Release notes
A virtual menu bar for macOS. The system menu bar keeps a single toggle; third-party icons collapse into a compact virtual bar. That bar shows a live screenshot of each icon, and clicking one sends AXPress to the original status item — so every app still opens its own menu.
Install
curl -fsSL https://github.com/MuqiuPeng/VirtualBar/releases/latest/download/VirtualBar.zip -o /tmp/VirtualBar.zip \
&& ditto -x -k /tmp/VirtualBar.zip /Applications \
&& xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/VirtualBar.app \
&& rm /tmp/VirtualBar.zip \
&& open /Applications/VirtualBar.app
The xattr step is required: this build is ad-hoc signed and not notarised by Apple, so Gatekeeper refuses to launch it while the quarantine attribute is set.
Requirements
- macOS 14 or later
- Accessibility permission, to activate the original status item
- Screen Recording permission, to capture the real icons; without it, the owning app's icon is shown instead
Known boundaries
- Control Center and Live Activities stay out of the virtual bar.
- Menu anchoring is still decided by each app's own real status item.