Hello everyone,
This beta update introduces smarter conflict handling and robust layout persistence to ensure your menu bar stays exactly how you want it, even after restarts or app launches.
New Features
- Conflict Detection & Management: Thaw now checks on launch if known menu bar management apps like Ice, Bartender, or Hidden Bar are running.
- Alerts: Shows a warning alert explaining that running multiple managers simultaneously can cause display issues.
- User Choice: Users can now choose to continue anyway or quit Thaw when a conflict is detected.
- Robust Layout Restoration: Implemented a save/restore mechanism for menu bar items that macOS doesn't natively remember (e.g., Stats.app).
- Smart Identification: Items are now identified by persistent tags (namespace:title) instead of window IDs or PIDs which change across sessions.
Improvements & Fixes
- Dynamic Relocation: Added NSWorkspace notifications to trigger menu bar item relocation immediately when new apps are launched.
- Stability Buffers: Added a 500ms settle delay before restoration moves to give the macOS interface time to stabilize.
- Stall Prevention: Included a 10-second timeout to reset stale restoration flags and prevent the app from hanging.
- Memory Management: Added autorelease pools to menu bar operations to prevent memory leaks.
- Localization Updates:
- Added Brazilian Portuguese translations.
- Added Turkish language support.
- Updated German translations and added missing developer comments for i18n.
Technical Changes
- Issue Resolution: Closes #82 regarding conflicting menu bar managers.
- Internal Logic: Now saves section order when items change sections and merges them with existing saved data for better persistence.
New Contributors
- @musanmaz made their first contribution in #214
- @William-Laverty made their first contribution in #221
Full Changelog: 1.1.99-beta.5...1.1.99-beta.6
Donations
If you find Thaw useful and want to support its further development, consider throwing a coin in my hat.
- GitHub Sponsor: https://github.com/sponsors/stonerl
- Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/stonerl