[HN Gopher] Show HN: What if your menu bar was a keyboard-contro...
___________________________________________________________________
Show HN: What if your menu bar was a keyboard-controlled command
center?
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
ProductHunt: https://www.producthunt.com/products/extrabar
Author : pugdogdev
Score : 56 points
Date : 2026-01-17 17:31 UTC (5 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (extrabar.app)
(TXT) w3m dump (extrabar.app)
| crazygringo wrote:
| 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 wrote:
| 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 wrote:
| 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.
| pugdogdev wrote:
| Ok, I will try to explain this better The main power of
| this app is that I am not trying to compete with them. I
| work together with them. For example, I put my ExtraBar
| RayCast deeplinks into a logical menu structure so they are
| easy to access and remember. Instead of opening Raycast,
| looking for the actions, sometimes RayCast is opened on a
| different screen, so I need to go back, etc. I just put the
| most used action on the ExtraBar menu and use simple
| keyboard navigation to trigger it. The same goes for
| Keyboard Maestro. I have this Reddit post that someone
| posted on ExtraBar: https://www.reddit.com/r/macapps/commen
| ts/1q0aqu6/extrabar_i... That has some explanation of how
| he uses it, so this may be helpful to get more usecases
| example
| crazygringo wrote:
| Ok that's definitely helpful. At this point I'm not
| really asking questions here for you to answer on HN --
| just more pointing out that these are the kinds of things
| your site needs to explain. What this competes with vs.
| what it works together with is a great angle.
|
| I assumed ExtraBar was intended to be its own all-in-one
| solution for executing commands. Now that you say it also
| works together with other utilities, that changes my
| perception completely.
| pugdogdev wrote:
| Thank you so much for the feedback, Your questions are
| totally helpful, I will make it clearer on the website
| based on your feedback
| koiueo wrote:
| > How does this work on laptop screens?
|
| Offtop: but is this the right question to ask?
|
| Coming from Linux (involuntarily), the menu/tray implementation
| was one of the loudest UX issues I immediately discovered. Some
| functions can only be invoked from a system tray icon, and
| those actions can also be app/workspace-sensitive (like taking
| a screenshot with some special config using a screenshot tool).
| MacOS renders those functions inaccessible if the currently
| focused app has more than ~6 items in the menu.
|
| Gosh, some apps even have menus so big, they don't fit on a
| single screen (btw, MacOS's solution is to compress the font,
| yeah, ask me how I know), leaving only the control center in
| the tray (which is completely useless in this scenario).
|
| This is the first time I encounter a MacOS user who at least
| acknowledges the problem, albeit from a different angle: "you
| are displaying it wrong/your screen is too small".
| hmokiguess wrote:
| I love this!
|
| I have a custom menu bar I wrote that integrates with Yabai and
| requires disabling SIP for full functionality, it works similarly
| to yours, but I love how simple and polished this one is.
|
| How are you able to do that without OS permissions?
| pugdogdev wrote:
| Thank you! Glad you liked it All of my apps are wiht permission
| free mindset, So I try my best to find tricks and make
| everything work without them For this one, I just removed the
| need to influence the real apps menu bar items. You build your
| own menu items, so I handle everything within this app without
| any permissions.
| user45774467644 wrote:
| Why is it more expensive to buy multiple license at once?
| pugdogdev wrote:
| Hey, The price now for the launch month is 9.99 per device.
| Prices will be different after it with bundle discounts (but
| still more than 9.99 per device) I rounded up by 2 cents for
| the 2 devices and 3 cents for 3 devices to make the number
| nicer to read Users can always buy 2 keys for 1 device
| separately and receive a 2-cent discount if they like to, I
| don't limit that option
| user45774467644 wrote:
| I use hammerspoon for this but if you don't want to write your
| own scripts this might be nice.
| pugdogdev wrote:
| Let me know if you try it I will add many more built-in actions
| in the app, for example, to run scripts, trigger api calls, and
| more
| unsnap_biceps wrote:
| I really like the concept, however, I'm struggling to imagine
| using it over Alfred. The menu bar has a lot of limitations
| compared to an instantly available pop up. Could you share what
| specifically wasn't meet by Alfred and other quick search style
| solutions?
| pugdogdev wrote:
| Thank you! Actually, this is not replacing Alfred / Raycast.
|
| I work with Raycase + ExtraBar together.
|
| ExtraBar is really good for managing different tasks in the
| same app, since there's no direct way to set this up in
| Raycast/Alfred, and it's also a good place to "bookmark" your
| favorite Raycast/Alfred actions without having to open the full
| app.
|
| Raycast provides a deeplink for every action in the app. So I
| just take the actions that I use the most and put them in my
| ExtraBar.
|
| I am working to build full macro creation inside ExtraBar,
| which will allow you to quickly run complex scripts that use
| different applications and actions in an easy, accessible way.
|
| Let me know if you have any more question or wants to try it
| out
| ggoo wrote:
| I'll check this out! I've been using doll for a while, but I
| don't think it's maintained anymore.
|
| https://github.com/xiaogdgenuine/Doll
| pugdogdev wrote:
| Nice! Didn't know about it. ExtraBar doesn't add the
| notifications to the apps, but it will give youa fully
| customized menu for them
| ggoo wrote:
| Ah! I misunderstood your product :) Notifications would be an
| awesome feature to add
| pugdogdev wrote:
| I will definitely think about it
| MarcelOlsz wrote:
| Love the 9 euros for a lifetime sub. Easiest purchase ever even
| if I don't use it. Looks great.
| pugdogdev wrote:
| Thank you This is always my launch price, and then it will stay
| as a 1 Year price. Hope you will enjoy using it Let me know
| what you think
| antaviana wrote:
| 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 wrote:
| 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 wrote:
| 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.
| maxkfranz wrote:
| 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 10EUR, 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 wrote:
| Thank you for the suggestion! I need to handle this multi-
| currency in all of my products This is on my tasks list
| maxkfranz wrote:
| Great, thanks. Very interesting product. Best of luck!
| pugdogdev wrote:
| Thank you
| eps wrote:
| Just provide limited support to non-paying customers. Keep it
| forum-based, for example. That's it.
| Jailbird wrote:
| I may have missed it, but may I assume a device license is
| transferable? I mean to transfer it when I ditch my Mac for a new
| one, so I'm talking about my devices only. I'm just asking to be
| clear, especially given use of the word "lifetime". Thanks!
| pugdogdev wrote:
| Yes sure You can manage the connected device using my keyper
| platform: https://keyper.appitstudio.com/device-
| management/request
| digitaltrees wrote:
| Cool project. I am working on something similar but was having a
| hard time with macOS permissions. I am not a Mac developer and
| not familiar with the space. I wasn't even familiar with ray cast
| or things like that before I started. But I'll definitely test
| this out and see if it solves what I was setting out to
| accomplish
| pugdogdev wrote:
| Totally understand you! I worked on 3 versions for a menu bar
| solution app. This was so frustrating. The first try was 5
| months ago Let me know if this helps you achieve your goal
| drcongo wrote:
| I spotted the _very_ underrated Bloom [1] in the screenshots and
| thought I should give it a shout in here. I 've been using it,
| along with Witch [2] as an app switcher so that I can hide the
| Finder icon, for about 2 months and love it.
|
| [1] https://bloomapp.club
|
| [2] https://manytricks.com/witch/
| pugdogdev wrote:
| Nice! And yes Bloom is great
| stacktraceyo wrote:
| Cool will check it out.
| pugdogdev wrote:
| Thank you! Let me know what you think
___________________________________________________________________
(page generated 2026-01-17 23:00 UTC)