Keep your menu-bar de-clutered, access utilities and apps on the fly

Apr 30, 2012 19:31 GMT  ·  By

Surtees Studios has launched a cool Mac utility called Bartender, which hides away all your menu-bar items to de-clutter your view, making them accessible whenever you want.

Bartender itself is a utility that resides in the OS X menu-bar, but what it does is truly special - it offers several options to hide away all the apps and utilities that live in your menubar, in accordance with your priorities.

In the developer’s own words, “Bartender lets you organize your Menu Bar Apps, by hiding them, moving them to Bartenders Bar, or displaying the full menu bar, set options to have Menu Bar Apps show in the menu bar when they are updating, or have them always visible in Bartenders Bar.

“There are loads of ways to configure Bartender to perform as you wish,” says Surtees Studios.

For example, you can choose which apps stay in the Menu Bar, which apps are displayed in Bartender, or even hide them completely. Apps can be displayed and hidden whenever you want by clicking on the Bartender Icon or via hot key.

The paranoid should note that “Apps still work the same when they are in Bartenders Bar allowing you quick access to them when needed, but keep them out of sight when not,” Surtees Studios says.

The Bartenders Bar can be moved at any time to any position immediately under the menu-bar, as long as it’s horizontal. It can also open under the Bartender Menu Bar Icon.

Furthermore, users can set up their apps to be displayed in the menu-bar for 5 seconds when they update, or they can have Bartender remove the left side Menu temporarily to display the maximum possible menu-bar apps.

“If you want a really clean look and privacy, Bartender can also be hidden,” Surtees Studios adds.

The app is currently in beta (as highlighted by Cultofmac).

Download Bartender for Mac OS X