[BUG]Can’t access Preferences after hiding Dock icon – no menu bar or other UI available

[GIT-Preserved]

Configuration • Keka version: 1.5.0 (5587) • macOS version: 15.5 (24F74)

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Describe the bug

After setting the Dock icon visibility to “Never” in Preferences, Keka becomes inaccessible. When launched, the application shows no icon in the Dock (as expected), but also does not present any menu in the macOS menu bar, making it impossible to open Preferences again or even quit the app properly. The menu bar still shows “Finder” or other app menus even when Keka is active.

There is no menu bar icon, no Dock icon.

A way to resolve is to reset Keka’s preferences via Terminal: defaults delete com.aone.keka

Another way is using the shortcut ⌘ + , (Command + Comma) to open Preferences — this works even when the Dock icon is hidden, as long as Keka is frontmost.

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To Reproduce

Steps to reproduce the behavior: 1. Open Keka. 2. Go to Preferences → appearance. 3. Set “Show an icon in the Dock:” to “Never”. 4. Quit and relaunch Keka. 5. Try to access Preferences again — impossible.

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Expected behavior

Even with the Dock icon hidden, there should still be a way to access Preferences (e.g., via menu bar integration, a menubar icon, or a right-click menu in the Finder when opening Keka). At the very least, the app should present its own menu when active.

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Screenshots

No visible menu bar when Keka is active → Unable to take meaningful screenshots, since there’s no UI element displayed at all.

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Additional context

This makes the “Never show in Dock” option very dangerous, as there’s no recovery path for average users who aren’t familiar with defaults commands. Consider implementing a fallback menu or tray icon if Dock is hidden, or warn users before hiding all UI access points.

[aonez]

Thanks for the feedback @GIT-Preserved. For the dock icon to be hidden there can't be any menu bar integration (other than a menu bar item).

A settings button can be added to the main window toolbar, by default visible if that "Never" option is active:

[nitrodox]

@aonez, there's the toolbar mode "Icon and Text". Should the strings to translate those buttons' titles be added then?

[aonez]

Indeed @nitrodox, I’ll add them. Thanks!