Ice menu bar manager for macOS
The most recommended of 4 menu bar managers
People recommend Ice for hiding crowded macOS menu bar icons behind one icon. Critics say it is unmaintained and breaks on newer macOS versions like Tahoe.
People recommend Ice for hiding crowded macOS menu bar icons behind one icon. Critics say it is unmaintained and breaks on newer macOS versions like Tahoe.
24 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 13
- criticize it
- 11
- approval share
- 54%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 13 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 1.1 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 5 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Hides menu bar icons behind one icon
“Ice helps with the stupid menu bar design and problems with overflowing icons or oversized menus.”
Comment from 11 Apr 2026 in “Filing the Corners Off MacBooks” “Useful menu bar manager for Mac that lets you hide multiple icons behind a single icon”
Comment from 2 Apr 2026 in “Tailscale's New macOS Home” “solves this problem through an overflow menu”
Comment from 3 Apr 2026 in “Tailscale's New macOS Home” Reliable, works without problems
“I've been using Ice without problems”
Comment from 2 Apr 2026 in “Tailscale's New macOS Home” “It's my must have macos app.”
Comment from 22 Mar 2026 in “HopTab–free,open source macOS app switcher and tiler that replaces Cmd+Tab”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
No longer maintained or updated
“Ice is abandoned and broken on upcoming versions of MacOS”
Comment from 1 May 2026 on Hacker News “is unmaintained and no longer works on Tahoe”
Comment from 2 Apr 2026 in “Tailscale's New macOS Home” “Ice is no longer actively maintained.”
Comment from 3 Apr 2026 in “Tailscale's New macOS Home” - Comment from 2 May 2026 on Hacker News
- Comment from 22 Mar 2026 in “HopTab–free,open source macOS app switcher and tiler that replaces Cmd+Tab”
Breaks on newer macOS updates
“Ice is abandoned and broken on upcoming versions of MacOS”
Comment from 1 May 2026 on Hacker News “is unmaintained and no longer works on Tahoe”
Comment from 2 Apr 2026 in “Tailscale's New macOS Home” “started breaking on every macOS update”
Comment from 31 Jan 2026 in “SaneBar – Privacy-first menu bar manager for macOS (open source)” - Comment from 22 Mar 2026 in “HopTab–free,open source macOS app switcher and tiler that replaces Cmd+Tab”
Frequent issues and frustration
“everyone has had issues with it at some point when you've worked in WebRTC long enough”
Comment from 2 Jul 2026 in “5 Reasons MOQ Streaming Is a Great Fit for Surveillance and Monitoring” “increasingly frustrated with ice recently”
Comment from 1 May 2026 on Hacker News
Other menu bar managers people recommend
The three most recommended other menu bar managers, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ice menu bar manager for macOSThis page | 13 | 11 | 54% | 5 | — | — |
| Bartender for macOS | 7 | 14 | 33% | 3 | — | — |
| Thaw | 6 | 1 | 86% | 3 | — | — |
| SketchyBar | 5 | 1 | 83% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
19 of the 24 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“might be sketchy now; had an ownership change”
“everyone has had issues with it at some point when you've worked in WebRTC long enough”
“Sadly Ice is no longer maintained”
“increasingly frustrated with ice recently”
“Ice is abandoned and broken on upcoming versions of MacOS”
“You can put it in a secondary onclick taskbar with Ice”
“Ice helps with the stupid menu bar design and problems with overflowing icons or oversized menus.”
“Ice is no longer actively maintained.”
“solves this problem through an overflow menu”
“none of them work reliably”
“Takes an afternoon and doesn't have other people calling you a sloplogist.”
“I've been using Ice without problems”
“is unmaintained and no longer works on Tahoe”
“Useful menu bar manager for Mac that lets you hide multiple icons behind a single icon”
“The menubar gets crowded enough even with Ice, Bartender etc...”
“Doesn't work anymore since Tahoe”
“It's my must have macos app.”
“started breaking on every macOS update”
“Last 7 times i took the ICE, i had 5 delays.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.