{"slug": "ice", "name": "Ice", "category": "other", "category_name": "Other software", "description": "", "recommenders": 4, "commenters": 4, "warners": 0, "score": 3.689, "rising": 0.02, "first": "2026-04-02", "latest": "2026-09-16", "why": "Ice (might be sketchy now; had an ownership change): Lack of menu bar overflow on MacOS is awful.", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 4, "neutral": 0, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 2, 0, 0, 1, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "Ice (might be sketchy now; had an ownership change): Lack of menu bar overflow on MacOS is awful.", "icon": true, "domain": "icemenubar.app", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://icemenubar.app", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Ice"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 795748458, "item_id": 49734278, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49734278", "by": "SmasherEpilepti", "date": "2026-09-16", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Ice (might be sketchy now; had an ownership change): Lack of menu bar overflow on MacOS is awful.", "excerpt": "Homebrew/nix: The most obvious one. MacOS just has no good package manager. It's even worse than Windows, which is also pretty bad, but at least on Windows you can install an app and manage it in a central \"Add and Remove Programs\" view, and they've standardized an installer format that cares about and manages versions and upgrades. Middle Click: This is a galling one. Rectangle: Far better than the MacOS's native sn", "context": "uses macOS at work, prefers KDE/Gnome", "use_case": "menu bar overflow", "switched_from": "", "story": "macOS 27 Golden Gate \u2013 Review"}, {"id": 778569075, "item_id": 48660567, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48660567", "by": "slipwalker", "date": "2026-06-24", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "ice ( menubar manager )", "excerpt": "homebrew ( indispensable ! all the other apps below are installed/managed via homebrew ): - raycast ( keyboard shortcuts for clipboard manager, basic window management, pomodoro tracking and app launch ) - stats - ice ( menubar manager ) - theBoringNotch ( to have some use for the annoying notch ) - mole ( storage cleaner ) - wezterm - textmate - iina - zen browser ( with uBlock origin and betterfox settings )", "context": "", "use_case": "menubar management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: New clean macOS install. Must-have apps? Best browser?"}, {"id": 778366058, "item_id": 48647878, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48647878", "by": "imagetic", "date": "2026-06-23", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Ice Toolbar Manager - https://icemenubar.app", "excerpt": "Firefox Nightly - https://www.firefox.com/en-US/channel/desktop uBlock Origin - https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ublock-origin Ghostty - ghostty.org Homebrew - https://brew.sh Oh-my-posh - https://github.com/JanDeDobbeleer/oh-my-posh Zed - https://zed.dev 1Password - https://1password.com Tailscale - https://tailscale.com iStats Menu - https://bjango.com/mac/istatmenus Little Snitch - https://obdev.at/p", "context": "", "use_case": "menu bar management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: New clean macOS install. Must-have apps? Best browser?"}, {"id": 761904880, "item_id": 47619055, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47619055", "by": "latchkey", "date": "2026-04-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've been using Ice without problems:", "excerpt": "Thanks, I'll check out Thaw. I've been using Ice without problems: https://github.com/jordanbaird/Ice/releases/tag/0.11.13-dev.2", "context": "", "use_case": "menu bar management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Tailscale's New macOS Home"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [{"by": "SmasherEpilepti", "context": "uses macOS at work, prefers KDE/Gnome", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49734278", "date": "2026-09-16"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["menu bar management", "menu bar overflow", "menubar management"], "compared": [{"slug": "homebrew", "name": "Homebrew", "co": 3, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "stats", "name": "Stats", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "ublock-origin", "name": "uBlock Origin", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48643848", "title": "Ask HN: New clean macOS install. Must-have apps? Best browser?", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49732036", "title": "macOS 27 Golden Gate \u2013 Review", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47618189", "title": "Tailscale's New macOS Home", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-10": {}}, "quotes": [{"id": 795748458, "item_id": 49734278, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49734278", "by": "SmasherEpilepti", "date": "2026-09-16", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Ice (might be sketchy now; had an ownership change): Lack of menu bar overflow on MacOS is awful.", "excerpt": "Homebrew/nix: The most obvious one. MacOS just has no good package manager. It's even worse than Windows, which is also pretty bad, but at least on Windows you can install an app and manage it in a central \"Add and Remove Programs\" view, and they've standardized an installer format that cares about and manages versions and upgrades. Middle Click: This is a galling one. Rectangle: Far better than the MacOS's native sn", "context": "uses macOS at work, prefers KDE/Gnome", "use_case": "menu bar overflow", "switched_from": "", "story": "macOS 27 Golden Gate \u2013 Review"}, {"id": 778569075, "item_id": 48660567, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48660567", "by": "slipwalker", "date": "2026-06-24", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "ice ( menubar manager )", "excerpt": "homebrew ( indispensable ! all the other apps below are installed/managed via homebrew ): - raycast ( keyboard shortcuts for clipboard manager, basic window management, pomodoro tracking and app launch ) - stats - ice ( menubar manager ) - theBoringNotch ( to have some use for the annoying notch ) - mole ( storage cleaner ) - wezterm - textmate - iina - zen browser ( with uBlock origin and betterfox settings )", "context": "", "use_case": "menubar management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: New clean macOS install. Must-have apps? Best browser?"}, {"id": 778366058, "item_id": 48647878, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48647878", "by": "imagetic", "date": "2026-06-23", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Ice Toolbar Manager - https://icemenubar.app", "excerpt": "Firefox Nightly - https://www.firefox.com/en-US/channel/desktop uBlock Origin - https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ublock-origin Ghostty - ghostty.org Homebrew - https://brew.sh Oh-my-posh - https://github.com/JanDeDobbeleer/oh-my-posh Zed - https://zed.dev 1Password - https://1password.com Tailscale - https://tailscale.com iStats Menu - https://bjango.com/mac/istatmenus Little Snitch - https://obdev.at/p", "context": "", "use_case": "menu bar management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: New clean macOS install. Must-have apps? Best browser?"}, {"id": 761904880, "item_id": 47619055, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47619055", "by": "latchkey", "date": "2026-04-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've been using Ice without problems:", "excerpt": "Thanks, I'll check out Thaw. I've been using Ice without problems: https://github.com/jordanbaird/Ice/releases/tag/0.11.13-dev.2", "context": "", "use_case": "menu bar management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Tailscale's New macOS Home"}]}