Ice: The Order Revolution for Your macOS Menu Bar

As a Java veteran who’s spent years deep in the Spring Boot and JVM ecosystem, I recently stumbled upon a macOS tool that genuinely blew my mind—Ice. It’s not a microservices framework or a database middleware. Instead, it’s a menu bar manager. Sounds niche? Maybe. But once you try it, you’ll realize: it’s like giving your macOS menu bar a smart organizer box!

What Problem Does It Actually Solve?

By default, the macOS menu bar (that row of icons at the top of your screen) is a chaotic jumble. As you install more apps, it gets messier—some icons you might not even click once a year. Ice’s core mission is simple yet powerful: make your menu bar clean, controllable, and even fun to customize.

It doesn’t just hide icons—it delivers a full-fledged “menu bar operating system.” You can tuck away rarely used icons and reveal them only on hover, move them to a separate bar at the bottom of the screen (a godsend for MacBook Pros with the notch), and even customize colors, shadows, and corner radius. This isn’t just a utility—it’s a macOS aesthetic overhaul!

Tech Stack & Architecture

Ice is a native macOS app written entirely in Swift, and it requires macOS 14+ (so don’t bother trying to run it on Monterey). From its README, it’s clear the app heavily leverages Apple’s private or semi-private APIs to achieve deep menu bar control—things like dynamically hiding/showing status items, intercepting click events, and custom-drawing the menu bar background.

Although I haven’t seen the source code, based on its capabilities, it likely uses:

• Accessibility API: to detect and manipulate menu bar items
• NSStatusBar / NSStatusItem: for native status bar management
• Core Graphics / Core Animation: to customize appearance (gradients, shadows, rounded corners)
• Event Taps: to monitor global mouse/keyboard events (e.g., hover, clicks on empty space)

This approach is admittedly “risky”—Apple has a habit of deprecating private APIs without warning, which could break tools like this overnight. But the Ice author clearly understands this trade-off and wisely chose to support only the latest macOS 14+, ensuring greater API stability.

Installation & Getting Started: Faster Than Instant Noodles

Ice offers developer-friendly installation options. Beyond manual download, it’s available via Homebrew—a huge win for devs:

brew install --cask jordanbaird-ice

Once launched, the UI is refreshingly minimal: a list of all your menu bar icons on the left, and a live preview on the right. You can drag to reorder, check “Hide” to conceal items, and even set trigger conditions (hover, click, scroll). The whole process is zero-config, zero-code, and you can transform your menu bar in under five minutes.

Advanced Features: It’s More Than Just Hiding

The real magic lies in Ice’s “Ice Bar” feature—displaying hidden icons in a dedicated bar at the bottom of your screen. For MacBook Pro users with the dreaded notch, this is a game-changer. No more obscured icons!

Additional capabilities include:

• Custom menu bar appearance: solid colors, gradients, shadows, borders, rounded corners—even a “split” layout
• Global keyboard shortcuts: toggle visibility or open the search panel instantly
• Auto-rehide: icons disappear again after a few seconds to keep things tidy

While the README doesn’t include Swift code samples (understandable—it’s a GUI app, not a library), its configuration logic is elegantly clear: everything revolves around state management and event response. If you’re familiar with React or Vue’s state-driven philosophy, you’ll recognize the same pattern here—flip a switch, and the UI updates automatically.

Who Is This For?

• macOS minimalists: anyone who can’t stand a cluttered menu bar
• Power users: those drowning in tools like Alfred, Bartender, or iStat Menus
• Designers & developers: folks obsessed with UI aesthetics and system-level customization

Learning curve? Virtually zero. No coding, no config files—just a polished graphical interface. The only requirement: macOS 14+.

My Critiques & Suggestions

As a Java developer, I’ll admit I’m a bit envious of the Swift ecosystem’s native experience. In our world, teams can argue for days over log formats, while here, everything just works in a single .app bundle.

That said, Ice isn’t perfect:

1. No support for older macOS versions: reasonable, but excludes some users
2. No config export: if you reinstall your OS, you lose all settings (though “Profiles” are on the roadmap—exciting!)
3. Beta features can be unstable: e.g., menu bar spacing is still marked BETA

If I were using it, I’d pair Ice with Raycast or Alfred—Ice handles visual cleanliness, while they boost productivity. A perfect combo.

Is It Worth Studying Deeply?

If you’re a macOS developer, absolutely. Ice’s implementation strategy—especially how it safely leverages system APIs for advanced UI control—is worth reverse-engineering. But if you’re a backend engineer? Then it’s probably just a “really useful tool,” and you don’t need to dig into the code.

In summary, Ice isn’t a flashy demo project. It’s a thoughtfully crafted utility that solves a real pain point with exceptional user experience. In an era flooded with AI hype and bloated frameworks, it’s refreshing to see a native app that obsesses over details. Just like tidying your desk—sometimes, a sense of order is productivity itself.

Code Examples

Installation via Homebrew

brew install --cask jordanbaird-ice

Manual Installation

Download the "Ice.zip" file from the latest release and move the unzipped app into your `Applications` folder.

Advanced Configuration (GUI-Based Workflow)

// Ice is a GUI application, so configuration is done through its interface.
// Example workflow:
// 1. Open Ice
// 2. Drag menu bar items to reorder
// 3. Check 'Hide' for items you want to conceal
// 4. Enable 'Ice Bar' to show hidden items in a separate bar
// 5. Customize appearance via the Appearance tab