Bartender 6 Release Notes

This update for Bartender introduces Top Shelf & Bartender Pro, refines the on-demand layout experience, improves the look and feel of menu item groups, and brings back some favourite features from older versions of Bartender (yes, we've brought back swapping items from Bartender 4).

New

• Top Shelf & Bartender Pro are now available in Bartender Pro - learn more here. Mega Supporters have access included already, just head to settings and turn it on.
• Under Advanced settings, you can now enable swapping items to make room. You can swap shown items when there isn't enough space to show hidden items, every time you click the bar, or never.
• When items are in a group, they will now show in a separate "Grouped Items" section in the layout screen, instead of being shown under "Always Hidden" and unmovable. You can edit or delete a group by clicking on it, and you can still move them around in the normal sections.
• When on-demand layout is enabled, Bartender will now auto-move the items you move, instead of moving them all and hitting sort each time. It will also show whether your bar is currently organized or not.

Fixes

• When using on-demand layout, items should no longer bounce back to old positions, and you are no longer required to hit "sort my bar". If a large number of items are out of place, you'll still be asked to request sort.
• Fixed an issue causing indexing to stop working on Macs under memory pressure.
• Decreased resource usage for the indexing & sorting process.
• Improved indexing for known problematic items.
• When using Live mode, Bartender will ignore un-indexed items until their identity is resolved, resulting in fewer mouse clicks.
• Fixed an issue causing Widgets to sometimes not show in the sidebar.
• Fixed a duplicate About/License listing in the sidebar.
• Fixed a sporadic launch crash for some users.
• Fixed a crash that can occur when leaving Bartender & the Mac running for long periods of time.

If you face any issues with this update, or want to share a feature request, please reach out to us.
support@macbartender.com

This update for Bartender fixes issues with images not showing in the layout page, and adds the ability to show always hidden items when option clicking the bar item.

New

• You can now see just always hidden, or all your hidden items, when you option click the Bartender bar item.
• When space is low and multiple items are clicked in Bartender Bar, bartender will show them to the left of your visible items until there isn't any room, then it'll start to bump some of the recently shown items. You can disable this behaviour in the settings page, but it may result in some clicked items not being visible on smaller screens with notches.
• Some previously undetectable items should now show the correct name, instead of just "Menu Item", and this process should finish faster.

Fixes

• Users seeing the grey box placeholders in the layout page should now see the images always populate.
• Image triggers should now function correctly even when the system is under memory pressure.

This update fixes issues with some items not being visible in the layout pages.

Fixes

• Some unidentifiable items were hidden in the layout pages and now show.
• When an item is unidentified, we no longer move it to the "new items appear here" section until we've identified it or you move it.
• Prevented some causes of items flickering on the side of the menu bar.

This update for Bartender brings improvements to menu bar stability, and improves the experience with duplicated apps.

• Fixes: When items are around the notch, they will no longer "jiggle"
• Prevented some causes of re-arranging when not expected
• Stopped duplicate copies of apps from switching positions
• Prevent triggers that are deleted/disabled from still running in some cases
• Fix a couple of issues with triggers not firing, or firing too often

This update for Bartender is focused on improving experiences across the board, with a reduction in how often Bartender moves your items, how often the purple dot appears, and more.

• New: When using Bartender Bar, if there isn't enough room to show an item you click, it will now appear on the other side of the bar so it's always visible
• New: Widgets can now be renamed and given descriptions
• New: Bartender now works around Live Activities; moving items during a live activity may be slower, but should now function correctly
• Fixes: Prevent some apps (e.g. Figma) from opening their menu when moved
• Showing/Hiding items automatically via triggers should now work consistently
• "Any Change" image triggers will now correctly fire
• Fix an issue causing some Apple menu clicks
• Clicking in empty space will now work correctly
• Bartender will now arrange your items less often, and do so with fewer moves
• Bartender will now abort movements if the computer gets locked, you change spaces, or go fullscreen, preventing gestures from feeling laggy

This update to Bartender includes a change to how we handle the mouse, aimed to stop Bartender getting in the way. We now won't perform any actions whilst you're moving the mouse around, and we'll quickly fire them off as soon as you're idle.

• Fixes a crash when coming from the lock screen or using start at login
• Updates handling of Little Snitch so it will no longer be labelled "Menu Item" and should keep its location across macOS restarts
• Some apps with multiple items that don't have unique labels should now keep the same positions across restarts
• Improved performance of menu item lookups & time to start a move after adjusting your profile
• Fixes items in triggers not re-hiding after they de-activate, including image triggers
• Prevents the launch at login toggle showing enabled on first launch

• Bartender will now ignore the "Games" rocket icon, as it will move itself
• Fixes an issue where the cursor could potentially stay hidden
• Stopped items from bouncing back in the profile editor
• Fixes gradient/color pickers not being draggable
• Stopped items temporarily shown after clicking in Bartender bar from being instantly hidden by triggers
• Prevented triggers from interrupting clicking in the bar
• Updates handling of duplicate items for a given app, so they now maintain their own spots and won't jump around
• Improved energy efficiency when performing large move

This release focuses on workarounds for issues caused by system bugs in Tahoe, that got worse the longer Bartender runs.

• The layout page should now update more frequently, and show newly added/removed items faster
• The layout shown in the layout page should reflect the actual layout
• When running Bartender for long periods of time, WindowServer CPU usage should no longer creep up

Bartender 6.1.0 improvements to energy usage & system pressure, and refines the experience on Sequoia & Tahoe.

• Lowered CPU usage & system pressure during moves & image capture
• Restore the older styling system for users on Sequoia who can't fully color their menu bar
• Prevented image triggers from causing the UI to slow-down

This update brings performance improvements, fixes a couple items showing up that shouldn't be, and brings back image triggers.

• Image triggers will now behave as expected
• The battery trigger should now correctly move/hide the battery icon
• The "Hidd-en" or similar text will no longer show
• Reduced the amount of moves required to setup your presets
• Styles on Tahoe should now apply more reliably
• Bartender should now find more items names, rather than labelling them as MenuItem
• Indexing will now filter out more invalid processes, and complete faster

We've resolved issues with the cursor feeling a little sluggish, or jumping whilst you move items.

Our first update for Bartender 6 brings a huge pass of fixes, and aims to fix issues seen in the final public build of macOS Tahoe.

New

• The link in the license email to auto-license Bartender will now open Bartender & automatically apply your license.

Fixes

• Item spacing will now apply correctly.
• When toggling the bar with hovering/clicking, clicking an item won't then hide the bar & the item's menu.
• Reduced indexing frequency and prevented updates during the process.
• Improved indexing reliability when there are more than 100 bar items.
• Overflow for notch/left menu will now correctly trigger an overflow into the hidden bar.
• Updated messaging in the license screen for mega supporters.
• Stopped the mouse flickering with large bars.
• Added an option to send us debug logs in Settings.
• Stopped Bartender showing its preferences window on launch.
• Fixed deleted sub-bars & groups from staying in the profile.
• When a menu bar item is temporarily shown, it won't hide during interaction.

Meet Bartender 6 - re-engineered from the ground up for performance & compatibility with macOS Tahoe.

Design

Bartender has a whole new glassy look, designed to fit right in on Tahoe.

Performance

Bartender is faster than ever, moving your items faster, and performing less moves when it does.

Widgets (beta)

Widgets let you create your own menu bar items, with no code required.

Layout

Overflowing beyond the notch or left menu has been updated to automatically pop those items.

Styles

We've added a whole new set of styles on Tahoe, including glass, and restoring classic bar styles.