{"slug": "boringbar", "name": "boringBar", "category": "other", "category_name": "Other software", "description": "", "recommenders": 3, "commenters": 11, "warners": 0, "score": 4.578, "rising": -0.98, "first": "2026-04-12", "latest": "2026-04-13", "why": "boringBar addressing the \"show me what is in this Space\" problem is exactly right.", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 3, "neutral": 6, "compare": 2, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 3, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "boringBar addressing the \"show me what is in this Space\" problem is exactly right.", "icon": true, "domain": "boringbar.app", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://boringbar.app", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["boringBar"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 764026240, "item_id": 47751640, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47751640", "by": "rohanm93", "date": "2026-04-13", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Well done. Buying this.", "excerpt": "Well done. Buying this. I love the landing page - ugh just so perfect for the HN audience. I am pretty happy with the dock but after reading your landing, I felt like I need it. Also, don't listen to people about pricing. $10/year as you have it is already cheap considering I'll end up using it every day (if I like it). People will never be satisfied.", "context": "", "use_case": "macOS dock replacement", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: boringBar \u2013 a taskbar-style dock replacement for macOS"}, {"id": 764014624, "item_id": 47750914, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47750914", "by": "stasomatic", "date": "2026-04-13", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "The app looks great, downloading the trial now.", "excerpt": "There could be 4x buyers at $10. I\u2019d be one of the now, the dock is a constant annoyance. The app looks great, downloading the trial now. To the app\u2019s author I\u2019d say get as many licensees as you can fast before you\u2019re Sherlocked or somebody vibecodes a clone out of \u201cwhy not\u201d. I use many free and paid apps, little QoL types, like BetterDisplay, Coctail, etc and for me the included support is of little value. These app", "context": "", "use_case": "macOS dock replacement", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: boringBar \u2013 a taskbar-style dock replacement for macOS"}, {"id": 763964080, "item_id": 47747755, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47747755", "by": "xkbear89", "date": "2026-04-12", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "boringBar addressing the \"show me what is in this Space\" problem is exactly right.", "excerpt": "As someone who switched from i3wm on Linux to macOS a few years ago, the Dock has always felt like a step backward for window management. The core issue is that macOS conflates application launching with window switching, and Spaces makes it worse by hiding windows you might actually want to see. boringBar addressing the \"show me what is in this Space\" problem is exactly right. The pricing discussion here is fascinat", "context": "switched from i3wm on Linux to macOS", "use_case": "macOS window switching", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: boringBar \u2013 a taskbar-style dock replacement for macOS"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [{"by": "spy888", "context": "uses 5 Macs", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47751421", "date": "2026-04-13"}, {"by": "xkbear89", "context": "switched from i3wm on Linux to macOS", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47747755", "date": "2026-04-12"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["macos dock replacement", "macos window switching", "macos taskbar", "dock replacement"], "compared": [{"slug": "ubar", "name": "uBar", "co": 3, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [{"id": 773854640, "item_id": 48365915, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48365915", "by": "a-ve", "date": "2026-06-01", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I built boringBar[0] for this.", "excerpt": "A bit of self-promotion here, but coming from Windows/Linux land I got used to having the taskbar at the bottom and never really liked the Dock. I love my Mac, and I know folks who have been using macOS for decades swear by it, but this is one UI feature from other OSes that I would have liked to see in macOS. One major issue is that the Dock cannot filter apps between Spaces, so I built boringBar[0] for this. It fre", "context": "came from Windows/Linux to Mac", "use_case": "taskbar filtering windows by Space", "switched_from": "", "story": "macOS Needs Its Grid Back"}], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47742200", "title": "Show HN: boringBar \u2013 a taskbar-style dock replacement for macOS", "mentions": 11}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48364800", "title": "macOS Needs Its Grid Back", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {"compare": 2, "neutral": 6, "recommend": 3}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {}}, "quotes": [{"id": 764064368, "item_id": 47754023, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47754023", "by": "brandon272", "date": "2026-04-13", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "$10/month for a dock substitute is too much for me.", "excerpt": "Feedback: - Would like the ability to customize colours or themes (i.e. taskbar background, application menu button colour, chip background colour, chip active state colour, etc.) - In another comment you mention that you haven't figured out how to display badge counts without having the app open, but I am not seeing badge counts even with the app open. For example, when someone sends me a message in Messages, the ba", "context": "", "use_case": "macOS dock replacement", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: boringBar \u2013 a taskbar-style dock replacement for macOS"}, {"id": 764026240, "item_id": 47751640, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47751640", "by": "rohanm93", "date": "2026-04-13", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Well done. Buying this.", "excerpt": "Well done. Buying this. I love the landing page - ugh just so perfect for the HN audience. I am pretty happy with the dock but after reading your landing, I felt like I need it. Also, don't listen to people about pricing. $10/year as you have it is already cheap considering I'll end up using it every day (if I like it). People will never be satisfied.", "context": "", "use_case": "macOS dock replacement", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: boringBar \u2013 a taskbar-style dock replacement for macOS"}, {"id": 764022736, "item_id": 47751421, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47751421", "by": "spy888", "date": "2026-04-13", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I would like to use this product but I use 5 Macs regularly.", "excerpt": "I would like to use this product but I use 5 Macs regularly. I do not see an option to use it on more than 2 Macs. Is there a solution for a user with more than 2?", "context": "uses 5 Macs", "use_case": "macOS dock replacement", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: boringBar \u2013 a taskbar-style dock replacement for macOS"}, {"id": 764014624, "item_id": 47750914, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47750914", "by": "stasomatic", "date": "2026-04-13", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "The app looks great, downloading the trial now.", "excerpt": "There could be 4x buyers at $10. I\u2019d be one of the now, the dock is a constant annoyance. The app looks great, downloading the trial now. To the app\u2019s author I\u2019d say get as many licensees as you can fast before you\u2019re Sherlocked or somebody vibecodes a clone out of \u201cwhy not\u201d. I use many free and paid apps, little QoL types, like BetterDisplay, Coctail, etc and for me the included support is of little value. These app", "context": "", "use_case": "macOS dock replacement", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: boringBar \u2013 a taskbar-style dock replacement for macOS"}, {"id": 764001424, "item_id": 47750089, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47750089", "by": "lapinovski", "date": "2026-04-13", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "This is great. Gonna give it a try couple of days.", "excerpt": "This is great. Gonna give it a try couple of days. The first thing that I've noticed, on lighter bg the contrast between the buttons (minimised) and the bar's bg is quite low. It looks like a single bar when there's a light bg. Would have been fantastic if there was an option to high contrast option (Also my eyesight is quite crap, which doesn't help either)", "context": "", "use_case": "macOS dock replacement", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: boringBar \u2013 a taskbar-style dock replacement for macOS"}, {"id": 763964080, "item_id": 47747755, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47747755", "by": "xkbear89", "date": "2026-04-12", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "boringBar addressing the \"show me what is in this Space\" problem is exactly right.", "excerpt": "As someone who switched from i3wm on Linux to macOS a few years ago, the Dock has always felt like a step backward for window management. The core issue is that macOS conflates application launching with window switching, and Spaces makes it worse by hiding windows you might actually want to see. boringBar addressing the \"show me what is in this Space\" problem is exactly right. The pricing discussion here is fascinat", "context": "switched from i3wm on Linux to macOS", "use_case": "macOS window switching", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: boringBar \u2013 a taskbar-style dock replacement for macOS"}, {"id": 763961568, "item_id": 47747598, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47747598", "by": "atymic", "date": "2026-04-12", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Downloaded to give it a try, but one feature is missing, I can't rearrange open windows.", "excerpt": "Downloaded to give it a try, but one feature is missing, I can't rearrange open windows. Is there a wayt to do that?", "context": "", "use_case": "macOS dock replacement", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: boringBar \u2013 a taskbar-style dock replacement for macOS"}, {"id": 763894897, "item_id": 47743431, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47743431", "by": "heyitsaamir", "date": "2026-04-12", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Regardless I\u2019ll give it a shot for a few weeks and see if it works for me.", "excerpt": "I\u2019m totally a target audience here. I\u2019ve been trying so many different app switcher applications. My latest favorite one is \u201cflashspace\u201d. I would love that kind of functionality be part of this too if possible. Regardless I\u2019ll give it a shot for a few weeks and see if it works for me. Thanks for sharing!", "context": "", "use_case": "macOS dock replacement", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: boringBar \u2013 a taskbar-style dock replacement for macOS"}, {"id": 763891202, "item_id": 47743200, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47743200", "by": "interstice", "date": "2026-04-12", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I'll be trying this!", "excerpt": "I'll be trying this! I used uBar for a long time, and more recently taskbar as uBar was too buggy to ignore. My main issue with Taskbar currently is that it sits over non windowed fullscreen apps (eg Steam games). Other than that I prefer the design on yours based on a quick look through the page.", "context": "", "use_case": "macOS taskbar", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: boringBar \u2013 a taskbar-style dock replacement for macOS"}, {"id": 763886721, "item_id": 47742920, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47742920", "by": "jorl17", "date": "2026-04-12", "stance": "compare", "quote": "can your dock show badges for iMessage if the app isn't open?", "excerpt": "Hi! Over the years, I've tried several of these dock replacement apps. The one that stuck the longest was uBar (which I used with a setup similar to what you have here, emulating a \"windows taskbar\". I've hit issues with most of them that forced me to move back to the normal Dock, but the number one issue has always been around notification badges: they always seemed to break in strange ways. For example, can your do", "context": "", "use_case": "macOS dock replacement", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: boringBar \u2013 a taskbar-style dock replacement for macOS"}, {"id": 763879953, "item_id": 47742497, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47742497", "by": "mynameisvlad", "date": "2026-04-12", "stance": "compare", "quote": "this looks like a nice lightweight alternative!", "excerpt": "I use uBar for this: https://ubarapp.com but this looks like a nice lightweight alternative!", "context": "", "use_case": "dock replacement", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: boringBar \u2013 a taskbar-style dock replacement for macOS"}]}