Re:Show HN: macOS menu bar app to track Claude usage in real...
by bartvk on Thursday January 08, 2026 @05:07PM
(#46547166)
I decrease the spacing that macOS applies between menubar icons:
% defaults -currentHost write -globalDomain NSStatusItemSelectionPadding -int 8
% defaults -currentHost write -globalDomain NSStatusItemSpacing -int 8
Re:Show HN: macOS menu bar app to track Claude usage in real...
by RichHickson on Thursday January 08, 2026 @05:14PM
(#46547237)
I used to use Bartender, which worked really well, until the newest version, which had so many issues. Since then, I've just basically put up with it.
Re:Show HN: macOS menu bar app to track Claude usage in real...
by karlshea on Thursday January 08, 2026 @06:36PM
(#46548077)
The new version has improved a bit since launch, you may want to give it another try.
Re:Show HN: macOS menu bar app to track Claude usage in real...
by einsteinx2 on Thursday January 08, 2026 @06:57PM
(#46548256)
I had stopped using it since the private equity buyout because it needs pretty serious permissions to do its job…maybe I’ll give it another look.
The macOS UI decision of "just pretend that whatever doesn't fit to the right of the notch doesn't exist" is baffling.
I've seen a few apps that claim to do that, but it's always done in some really hacky way (such as needing screen recording permissions), and the behavior is never that of simple overflow handling. Instead they have "always hidden" sections and things like that, which is not what I want.