What is Ice?
Ice is a free, open-source menu bar manager for macOS: it hides menu bar items, brings them back on hover, click or scroll, and rearranges them by drag and drop. It is the open-source counterpart to paid tools such as Bartender, and it also restyles the bar itself with tint, shadow, border and custom shapes. The developer states it requires macOS 14 or later because it relies on system APIs introduced in that release, with no plans to support earlier versions. The project describes itself as in active development and notes that some features are not yet implemented. It is distributed as a direct download from GitHub and through Homebrew.
Verified product facts
- Type
- menu bar managerEditorially reviewed
- Platform
- macOS
- Pricing
- Open sourceDeveloper-stated
- Open source
- Yes
- Developer
- Jordan BairdDeveloper-stated
- Relationship to Nuanyue
- Third-party product — not published by NuanyueEditorially reviewed
- Licence
- GPL-3.0
- Current version
- 0.11.12Developer-stated
- Official website
- github.com/jordanbaird/Ice
Last updated . Facts marked developer-stated come from the developer and are not independently confirmed; editorially reviewed marks a Nuanyue judgement.
Key features
What Ice does at a glance.
Hides menu bar items and reveals them
On hover, click or scroll
Drag-and-drop arrangement of individual menu bar items
A separate bar
For hidden items, including on MacBooks with a notch
Profiles
For menu bar layouts, plus spacer items and item groups
Menu bar appearance controls
Tint, shadow, border and custom shapes
Hotkeys, automatic rehiding and menu bar item search
What you can use Ice for
- Hiding menu bar icons you rarely need
- Rearranging menu bar items by drag and drop
- Showing hidden items in a separate bar on a MacBook with a notch
- Restyling the menu bar with a tint, shadow, border or custom shape
Who is Ice for?
- Mac users whose menu bar is crowded with status icons
- People who want a free, open-source alternative to paid menu bar managers
- MacBook users with a notch, where menu bar space is short
Who is Ice not for?
- Windows or Linux users — Ice is macOS only
- Macs running macOS 13 or earlier — Ice requires macOS 14 or later
- Anyone who needs a finished feature set — the project states that some features have not yet been implemented
Limitations
- It reads menu bar items through Screen Recording permission, though a limited mode works without it
- The project describes itself as in active development and states that some features are not yet implemented
- Apple Silicon support is not stated in the sources Nuanyue tracks
Strengths and trade-offs
What Ice does well, and what to weigh before choosing it. Points marked developer-stated come from the developer’s own material and have not been independently confirmed.
Strengths
- Free and open source under the GPL-3.0 licence.
- Hides menu bar items into an always-hidden section and brings them back on hover, click or scroll, with automatic rehiding and drag-and-drop arrangement.Developer-stated
- Can display hidden items in a separate bar for MacBooks with a notch, and restyles the menu bar with tint, shadow, border and custom shapes.Developer-stated
Trade-offs
- Requires macOS 14 or later; the developer states Ice uses system APIs introduced in macOS 14 and has no plans to support earlier versions.
- The project's own README states Ice is in active development and that some features have not yet been implemented.Developer-stated
First-use experience
What the app asks of you when you set it up. Only established facts appear here; anything we could not confirm is left out rather than guessed at.
- Installation
- Download Ice.zip from the latest GitHub release and move the app into Applications, or install it through Homebrew with 'brew install --cask jordanbaird-ice'.
- First launch Developer-stated
- Ice reads menu bar items through Screen Recording permission; from version 0.11.12 it can also run in a limited mode without that permission.
- System integration Developer-stated
- Works on the system menu bar itself, hiding, revealing and rearranging items and optionally restyling the bar's background, shape and corners.
What it does
Ice manages the macOS menu bar. Its primary job is hiding and showing menu bar items: items go into an always-hidden section and come back on hover, on clicking an empty part of the bar, or by scrolling, and they rehide automatically. Items can be rearranged by drag and drop, and hidden items can be shown in a separate bar — the arrangement that matters on MacBooks where the notch would otherwise cover them.
Beyond hiding, Ice also changes the bar’s appearance: solid or gradient tint, shadow, border, rounded or split shapes, and the option to remove the background behind the bar. It ships profiles for menu bar layouts, spacer items, item groups, item search, hotkeys and a launch-at-login option.
Requirements
Ice requires macOS 14 or later. The project answers the question directly in its README: “Ice uses a number of system APIs that are available starting in macOS 14. As such, there are no plans to support earlier versions of macOS.” That is a firm floor rather than a recommendation — earlier releases are not served by older builds.
Permissions
Like other menu bar managers, Ice reads the contents of the menu bar through Screen Recording permission. Version 0.11.12 added a limited mode that works without it, so the app can be used in a reduced form if that permission is declined.
Releases and development status
The README opens with a note that Ice is in active development and that some features have not yet been implemented. The release channel reflects that:
| Channel | Version | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Stable | 0.11.12 | 29 October 2024 |
| Pre-release (dev) | 0.11.13-dev.2 | 16 September 2025 |
The newest build is a pre-release aimed at macOS 26 Tahoe, so anyone installing
from the stable release is running code that predates the Tahoe work. Ice is
also available through Homebrew as the jordanbaird-ice cask.
Apple Silicon
Recorded as unknown. Neither the repository’s README nor its release notes state the build’s architecture, and Nuanyue leaves that field unestablished rather than inferring it from the fact that the project targets recent macOS versions.
Release history
Dated releases recorded for Ice, newest first, each with the source it was read from.
0.11.13-dev.2Developer-stated
Pre-release build for macOS 26 Tahoe that adopts Liquid Glass styling, reorganises the settings window, and adds an option to disable the menu bar's right-click context menu.
Source: Source repository
0.11.12
Latest stable release; adds a limited mode that works without Screen Recording permission.
Source: Source repository
Questions about Ice
Is Ice free?
Yes. Ice is free and open source under the GPL-3.0 licence, with no paid tier.
Which macOS versions does Ice support?
macOS 14 or later. The developer states Ice uses system APIs introduced in macOS 14 and has no plans to support earlier versions.
Does Ice need Screen Recording permission?
Ice reads menu bar items through Screen Recording permission. From version 0.11.12 it can also run in a limited mode without that permission.Developer-stated
How do I install Ice?
Download Ice.zip from the latest GitHub release and move the app into Applications, or install it through Homebrew with 'brew install --cask jordanbaird-ice'.
What is the latest version of Ice?
The latest stable release is 0.11.12, published on 29 October 2024. Newer builds such as 0.11.13-dev.2 (16 September 2025) are pre-release dev versions aimed at macOS 26 Tahoe.
Alternatives to Ice
Apps that could replace this one — the same job, a different trade-off.
Dozer
Free open-source utility that hides macOS menu bar icons.
Both declutter the menu bar, but Dozer is a single-purpose hider while Ice adds arrangement, profiles and appearance controls.
Hidden Bar
Free, open-source utility that hides macOS menu bar icons.
Both hide menu bar icons on macOS and are free; Hidden is a deliberately minimal utility where Ice aims to cover a wider feature set.
Compared with
Head-to-head comparisons Nuanyue has published.
Bartender
Menu bar manager with hiding, triggers and a second bar.
Both hide and organise menu bar items; the two are compared head to head on Nuanyue, with Ice free and open source and Bartender paid.
Works well with
Not a replacement — apps commonly used alongside this one.
Raycast
Keyboard launcher with extensions, clipboard history and AI.
Raycast provides the keyboard launcher and Ice manages menu bar items, so they occupy different surfaces of the same Mac workflow.
Links
Sources
Facts on this page are checked against the sources below. Last updated .
- Ice — official websiteGrade B
- Jordan Baird — developer websiteGrade B
- Ice — documentationGrade C
- Ice — source repositoryGrade D
