Notch problem & solution with menubar icons

[CollinsVakayil]

Problem: The new MacBook Pro's with the notch create a bit of an issue with menubar icons; as too many icons end up being hidden by the notch.

Solution:

What if something like this was an option in Hidden Bar settings?

[voltangle]

Is it possible for an app to retrieve a list of all icons in a menubar, and also make them work (like respond to clicks)? If yes, then this is a good way of getting around the notch, but I doubt that someone will be able to make this work

[kghandour]

Is it possible for an app to retrieve a list of all icons in a menubar, and also make them work (like respond to clicks)? If yes, then this is a good way of getting around the notch, but I doubt that someone will be able to make this work

It is possible to implement since there are some payware that already provides that functionality. I am not proficient in Swift / MacOS Development to implement it and do a PR sadly.

[ArneNostitz]

hi, any news on this or another way of pushing apps out from underneath the notch?

[jsnelgro]

also wondering about this but I'm not a swift developer. My two cents, I think a vertical scrolling list of the menubar items would be even better than the proposed UX in the screenshot. That way, the number of items could scale indefinitely without taking up more visual space

[gabrielwhite]

I have a suggestion on how to solve this that might be easier / quicker from a SW development perspective (I would contribute myself if I had the skill).

What if clicking on the "<" instead of expanding the icons list to the left did two things:

1. Hide all the "permanent icons" (thus giving more real estate for the hidden ones)
2. Showed the hidden ones in place of the permanent icons.

This would be only a small behaviour change from the current app and likely solve the problems with the notch.

[fleytman]

Perhaps the code of this application will help to make this function https://github.com/p0deje/Maccy

[kopach]

I figured out "workaround" for this. Basically, the idea is to change standard display resolution to scale view box to exclude "notch area". It this case, my "working area" of the monitor is smaller by size of notch from the top, but I can see all icons as before.

To do this, follow the steps:

1. Open System Preferences -> Displays
2. scroll down, find "Advanced" button
3. enable "show resolutions as a list" -> click "done"
4. under resolutions list enable "show all resolutions"
5. change resolution which excludes "notch" and preserves good readability (in my case it was just below recommended one)

[petruut]

any updates on this?

[fleytman]

Workarounds for hidden icon on the notch

1. with change icon on menu bar size

Read the current defaults:

defaults -currentHost read -globalDomain NSStatusItemSpacing
defaults -currentHost read -globalDomain NSStatusItemSelectionPadding

Write the defaults by providing an integer value:

defaults -currentHost write -globalDomain NSStatusItemSpacing -int 6
defaults -currentHost write -globalDomain NSStatusItemSelectionPadding -int 8

Remove the values to restore the default behavior:

defaults -currentHost delete -globalDomain NSStatusItemSpacing
defaults -currentHost delete -globalDomain NSStatusItemSelectionPadding

After this command, you need reboot or quit and open to user 2. Free but not open source app: ibar can hide icon, show all hidden, change size icon 3. znotch - can hide all line with notch, menu bar will on next line without notch 4. OnlySwitch - can hide applications as hiddenbar, make notch bar black. The notch problem is solved by the fact that you can add your widgets to the drop-down list (like custom Apple scripts). All in all a powerful widget combine