panel lists hidden items as a list or a grid, and the global hotkey opens it when it is the click action. Option-click still reveals everything, including always-hidden items.
• Item groups: sort hidden items into up to 12 named groups (right-click an item › Move to Group), shown as boxes in the panel followed by Other. Groups are edited in Settings › Panel.
• Click an item in the panel to open its menu through Accessibility (optional permission). Without it, clicking reveals the items in the menu bar and the panel hints at the permission.

Install

brew install --cask mrashrhodes/tap/barback

Or download Barback-0.2.0.zip and its matching Barback-0.2.0.zip.sha256 below into the same folder, then verify the download before opening it:

cd ~/Downloads
shasum -a 256 -c "Barback-0.2.0.zip.sha256"

Continue only if the command reports Barback-0.2.0.zip: OK. If verification fails, stop and download the pair again from this release. Then extract the zip and move Barback.app to your Applications folder. A matching checksum confirms the download matches the published file; it is not notarization.

Barback is signed ad-hoc and not notarized, so macOS may block the first launch of a manual download. If you trust this release and verified the download, clear the quarantine flag, then open the app:

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Barback.app

Barback needs no Screen Recording or Accessibility permission. To hide an item, hold ⌘ and drag it to the left of Barback's separator; click the chevron or press ⌃⌥⌘B to show or hide it.

Update an existing installation

Quit Barback first. Homebrew: brew update && brew upgrade --cask barback. Manual: repeat the download and verification steps above and replace Barback.app. Your settings and item positions are kept.

Changelog · README

Barback 0.1.0

What's changed

First public release.

Added

• Menu bar item hiding with Barback's own status items: a chevron that is always visible, a hidden separator, and an optional always-hidden separator. ⌘-drag any menu bar item to the left of a separator to hide it.
• Instant show/hide: click the chevron to toggle the hidden section; Option-click (or Show Always-Hidden in the menu) also reveals always-hidden items. No animation polling, no screen capture.
• Auto-rehide after a configurable delay (default 10 seconds, 0 = never). Hidden items stay visible while the pointer is over the menu bar.
• Global hotkey to toggle hidden items, ⌃⌥⌘B by default, registered without Accessibility permission.
• Optional "show on hover" for the menu bar (off by default). Items revealed by hovering hide again 0.4 seconds after the pointer leaves the menu bar (or, if a menu is open then, once it closes).
• Settings window (⌘,) with General, Appearance, Items and About tabs: launch at login, auto-rehide delay, hotkey, hover; a read-only list of the current menu bar items and whether each is hidden (worked out per display, so items on other displays aren't mislabelled), scanned on demand off the main thread; tips for Macs with a notch. On macOS 26, items hosted by Control Center are listed as "Unidentified Item" unless you optionally allow Accessibility access to show app names.
• Right-click menu on the chevron: Show/Hide, Show Always-Hidden, Settings…, About Barback, Getting Started, Quit.
• Appearance settings with a live preview: one-click styles (Classic, Minimal, Cocktail, Eye, Arrows); nine toggle icons (chevron, chevron in circle, triangle, eye, ellipsis, lines, wine glass, mug, dot) in four weights, each changing shape with the state; an optional accent tint while hidden items are showing; separator styles per section (line, dashed, dot, double line, chevron or invisible). Only Barback's own items are restyled.
• Up to three extra dividers that can be ⌘-dragged anywhere to group menu bar items. They don't hide anything, and their positions are kept when you remove and re-add them.
• barback:// URL scheme for Shortcuts, scripts and launchers: toggle, show, hide, show-all, toggle-all and settings (e.g. open -g barback://toggle). URLs can't change settings. The hotkey and URL commands post a VoiceOver announcement of the result.
• Optional "Hide items again when switching apps" (off by default): revealed items hide as soon as another app becomes active, unless the pointer is in the menu bar or a menu is open. Uses a workspace notification, no polling.
• A one-time getting-started popover under the chevron on first launch (also available from the menu); it respects Reduce Motion.
• Guard against misordered separators: Barback will not expand a separator that sits to the right of the chevron and explains how to fix the order.
• Follows the macOS Human Interface Guidelines: SF Symbols template status items, a Settings window with toolbar tabs and grouped SwiftUI forms, VoiceOver labels, system colors and controls in light and dark mode, and the Liquid Glass design on macOS 26 (including .glass / .glassProminent buttons in Settings, with bordered fallbacks on macOS 14–15). The app icon follows the macOS 26 icon grid.
• Event-driven design with near-zero idle CPU: only one-shot timers, no polling, screen capture, event taps, synthetic events, private APIs or network access. Core features need no privacy permissions (no Screen Recording; Accessibility is optional and only used for item names). Show/hide and the Items scan are marked with signposts for Instruments (Points of Interest).
• Universal (Apple silicon + Intel) app for macOS 14 Sonoma or later, distributed as a zip and a Homebrew cask (brew install --cask mrashrhodes/tap/barback).

Install

brew install --cask mrashrhodes/tap/barback

Or download Barback-0.1.0.zip and its matching Barback-0.1.0.zip.sha256 below into the same folder, then verify the download before opening it:

cd ~/Downloads
shasum -a 256 -c "Barback-0.1.0.zip.sha256"

Continue only if the command reports Barback-0.1.0.zip: OK. If verification fails, stop and download the pair again from this release. Then extract the zip and move Barback.app to your Applications folder. A matching checksum confirms the download matches the published file; it is not notarization.

Barback is signed ad-hoc and not notarized, so macOS may block the first launch of a manual download. If you trust this release and verified the download, clear the quarantine flag, then open the app:

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Barback.app

Barback needs no Screen Recording or Accessibility permission. To hide an item, hold ⌘ and drag it to the left of Barback's separator; click the chevron or press ⌃⌥⌘B to show or hide it.

Update an existing installation

Quit Barback first. Homebrew: brew update && brew upgrade --cask barback. Manual: repeat the download and verification steps above and replace Barback.app. Your settings and item positions are kept.

Changelog · README