A Simple Starter Kit for Building macOS Menu Bar Apps

Menu Bar Apps Are Awesome

Menu bar apps are underrated. They’re lightweight, always accessible, and perfect for solving small, everyday problems. Whether you’re monitoring your internet connection, renaming files in bulk, or tracking the weather, a menu bar app is the tool you need.

And if you’re thinking about getting into macOS development, they’re the perfect place to start. They can be simple. They can be quick to build. They are always on and they don’t require you to master the entire macOS ecosystem.

But here’s the thing: getting started isn’t as straightforward as it should be.

When building our first menu bar apps, Kunal and I (Amit) ran into the same struggles—no clear guidance, outdated resources, and endless trial and error. So, we teamed up to create simple, pre-configured templates that get you past all that and straight to building.

We’ve used this kit to build tools like PopLight, screenML ,& onboto.app and it’s made the process faster and more enjoyable every time.

The Problem with Starting

When building a menu bar app, you quickly run into roadblocks:

1. No Xcode Template: There’s no “menu bar app” option in Xcode. You start with a basic Mac app and have to figure out what to remove and what to tweak.
2. Default Bloat: Why does a menu bar app need a dock icon and a blank window? It doesn’t—but removing them isn’t obvious.
3. Outdated Guides: Most tutorials don’t cover modern SwiftUI features like MenuBarExtra. Even when using LLMs you still get outdated ways of creating these.
4. Hidden Features: Adding basics like a Quit button takes way more trial and error than it should.

It’s frustrating, especially if you’re new to macOS development.

Why Build a Menu Bar App?

Menu bar apps are a secret weapon. They’re always within reach, don’t clutter your screen, and are ideal for solving everyday problems. 

Whether it’s monitoring your internet connection (like I did with PopLight), managing quick notes, bulk renaming files or an always on desktop AI Copilot (like Kunal did with screenML, and onboto.app) or tracking something simple like the weather, menu bar apps are small but mighty.

And here’s the best part: you don’t need to be a macOS expert to build one.

A Better Way to Build

The macOS Menu Bar Starter Kit includes everything you need to get started.

Here’s what’s inside:

1. Two Ready-to-Go templates: Built using SwiftUI and the latest Apple-recommended way to create menu bar apps (as of 2024). 
2. Pre-Configured with MenuBarExtra: Apple’s modern framework for building menu bar apps. It handles the tricky parts for you, so you can focus on your app’s features instead of setup.
3. Pre-Tweaked Settings: Removes the dock icon and the default app window that’s typical for a macOS app, so your app behaves like a real menu bar app.
4. Two Menu Bar Styles: Choose between Classic for simple menus or Window for more advanced UI designs.
5. Built-In Examples: Includes essentials like menu items and a Quit button, so you can start customizing your app instead of figuring out the basics.

This kit doesn’t just get you started; it gets you building. It’s the resource we wish we’d had when we were starting out.

How to Use the Starter Kit

It’s easy:

1. Clone/Download the Kit
2. Open It in Xcode
3. Customize and build

No fluff. No headaches. Just a working menu bar app.

Build Something Awesome

The macOS Menu Bar Starter Kit is for anyone who wants to skip the friction and get to the fun part. Whether you’re learning macOS development for the first time or just want to save time, this kit has you covered.

Menu bar apps are awesome. And now, building one can be too. 🎉