Seems like a great app but at $15 I think it's a little to pricey for what it does. I'd bet at sub-$10 the sales volume would offset the cost difference. I'm going to keep an eye on this one but can't pull the trigger yet.
I love the app, paid for v2 and got v3 as a free update. Now with the Catalina update, Bartender "needs" Screen Recording Permission ... I know the developer says it is really not recording the screen ... but, since it's "not recording" the screen, and instead it captures images of the menu bar, it is technically "recording" the screen even if it's capturing images so the updates and preferences can work? I'm truly confused by this, and uninstalled ... sadly I'm back to all the icons on my menu bar.
Like (1)
Version 3.1.7
2 answer(s)
BhupinderM2658
14 October 2019
do u see this as a major privacy issue. i also found it very invasive.
I've tried them all. I kept coming back to Bartender for stability, ease of setup, and the fact that I've yet to have to wait for updates to work on an OS update.
Vanilla, Dozer, and most all the other similar apps all work well, and some are even free. But they all lack what makes Bartender the king of the hill.
As far as I'm concerned, with very little exception, the only people who wouldn't prefer to have Bartender are the ones who habitually claim an app is "too pricey for what it does" and that it needs to cost $X and let the sales volume offset the difference. No matter what the app does or what the price is, they claim it needs to cost less (usually about 30-50% less). They also tend not to know jack-sh!t about app development and sales.
My bar was getting out of hand. Bartender is the first app I've seen that makes it manageable.
Like
Version 3.0.47
3 answer(s)
Big Johnson
06 November 2018
There are at least two other recently-updated apps that do the same thing.
I tried Barsoom briefly once and had trouble with it or just preferred Bartender, I don’t remember.
Another is Vanilla, which I’ll be trying soon.
I didn’t like the way Bartender 3 functions so I’ve stuck with v2 on Sierra.
There are two visible menu icons that will not stay where I put them. Upon reboot they move to where THEY want to be. I don’t know if that's been fixed in v3 but it’s annoying.
Like
jim-23
08 November 2018
I just installed Vanilla after you posted on here, and I like this so much better. Thanks.
https://matthewpalmer.net/vanilla/
Like
Big Johnson
11 December 2018
I’ve been using Vanilla for a few days and still prefer Bartender 2 though it may be similar to Bartender 3 that I tried once but can’t recall all its functions.
With Vanilla, its arrow must be at the far left end of the apps, and I don’t want it there. Bartender 2 lets me place it wherever I choose.
When I click the Vanilla arrow I need to scroll more than 3 inches to reach the furthest unhidden icon. Depending on the number of icons one has they may need to scroll even further.
I like the way the hidden icons unhide directly below Bartender 2’s icon, with half to the left and half to the right, decreasing how far I must scroll, and that’s one reason I’ve stuck with it.
However, Bartender 2 refused to completely hide the Eject button, while Vanilla will do it.
Bartender has many options, including which icon to use and what to display when you click it.
Vanilla is plain...like vanilla. There are few settings - no hotkeys, no control over what is shown when clicked, no icon choices etc.
Vanilla’s window is also a bit confusing when you first use it - it’s unclear that the different sections are differentiated by the dots in the menu bar.
Since Bartender 2 is no longer available this may all be moot, but I may continue using it until it won’t work no more (Mojave?).
Highly recommended! Works under Sierra and High Sierra. You have control over all the Menu Bar items at the top of your screen. You can have as many or as few showing by default, with all the remaining items showing in the alternative menu bar under the menu bar (Sierra) or in the menu bar (High Sierra). Recommended - try it - and your Menu Bar will be decluttered, no matter how big or small your screen may be. Particularly useful on laptops.
Dear developers,
I bought Bartender version 1 some years ago. However, I stopped using it because I had too many menu bar apps and it was slowing down my computer. I recently bought a faster Mac and wanted Bartender to manage the menu again. Unfortunately,
1. There's no upgrade path for people with version 1 (only v2). $20AUD is a lot of money for a small utility to start over from scratch. I think it's important to look after people who've previously invested in the product.
2. The multiple rows facility no longer exists. I really like the UI of throwing the mouse curser up to the top of the screen and seeing a palette pop down. Much better than having to find the Bartender icon and click on it. Well done for implementing that. But I can't see the point of having Bartender if all it does is run your menu items across the top line. I already have 19 items and I'd like to add more. Over to you...
Bartender is something Apple should have implemented in OSX for a long time, can’t live without this little useful app, it uncluttered my top bar years ago and since then is a necessity.
Not bad and serves the need that I had. One question, though. Is there any way to set it up so that it will close after a certain amount of time? If I open the menu and select an item, the menu stays open until I select a different window. It would be great if there was a way to close it when an item is selected or after a certain amount of time. I looked, but didn't see any way.
Worth every penny & totally indispensable for me. Brilliantly tidy menu bar now (-: App regularly updated, tech support good and working perfectly on High-Sierra 10.13.3 beta. Should be part of the OS IMHO.
The new Bartender 3 is a disaster, at least on Sierra, don't know how it does on High Sierra. The 2 is clean and any app is easy to spot when you need it, on its own bar. Bartender 3 is a mess, all the app you don't want hidden, disappear and if you decide you want them all in your menu without having a big display, you are better off Bartender completely. It was so good having the second menu bar, clean and organized and you could still keep an eye on the others apps. Please give us back the options to have the second menu bar !
I am very confused why it has a high rating...
If you have a lot of menu-bar icons, this app cannot organize them very well.
If you are an OCD patient, this app will drive you crazy about sequencing menu-bar icons, because this app has some bugs, for example,
1. before you used this app, you sequenced your menu-bar icons pretty well, and then you launched this app; then quit this app. Congrats! Your icons became messy.
2. before you used this app, you sequenced your ALL menu-bar icons pretty well, and quit few apps which show icons on menu bar, and then launched this app, and launched those few apps back. You will discover that those few icons are messy.
3. I am tired to tell about all the critical bugs...
I really don't know why there is no any alternative app.
I didn't realize that Bartender 3 was a free upgrade for Bartender 2 users until I checked the license after installing version 3. Props for that. It should be noted on this page so as not to discourage people like me who hesitated, thinking I would have to pay full price all over again.
That said, I won't miss the Bartender Bar. Given how much control Bartender gives me over the menu bar, a standalone bar always seemed redundant. But, hey, different strokes for different folks. Of course it you are enamored of it, with the new version you can replace your extant menu bar with the Bartender Bar if you wish.
For what it's worth, since I have so many items in my menu bar (the 17" screen on my iMac makes this feasible) I took a screenshot of the menu bar after I got it arranged so that I could track how well Bartender was handling things. As it happens, it was doing a pretty good job. Maybe version 3 will do even better. Anyway, because it mostly works as advertised and also because the upgrade was free I'll give it lots of stars.
Considering their blog states, "Bartender 3 is a FREE update for all Bartender 2 users", the High Sierra compatibility and improved "look and feel" are great and much appreciated. The big change in how the Bartender Bar behaves is really not that big of a deal. Also, there are plenty of other apps & utilities I have that released paid upgrades for full High Sierra compatibility, so kudos to Surtees Studios for being generous. Completing rewriting an app from the ground up, and no upgrade charge? How can anyone complain about that?
Invaluable, especially when using a small screen with lot's of menubar apps.
V3 works fine on Sierra. Have not yet upgraded to High Sierra.
I have never had a problem with Bartender not working properly as some reviewers report here. And I am a power Mac user with many apps and many menubar based apps. The developer has always been responsive.
Wow... lot of hate for Bartender 3 accumulating here. Personally, I think it's great. I've been using Bartender for years, and it was a bit of an adjustment getting used to the new way of showing the icons in v. 3, but geez, it's not that big a deal. Also, my experience with the developer has been totally different. Very responsive the few times I've had issues.
Bartender 3 (version 3.0.8 as of 1 October) is available as a free upgrade from version 2. The new Bartender menu is a stroke of genius – instead of expanding to show all menu bar items or to show the hidden ones below the menu bar, it now toggles between visible and hidden items. Version 3 even properly hides the AirServer icon, which version 2 could never do. A half star off because sometimes a few icons end up in the wrong spot.
Like (7)
Version 2.1.6
1 answer(s)
Ptk3
19 August 2018
Bartender is available as a free upgrade ONLY FOR HIGH SIERRA users. On Sierra, you're stuck on version 2, and don't have any promt to telle there's a version 3. Though, the version 2 (2.2.16 at this date) works fine, but don't have the new interface…
While I am a paid customer of Bartender, please note that with macOS High Sierra there is no longer a need for it. Simply hold down the "Command" key and drag any icon on the menu bar where you want it and its position will persist, even after a restart. Finally, Apple...finally!
Like (1)
Version 2.1.6
5 answer(s)
RogerKatz
02 October 2017
Holding down the Command key for the purpose of rearranging MenuBarItem icons is not new - it has been available for quite awhile. Nevertheless, it is a useful ADDITION to Bartender 3's functionality - it doesn't obviate the wonderful usefulness of Bartender. Personnally, with dozens of MenuBarItems, I couldn't live without Bartender.
Like (1)
larrymcj
02 October 2017
Actually, Roger...what macOS did before High Sierra was to simply move icons around, but after a restart they would go back to a different order. One of the specific changes in High Sierra was to change this such that any rearranging done with CMD+Drag would persist after a reboot.
Like
RogerKatz
02 October 2017
Thanks for the update - I never noticed this, since my Rebooting is quite infrequent.
Like
larrymcj
02 October 2017
It's not a feature that Apple made any noise about. I happened to have seen it somewhere on a long list of High Sierra changes. You'd think they'd want folks to know this, but then again they also know it shoots some 3rd party developers in the foot, like Bartender and Barsoom. The latter, I think, was much better than Bartender, but to me it's cleaner to use what's now available in High Sierra.
Like
heisenberg
03 October 2017
Yes, it's good that Apple finally added in persistent CMD+drag icon reordering in the menubar, but I don't think it's accurate to say "there is no need" for Bartender. If you have lots of menubar icons (say, 18, like I do), Bartender is very helpful for reducing that visual clutter in the menubar.
When this app first came out, it was great. The developer was responsive and the app worked. Now, even with the latest version, it simply doesn't work at all. Additionally, the developers refuses to reply to repeated emails. Another orphaned app where the developer took the money and ran. I've also tried Bartender's competition (Barsoom) which does work better, but even it has issues with some menu bar icons. But at least the developer of Barsoom is responsive.
In the end I've resorted to using the built-in feature to CMD+Drag icons around on the menu bar after a restart. At least now I'm dealing with macOS itself and there are no issues.
Like
Version 2.1.6
2 answer(s)
RavenNevermore
05 October 2017
You can't hide a bunch of icons that way. That's what most people use Bartender for. I have 10 icons hidden in the Bartender menu.
Like (1)
larrymcj
05 October 2017
@RavenNevermore: No, you can't hide icons, but at least High Sierra allows you to rearrange them and they'll stay in place after a restart. I've been a licensed user of Bartender since it was first released, and it used to be a great app. For me, and obviously many others, it stopped working completely or only worked partially, under Sierra and High Sierra. I sent the developer 17 email requests to please help me figure out why it wouldn't work with Sierra, and I finally gave up...no reply at all. I then started using Barsoom, which IMHO is a much better app and does the same thing as Bartender. The difference is the developer responds to emails. But when High Sierra allowed moving the icons, that's all I needed, so I also uninstalled Barsoom. If Bartender works for you under High Sierra, you're lucky.
Terrific! Version 2 somehow was interfering with my login items. Version 3 now allows login in items to start up automatically again.
Revealing the hidden menu bar items by making the normal ones disappear works totally fine for me---in fact I like the new way more than the old way of showing the hidden ones below the menu bar. I almost never need to see the hidden items, which is why I hide them! And if I do need to see them, I don't need to see the normal ones for a few seconds!!
Definitely one of my favorite utilities.
Happy to see it works with Sierra now, and hopefully High Sierra also soon!
WTF happened to the hidden Bartender bar that used to pop out when you click the icon?
I HATE the way Bt functions now - hiding (almost) all the visible menu icons that should never be hidden, then jumping to the right end of the bar and sdisplaying the hidden icons from the Bartender bar in the menu bar where the other ones are supposed to be.
Did I mention I F"N HATE IT??????????????????????????????????
I'll continue using Bt 2 because I friggin' HATE Bt3!!!
Oh, BTW, Bartender 3 ROYALLY SUCKS THE BIG ONE!
This was supposed to be a 1/2 star rating for v3, but since MU negligently failed to post updates for the past year, I can't even post a review because I've already left a review for the currently-listed version and you can only review a version once.
Like (1)
Version 2.1.6
6 answer(s)
brett-16
15 September 2017
The Bartender dev also told me that Bartender 3 will only support Sierra and newer. I am on El Capitain and have no intention of updating. I haven't purchased BT yet and I would have except for this fact. Is there a similar alternative to Bartender 2 out there?
Like
Big Johnson
15 September 2017
Yes there's an alternative - just look in the Similar Software section above and you'll see Barsoom. https://goo.gl/FgT2qa
I tried it but didn't like it - don't remember why. That's why I'm still using Bt 2 (on Sierra).
Like
brett-16
16 September 2017
I decided to get BT3. You reminded me I can still run BT2 on my old OS machine. My macbook pro runs Sierra. Eventually I will update the mac pro with Sierra but only after a couple generations - I use the MP for music and macOS updates always break music software and it takes some time for the devs to update.
I don't mind the new way BT3 hides the menu. It is different. It would be nice to see the other menu items like in BT2 but BT3 is cleaner looking. In the end, after trying both side by side I think the BT3 approach is better. Since I am focused on the BT menu items, I dont really need to see the regular menu items. Its just jarring to have them be replaced by the BT items but in terms of usability there so far is no need to have them there. So fine... happy.
Like
Big Johnson
17 September 2017
What do you mean you'll only update to Sierra "after a couple generations?" Are you aware that Sierra has been out for an entire year (minus 9 days) and is currently on .6? That's 7 generations, what are you waiting for?
In fact it's been out so long that the next OS is due out in NINE DAYS - exactly one year after Sierra was released. How many versions of that will you wait for?
I don't install a new OS immediately either, but you gotta jump in and get your feet wet sometime. I generally wait till .3 is released.
In case it wasn't obvious, I DO mind the way Bt 3 functions. Why should my clock, clipboard app, fan temps, etc. disappear just because I want to see an item hidden in Bartender?
Like (1)
brett-16
19 September 2017
Those to me are sub-generations (eg .1 .2 etc). My music computer will stay on El Capitain until at least whatever comes out after High Sierra. There are issues with Sierra and music apps and the upgrade process. I experienced this when I upgraded my MBP from El Capitain to Sierra - it screwed up my music software. I use my MBP to test the impact of the update on my music software - if there is too much impact I leave my music machine alone. So before i update it, I wil need to understand all the rammificaitons and prrepare for them. you may not be aware but with a serious music installation like mine there are 100's of installers that need to be run and 100G's of libraries that may need to be reinstalled. I wan the update to do automate this as it should or find some way to automate it - otherwise it takes way too long to do manually. The other options is to wait for a space between work to do all this. in the meantime the music machine stays on whatever is stable. I will update the MBP however to current after its been out for abit and I can issue reports. I've had too many problems with Apple updates over the years to move too quickly.
Like
brett-16
25 September 2017
Here is why I stay behind on macOS versions. Here we start the fiasco for High Sierra... Apple really rakes us music production users through the coals with their updates. I'll likely just stay on El Capitain even through the lifecycle of High Sierra. assholes (apple). http://www.pro-tools-expert.com/home-page/2017/9/18/macos-1013-high-sierra-pro-audio-compatibility-update?mc_cid=8aa965abda&mc_eid=7ba17156d4
It's really pathetic when all the awards and accolades touted on their website are from FIVE YEARS AGO!
You wouldn't see a car company in 2017 advertising that they won "Car of the Year" in 2012.
No one cares what praise it garnered in 2012, they want to know how it performs TODAY!!!
It may have been fantastic then but suck now, maybe that's why there's no recent awards?
I know I'm sick and tired of dragging the GD menu icon into place after every reboot! Why haven't the updates addressed that?
Impossible to say since it's developer doesn't care enough to respond but still expects people to buy his app..
It seems MU has shunned them too, since version 3 has been out for quite some time and is now up to 3.0.4.
I'm going to find another site for Mac Software 'cause MU just doesn't cut it anymore. It's a rinky-dink little site that often fails to update apps, post screenshots, catch shill reviews etc.
And their own employees even post reviews, which seems rather biased to me, since they want people to buy the software they list. As I recall, all the employee reviews I've seen were very much in favor of the app, none were negative.
Like (1)
Version 2.1.6
3 answer(s)
Big Johnson
14 September 2017
Just noticed that their website still adbvertised Bartender 2, even though Bt 3 is available.
Like
Big Johnson
14 September 2017
I may have fixed my icons issue.
While checking my Preferences folder for another issue, I found that there were ten Bartender temporary files - files with endings like plist.g8DgVSM, plist.s4UZyV1, plist.Y1eYyvp.
I've often found temporary pref files in that folder belonging to various apps and removed them.
After trashing those files icons have stayed put after reboots.
So if you too are dealing with roaming icons, be sure to check your ~/Library/Preferences folder for files with names ending in a mess of jumbled letters and numbers instead of .plist.
Like
Big Johnson
15 September 2017
Nope - icon bug not quashed.
On the next boot the same three roque icons drifted to the left again and I moved them into place.
A new temp file had been created so I deleted it and rebooted to test. Icons moved again. F!
Well, I bought Bartender months ago and I was happy with it. But as I changed the HD in my Macbook, it did not work anymore. I am trying now for weeks to get the problem resolved with the support. Sent several messages - no response. Finally the support responded, but it did not resolve the issue. And so it is going on...
I can not recommend the app with such a support. You pay for it and it does not work for months now. See below, others have similar problems. This is a huge lack with a customer!
This used to be a great app and worked very well for me on El Capitan. Now however its nearly a year since the last update and its still a buggy mess on Sierra.
Unless the developer decides to reappear again then this is essentially an abandoned app. An app called Vanilla by Matthew Palmer looks like a promising alternative (albeit less feature rich *at the time of typing).
In the meantime, a fix for the app order not being remembered after each reboot is as follows:
1- Quit out of Bartender (right click on the bartender menu item for this option)
2- Locate and delete the following file from your user directory: Library/Preferences/com.surteesstudios.Bartender.plist
(this will reset your menubar preferences for bartender)
3- Open Bartender. Launch all your apps with menubar icons and get to organising/removing them to your preference.
4- Once you're happy with how everything looks, head back to the newly generated file in your user directory: Library/Preferences/com.surteesstudios.Bartender.plist
5- Right click/control click on the file and check the 'locked' checkbox. This locks the file to prevent any further changes taking place.
You will need to locate the file and uncheck the 'locked' checkbox everytime you wish to make menubar changes, and recheck it again afterwards.
This worked for me except for 1 menubar item which insists on appearing on the far left hand side. Which for the time being I'm working around by ordering menubar items with that in mind.
The app itself is excellent, but the support of this company is ridiculous. In the last couple of weeks, I sent 3 messages without any response. I bought the app, but after installing a new HD, it won;t work anymore. Reinstalling etc. did not help. So, what matters that the app is good, if it doesn't work and the developer treats you like an idiot?
★★★★★ Bartender is one of a few features that Apple should've included as a part of the OS yet neglected to do so. It allows us to have quick access to a wide range of features while keeping clutters to minimal. It's a must-have gem. I hope the developer will continue to keep up with the OS updates. Although High Sierra has disabled the ability to move system items around, it is still able to control other menubar items, and I'm sure the developer will eventually resolve any issues currently present in High Sierra Beta, just as they did with all the previous versions of OS.
This has only worked half-assed on Sierra. And the dev. is another deadbeat who doesn't respond to messages.
WTF do they have a "contact us" page if they aren't going to respond?! Should call it a "DON'T contact us" page. https://www.macbartender.com/contact-us/
After every reboot some icons move to the left side of the menu extras. And the eject button can no longer be hidden.
All requests to the dev. have gone unanswered.
Like (8)
Version 2.1.6
2 answer(s)
Michael-Vilain
03 October 2017
I had a problem with my V2 licensing and it took me a month before he finally "came up for air" and responded to my emails. I had done a charge back with my credit card to get my money back.
If you choose "Display All Items in Menu Bar" and arrange a menubar icon near the end, for example, Searching Location Icon, there is a very high opportunity to make all icons messy again.
I am very tired to arrange, and sort my lots of icons logically, organizedly again and again.
I used it for a while, but I eliminated the “need” for this utility simply by reducing the number of menubar icons to bare minimum essentials. I found that most things people consider essential actually aren’t. Bartender is one of those things.
Although the developer has maintained this utility even through the SIP transition, I contend that it is a matter of time before the developer finds it either impossible or not worth the trouble to maintain it. TotalFinder, TotalSpace, Zooom2, Optimal Layout, FinderPop, to name a few. You might think it’s all Apple’s fault, but even Linux have something similar to SIP on OS X now. System-level protection is going to be tighter and tighter in the future, and it is evident that OS vendors don’t particularly appreciate third-party developers messing with something as fundamental as the menubar. It’s not a good idea from security standpoint even in a general sense.
The enthusiastic minority Mac fans will always say stuff like “I can not live without this utility!” But the reality is that the vast majority of users, even so-called power/professional users, don’t even care to have something like this. Here is how it always turns out; You buy a piece of software like this thinking you can miraculously improve the user experiences. Then, you start spending more time tinkering and troubleshooting as you use it more. Soon, you become a volunteer beta tester for the developer while you also become unnecessarily attached to its novel, optional functionality. After a while, you stop seeing updates and bug fixes, and then you painfully realize that the developers of the utility abandoned it for one reason or another. You will be left with a lot of frustration as a result of your novel setup ripped apart only because some developers no longer felt like doing anything with it. I'm sick and tired of this classic pattern with indie developers and wasting my time and money in the process.
I found that, in the long run, these “system enhancements” added more complexity, frustration and “needs” to tinker with, and that I was much better off just making good use of all the default features on my Mac. Any small gains in user experience are not worth the massive trade-off of depending on this type of utilities.
I was a great fan of Bartender with Yosemite and earlier, but when El Capitan came along with SIP, Bartender became more trouble than it was worth, even, at that time with version 2, and I uninstalled it. Today I decided to try it again. To my surprise and delight Bartender 2 now works perfectly for me with Sierra on both my laptops.
>> Rearrange your menu bar items as you wish. >> Full compatibility with macOS 10.12 Sierra
Simply not true. Upgrading to 10.12 involved a lot of tiny yet annoying nuisances. Bartender not respecting/remembering its own and other icon's position in the macOS menu bar is one of them. Contacting the developer is pointless, you'll never hear back or see any effect. After what seemed endless testing that involved countless restarts, a lot of cache purging etc. I'm tired of rearranging icons after every reboot. And users definitely shouldn't have to start messing around with SIP to get this working (if only). So I'm out looking for alternatives. At this point I can't possibly recommend this once useful app, no matter what the price.
Like (1)
Version 2.1.6
1 answer(s)
John-Bailie
03 March 2017
This app (v 2.1.6) currently does NOT work with a fresh install on Sierra 10.12.3 on a late 2016 15" MBP. However it does work on another Mac that was upgraded through various versions of macOS and Bartender. Initially contacted Bartender support on Dec.21, 2016. Several emails before a generic response email in Jan. Several other emails with detailed configuration info submitted but simply no response.
Nothing but crickets ... No updates, no response.
Please put your money some place else and save yourself the frustration of dealing with this company.
It should and has worked very well in the past. It would appear to have been abandoned at this point.
To all you who have the problem with rearrangement of icons in the Mac menu bar, not Bartenders hidden bar, try this:
I disabled SIP, rebooted, and rearranged the icons in my preferred order. Then i rebooted and enabled SIP again. This seems to have remedied my problem with Bartender not remembering icon positions over a reboot. Hope this helps others. Please confirm if it helps on your machines guys. Dropbox still isn't behaving nicely though.
BTW I only give it a 4 rating since it has been such a hassle figuring this out, otherwise it would have gotten 5 stars.
Recently purchased this app and it serves me very well. Many people think that this app is useless given that since Sieara we can remove icons by holding cmd key and drag them.
However, the point of this app is not reducing the icons we have in the menu bar but to have a second one with still handy accessibility. For this I give this app 4.5 out of 5.
Thanks for the developers.
Nope... Still unable to recommend this app as it is too damned expensive given the functionality. $6.00 would be a no-brainer. Nice as the app is it is let down by the developers avarice. A holding down of the Cmd key allows anyone to swap around each of the activated Apple made menu items, the inability to order around several other Menu Items is not about to make me lose sleep.
I recently upgraded from 10.10 to 10.12.1 and, of course, the old Bartender v1 broke. Seeing the recent bad reviews here, I was sceptical about immediately paying for the v2 upgrade, but decided I had nothing to lose in trying the four-week trial.
Menu position retention is the problem being most complained about, but that seems to be fine. I have set an order of my most commonly used third-party apps to the left and hidden system apps to the right. I have already rebooted five or six times in the past 30 minutes, after making various tweaks, to see if the order was reset, but it has not changed from my choice.
So, the prospects are looking good that I will shortly pay for my upgrade.
Like (2)
Version 2.1.6
2 answer(s)
iksretep
14 November 2016
Lucky you ... for me my OCD continues to flare up because I'm worried about my csrutil (System Integrity Protection) to be disabled in order to have the Spotlight icon hidden ... so is it safe to say that there are various problems that affect different configurations?
While back there was another utility that helped with managing your menu bar icons ... I think it was called Broomstick, but I think its developer moved to greener pastures.
Like
web-19
19 December 2016
Loved version 1. Paid for it. Would pay for it again. Am concerned about the System Integrity Protection having to be disabled. Found an alternate product in a bundle that does everything I 'hired' Bartender v1 to do. Will not pay $15 for v2. That feels like a middle finger from the developers to v1 owners.
I am an early adopter, and supporter of Mac Bartender. It has served me and my OCD very well ... hiding the menubar icons of apps I don't want to see... however I am dissapointed that yet again after an upgrade of the OS some features of Mac Bartender don't work. There is sitll no possibility (at least for me) to hide the spotlight icon unless you disable and leave the csrutil disabled ... I tried removing all associated files with Mac Bartender, deleted the helper files listed on developers FAQ ... still can't do it without leaving the csrutil disabled on my system. There are also some gap issues (if you do remove the spotlight) ... I wish there was an option to adjust to the old "gap" as macOS 10.12.1 introduced some additional gaps.
I had no problems addressing the above with El Capitan, but I can't seem to figure this one out on Sierra ... my OCD even forced me to reinstall from scratch and still nothing. Does anyone have any suggestions as how to get it working ... I sent couple of emails to the develop and he/she/they remain unresponsive.
Like
Version 2.1.6
1 answer(s)
larrymcj
12 November 2016
iksretep: you are not alone, as I mentioned in my updated review. Bartender now appears to be orphaned as they won't answer email or support Bartender under Sierra. Like you, it used to be an app I couldn't live without, so now whenever I reboot I have to manually reposition all the menu bar icons to support my own OCD.
The developer states on his website that Bartender is fully compatible with macOS Sierra...but that is simply not true. I "had" it installed on three Macs with Sierra and it didn't work on any of them.
For what little self-satisfaction it provided me, I revisited all the sites I had previously given Bartender a 5-star review and changed it to a 1-star, citing the specifics. I'll be happy to change these back to 5-stars if the developer ever decides to actually make the app compatible with Sierra.
Bartender 2 used to work just fine on my three Macs until the macOS Sierra upgrade. At that point it stopped working and for several weeks I tried, unsuccessfully, to reach out to the developer. Finally, after many emails and support requests, someone responded and said they would look into my problem, but after many more weeks of waiting, it’s obviously the developer is not going to support this app. He says it works on Sierra, but if I have Sierra installed on three Macs and Bartender is not working, I have to disagree. This is an app I paid for and at least the developer should attempt to fix the problem, or at worst tell me it doesn’t work with Sierra. I am very disappointed with Surtees Studios, the developer. When it first came out (version 1) I wrote several rave reviews in multiple places. If Bartender ever works with Sierra, I'll gladly change my review.
Like (2)
Version 2.1.6
4 answer(s)
Garytmg
13 November 2016
You don't seem to consider the possibility that some other utility that you have installed on each of your three Macs is maybe conflicting with Bartender. Or that something else hinky is wrong – on each of the three machines. It seems to be working fine for me so far – and several other reviewers here.
Just maybe the target of your complaint is wrongly directed?
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larrymcj
13 November 2016
Garytmg: actually, there is not one single app different on any of my three Macs that were not there when Bartender 2 worked fine under El Capitan. Also, if you'll read what I, and others, have said...it's the fact that Bartender will not return the menu bar icons to the rearranged state after a restart that is the problem. On your own Mac, after you rearrange the menu bar icons you're saying they stay that way after a restart? That is very difficult to believe since this is the problem all users seem to be complaining about.
What I'm most upset about is that I paid for an app, it worked under El Capitan, and now it doesn't under Sierra...and the developer refuses to discuss possible options for why it doesn't.
I don't think the target of my complaint is wrongfully directed any all. I expect the developer of a paid app to at least communicate with his users to determine the possible cause of a problem, and that is not happening.
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Garytmg
13 November 2016
Hi Larry - getting this point out the road first, I agree with you that a developer not responding to paying customers is bad customer service.
I've just done some intensive testing before responding - probably 20-30 test/reboot cycles. Initially I uninstalled BarTender 2's LaunchDaemon, so that Bartender was out the picture. When my machine boots up, a small subset of my apps and utilities launch automatically. Some from LaunchDaemons/Agents and some from Login Items. This small subset of my "standard apps" is just a light touch at power-up. I found that macOS 10.12.1 doesn't respect my repositioned icons in Apple's menu bar. The ordering I get on each reboot seems to be dictated largely by the timing/sequence in which they're launched.
I then reinstated BarTender 2's LaunchDaemon and rebooted. This time on each reboot I additionally launched my main batch of apps and utilities that I always fire off manually using DelayedLauncher, now including the main BarTender 2 utility. Each time, the apps I had designated to be managed by BarTender were removed from the main Apple menu bar, displayed in the Bartender Bar and stayed where I put them. I'd change a few around (noting exactly which ones were moved where) and on relaunch, the BarTender managed icons were in the position I'd previously set them. I repeated this switching around and rebooting several times and the process was reliable.
I hope you've not been referring to the main Apple menu bar which extends for the full width across the top of the screen in all these comments? Just checking! Any problems with icons not respecting your choice up there have to be laid at the doorstep of Apple's Sierra developers. But within the Bartender Bar, I've so far found it reliable.
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larrymcj
14 November 2016
Gary, I couldn't agree with you more on how the Bartender "hidden" bar works just fine. My point is that after putting my few icons into the hidden Bartender bar I don't care about, then Bartender is supposed to allow me to rearrange all the icons on the Mac Menu Bar in the order I want. I do that, and then after a restart they're back how Sierra wants them.
With El Capitan, and according to how Bartender is supposed to work on the Bartender site, the Mac Menu Bar icons should retain their position after a restart. If they (Bartender) are changing how this works...fine. But take it out of the user instructions for how the app is supposed to function. I personally think Sierra broke this one piece of functionality with Bartender, but the developer isn't admitting it.
FWIW, I did all the same steps that you did and got the same results. In my case, though, I don't really care about the hidden Bartender bar and the few apps I had in it. My primary reason for purchasing Bartender in the first place (Back with Bartender 1 and then Bartender 2) was to put the Mac Menu Bar icons in a descending order of workflow importance from left-to-right. Now I can't do that...well, actually Sierra now allows me to do it without Bartender, but I have to reposition them all after every restart.
Take a clean desktop on the first place. Bartender makes it possible. Moreover, you can rearrange your apps time at a time using this app in order to have menu bar containing only needed programs. Bartender extremely helps when you have to manage with a large number of apps.
Like (1)
Version 2.1.6
1 answer(s)
larrymcj
23 October 2016
@camomile: After you've rearranged your menu bar icons with Bartender 2 and then restart your Mac, do the menu bar icons retain their positions? For me, on three Macs, they do not, which makes the app useless.
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Read 215 Bartender User Reviews
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I tried Barsoom briefly once and had trouble with it or just preferred Bartender, I don’t remember.
Another is Vanilla, which I’ll be trying soon.
I didn’t like the way Bartender 3 functions so I’ve stuck with v2 on Sierra.
There are two visible menu icons that will not stay where I put them. Upon reboot they move to where THEY want to be.
I don’t know if that's been fixed in v3 but it’s annoying.
https://matthewpalmer.net/vanilla/
With Vanilla, its arrow must be at the far left end of the apps, and I don’t want it there. Bartender 2 lets me place it wherever I choose.
When I click the Vanilla arrow I need to scroll more than 3 inches to reach the furthest unhidden icon. Depending on the number of icons one has they may need to scroll even further.
I like the way the hidden icons unhide directly below Bartender 2’s icon, with half to the left and half to the right, decreasing how far I must scroll, and that’s one reason I’ve stuck with it.
However, Bartender 2 refused to completely hide the Eject button, while Vanilla will do it.
Bartender has many options, including which icon to use and what to display when you click it.
Vanilla is plain...like vanilla. There are few settings - no hotkeys, no control over what is shown when clicked, no icon choices etc.
Vanilla’s window is also a bit confusing when you first use it - it’s unclear that the different sections are differentiated by the dots in the menu bar.
Since Bartender 2 is no longer available this may all be moot, but I may continue using it until it won’t work no more (Mojave?).
V3 works fine on Sierra. Have not yet upgraded to High Sierra.
I have never had a problem with Bartender not working properly as some reviewers report here. And I am a power Mac user with many apps and many menubar based apps. The developer has always been responsive.
WTF happened to the hidden Bartender bar that used to pop out when you click the icon?
I HATE the way Bt functions now - hiding (almost) all the visible menu icons that should never be hidden, then jumping to the right end of the bar and sdisplaying the hidden icons from the Bartender bar in the menu bar where the other ones are supposed to be.
Did I mention I F"N HATE IT??????????????????????????????????
I'll continue using Bt 2 because I friggin' HATE Bt3!!!
Oh, BTW, Bartender 3 ROYALLY SUCKS THE BIG ONE!
This was supposed to be a 1/2 star rating for v3, but since MU negligently failed to post updates for the past year, I can't even post a review because I've already left a review for the currently-listed version and you can only review a version once.
I tried it but didn't like it - don't remember why.
That's why I'm still using Bt 2 (on Sierra).
I don't mind the new way BT3 hides the menu. It is different. It would be nice to see the other menu items like in BT2 but BT3 is cleaner looking. In the end, after trying both side by side I think the BT3 approach is better. Since I am focused on the BT menu items, I dont really need to see the regular menu items. Its just jarring to have them be replaced by the BT items but in terms of usability there so far is no need to have them there. So fine... happy.
In fact it's been out so long that the next OS is due out in NINE DAYS - exactly one year after Sierra was released.
How many versions of that will you wait for?
I don't install a new OS immediately either, but you gotta jump in and get your feet wet sometime. I generally wait till .3 is released.
In case it wasn't obvious, I DO mind the way Bt 3 functions.
Why should my clock, clipboard app, fan temps, etc. disappear just because I want to see an item hidden in Bartender?
You wouldn't see a car company in 2017 advertising that they won "Car of the Year" in 2012.
No one cares what praise it garnered in 2012, they want to know how it performs TODAY!!!
It may have been fantastic then but suck now, maybe that's why there's no recent awards?
I know I'm sick and tired of dragging the GD menu icon into place after every reboot! Why haven't the updates addressed that?
Impossible to say since it's developer doesn't care enough to respond but still expects people to buy his app..
It seems MU has shunned them too, since version 3 has been out for quite some time and is now up to 3.0.4.
I'm going to find another site for Mac Software 'cause MU just doesn't cut it anymore.
It's a rinky-dink little site that often fails to update apps, post screenshots, catch shill reviews etc.
And their own employees even post reviews, which seems rather biased to me, since they want people to buy the software they list.
As I recall, all the employee reviews I've seen were very much in favor of the app, none were negative.
While checking my Preferences folder for another issue, I found that there were ten Bartender temporary files - files with endings like plist.g8DgVSM, plist.s4UZyV1, plist.Y1eYyvp.
I've often found temporary pref files in that folder belonging to various apps and removed them.
After trashing those files icons have stayed put after reboots.
So if you too are dealing with roaming icons, be sure to check your ~/Library/Preferences folder for files with names ending in a mess of jumbled letters and numbers instead of .plist.
On the next boot the same three roque icons drifted to the left again and I moved them into place.
A new temp file had been created so I deleted it and rebooted to test. Icons moved again. F!
Good work on macOS High Sierra DP8.
Display style change hide items on to extract menubar from riginal bar.
Bartender is one of a few features that Apple should've included as a part of the OS yet neglected to do so. It allows us to have quick access to a wide range of features while keeping clutters to minimal. It's a must-have gem. I hope the developer will continue to keep up with the OS updates. Although High Sierra has disabled the ability to move system items around, it is still able to control other menubar items, and I'm sure the developer will eventually resolve any issues currently present in High Sierra Beta, just as they did with all the previous versions of OS.
And the dev. is another deadbeat who doesn't respond to messages.
WTF do they have a "contact us" page if they aren't going to respond?! Should call it a "DON'T contact us" page.
https://www.macbartender.com/contact-us/
After every reboot some icons move to the left side of the menu extras. And the eject button can no longer be hidden.
All requests to the dev. have gone unanswered.
>> Full compatibility with macOS 10.12 Sierra
Simply not true. Upgrading to 10.12 involved a lot of tiny yet annoying nuisances.
Bartender not respecting/remembering its own and other icon's position in the macOS menu bar is one of them.
Contacting the developer is pointless, you'll never hear back or see any effect.
After what seemed endless testing that involved countless restarts, a lot of cache purging etc. I'm tired of rearranging icons after every reboot. And users definitely shouldn't have to start messing around with SIP to get this working (if only). So I'm out looking for alternatives.
At this point I can't possibly recommend this once useful app, no matter what the price.
Initially contacted Bartender support on Dec.21, 2016. Several emails before a generic response email in Jan. Several other emails with detailed configuration info submitted but simply no response.
Nothing but crickets ... No updates, no response.
Please put your money some place else and save yourself the frustration of dealing with this company.
It should and has worked very well in the past. It would appear to have been abandoned at this point.
I disabled SIP, rebooted, and rearranged the icons in my preferred order. Then i rebooted and enabled SIP again. This seems to have remedied my problem with Bartender not remembering icon positions over a reboot. Hope this helps others. Please confirm if it helps on your machines guys. Dropbox still isn't behaving nicely though.
BTW I only give it a 4 rating since it has been such a hassle figuring this out, otherwise it would have gotten 5 stars.
While back there was another utility that helped with managing your menu bar icons ... I think it was called Broomstick, but I think its developer moved to greener pastures.
The developer states on his website that Bartender is fully compatible with macOS Sierra...but that is simply not true. I "had" it installed on three Macs with Sierra and it didn't work on any of them.
For what little self-satisfaction it provided me, I revisited all the sites I had previously given Bartender a 5-star review and changed it to a 1-star, citing the specifics. I'll be happy to change these back to 5-stars if the developer ever decides to actually make the app compatible with Sierra.
Just maybe the target of your complaint is wrongly directed?
What I'm most upset about is that I paid for an app, it worked under El Capitan, and now it doesn't under Sierra...and the developer refuses to discuss possible options for why it doesn't.
I don't think the target of my complaint is wrongfully directed any all. I expect the developer of a paid app to at least communicate with his users to determine the possible cause of a problem, and that is not happening.
I've just done some intensive testing before responding - probably 20-30 test/reboot cycles. Initially I uninstalled BarTender 2's LaunchDaemon, so that Bartender was out the picture. When my machine boots up, a small subset of my apps and utilities launch automatically. Some from LaunchDaemons/Agents and some from Login Items. This small subset of my "standard apps" is just a light touch at power-up. I found that macOS 10.12.1 doesn't respect my repositioned icons in Apple's menu bar. The ordering I get on each reboot seems to be dictated largely by the timing/sequence in which they're launched.
I then reinstated BarTender 2's LaunchDaemon and rebooted. This time on each reboot I additionally launched my main batch of apps and utilities that I always fire off manually using DelayedLauncher, now including the main BarTender 2 utility. Each time, the apps I had designated to be managed by BarTender were removed from the main Apple menu bar, displayed in the Bartender Bar and stayed where I put them. I'd change a few around (noting exactly which ones were moved where) and on relaunch, the BarTender managed icons were in the position I'd previously set them. I repeated this switching around and rebooting several times and the process was reliable.
I hope you've not been referring to the main Apple menu bar which extends for the full width across the top of the screen in all these comments? Just checking! Any problems with icons not respecting your choice up there have to be laid at the doorstep of Apple's Sierra developers. But within the Bartender Bar, I've so far found it reliable.
With El Capitan, and according to how Bartender is supposed to work on the Bartender site, the Mac Menu Bar icons should retain their position after a restart. If they (Bartender) are changing how this works...fine. But take it out of the user instructions for how the app is supposed to function. I personally think Sierra broke this one piece of functionality with Bartender, but the developer isn't admitting it.
FWIW, I did all the same steps that you did and got the same results. In my case, though, I don't really care about the hidden Bartender bar and the few apps I had in it. My primary reason for purchasing Bartender in the first place (Back with Bartender 1 and then Bartender 2) was to put the Mac Menu Bar icons in a descending order of workflow importance from left-to-right. Now I can't do that...well, actually Sierra now allows me to do it without Bartender, but I have to reposition them all after every restart.
Hope this better explains my frustration :-)