Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
nope it is one of the things that keeps macOS clean and user friendly. They could add it elsewhere ok, but not in Microsoft style when you have multi bars with thousands of buttons…
 
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: trusso and KeithBN
OP is right about Music and full screen mode—I had no idea it existed until this thread. I clicked on the green bubble and it went full screen, then went to Window ->Full Screen Player and it created the interface OP posted an image of. It also left Music still full screen in a separate space. If you turn on Visualizer, it creates a third full screen space!

Apple's first party apps are kind of a mess on the Mac, but that's a different thread.

What was he "right" about? I don't understand what the issue is with this design. Why would I want to have to close the visualizer or full screen player to browse my music library? Much easier for them to remain separate and simply swipe over to change spaces to whichever one you want. I also don't understand how you could not know full screen mode existed with the Music app. It's the same three buttons at the top left of every app window in macOS. If you didn't realize it, that's on you, not the OS.

Yeah, people need to actually read the thread lol.

We did. We simply don't agree with you. And regarding Apple Music, the web client music player you mentioned has nothing to do with macOS since it runs in a web browser. It's a web app, not a macOS app.
 
  • Like
Reactions: trusso
What was he "right" about? I don't understand what the issue is with this design. Why would I want to have to close the visualizer or full screen player to browse my music library? Much easier for them to remain separate and simply swipe over to change spaces to whichever one you want. I also don't understand how you could not know full screen mode existed with the Music app. It's the same three buttons at the top left of every app window in macOS. If you didn't realize it, that's on you, not the OS.
1675551632938.png

This is the full-screen music player. It shows lyrics and everything in full screen. Im not talking about full screening apps.
 
View attachment 2153625
This is the full-screen music player. It shows lyrics and everything in full screen. Im not talking about full screening apps.

I know precisely what you're talking about. Notice I wasn't quoting you there, but rather swingerofbirch, who stated (emphasis mine):

OP is right about Music and full screen mode—I had no idea it existed until this thread.

They clearly said "full screen mode" not "full screen player." Perhaps they misspoke, but I can only go by what they said. But even if they meant the full screen player, it's not the fault of the OS that they didn't look through the various menu options. It's not like there's a ton of them at the top level (which is where the "full screen player" option is).
 
I know precisely what you're talking about. Notice I wasn't quoting you there, but rather swingerofbirch, who stated (emphasis mine):



They clearly said "full screen mode" not "full screen player." Perhaps they misspoke, but I can only go by what they said. But even if they meant the full screen player, it's not the fault of the OS that they didn't look through the various menu options. It's not like there's a ton of them at the top level (which is where the "full screen player" option is).
Well I guess I misspoke but I don't know the nomenclature of every single pixel I interact with—they're both full screen experiences. And I think I made it clear by saying in the very sentence after the one you quoted: "I clicked on the green bubble and it went full screen, then went to Window ->Full Screen Player and it created the interface OP posted an image of."

And as for saying it's the fault of the user for not looking through the various menu options: Why would you go searching for something you didn't know existed? There's a design principle called user discoverability.
 
Well I guess I misspoke but I don't know the nomenclature of every single pixel I interact with—they're both full screen experiences. And I think I made it clear by saying in the very sentence after the one you quoted: "I clicked on the green bubble and it went full screen, then went to Window ->Full Screen Player and it created the interface OP posted an image of."

No, because that next sentence talked about two separate things: (1) full screen mode and (2) full screen player. So that didn't really make it clear what you were referring to in your previous sentence.

And as for saying it's the fault of the user for not looking through the various menu options: Why would you go searching for something you didn't know existed? There's a design principle called user discoverability.

How would you know something existed unless you read about it, either in Apple's documentation or by simply looking at the various menu options? Do you seriously not take time to look through at least top-level menu options in new (to you) software? It's not exactly some buried option.

Whenever I've discovered a useful option in software that I didn't know about before (in spite of having used the software for a while), I get excited about it--I don't go blaming the software developer for me not having done my due diligence to familiarize myself with the software.
 
Also as I stated before, I think the full screen options in the Music app on macOS work in a very logical manner:
To get to full screen mode of the normal Music app you have to click the green dot in the normal Music app.
To get to full screen mode of the Music player you have to click the green dot in the player.
To get to full screen mode of the visual effects you have to click the green dot in the visual effects window.

The full screen player option in the menu bar is just a second option.

I still think the Music app is not exactly the greatest app Apple has ever made. But that has nothing to do with full screen modes but is more about using web technology for their views instead of native SwiftUI. 🤦‍♂️
 
I can’t believe people are defending the UI of the Music app of all things. It’s a disaster.

But that’s not the menu bar’s fault!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Juuro
I know this all sounds silly when you first read it, but there is some wisdom here. It's just not clear.

I think the LEFT SIDE of the menu bar should reside within the application. There's no need for it to have a dedicated place -- that's legacy thinking.

The RIGHT SIDE is different. Micro-apps always running and accessible are a core part of the system, or of any system. Put the Apple menu inside the Right Side, Right of the clock, mandatory always there. Or better, make the entire menubar the Right Side Menu Bar. This would correct the notch issue, as you could put them on both sides. I am always using Hidden Bar, and luckily I use a multi-monitor all the time. It's silly to need Bartender just to make it usable.

xrOS is going to force adaptation, so it'll be interesting to see how they deal with this.
 
It's actually the opposite problem. Developers aren't using the menu bar anymore, creating a ton of inconsistency in where to find a certain function. This nonsense began with Microsoft Word in the early 2010s and spread like a virus to every other app.
The menu bar was the cleanest, purest way to find settings, so long as the developer put them in their appropriately titled menus i.e. Window refers to manipulating a window, View refers to matters of perspective/zoom.
The Ribbon interface is atrocious.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mectojic
I agree, they should hide it all under some atrocity like hamburger menu or something.

For the love of god, please stop dumbing down desktop operating systems already. When you add UI elements optimized for touch devices to desktop devices, the result is some monster that isn't good neither at being a good desktop OS nor touch OS.
 
I do wish this was forced. Looking at you Adobe products that don't have full screen mode!!
Adobe does. It just doesn’t use the macOS specific way. Photoshop uses the F key. You can go full screen with menu and without (menu bar hides). Also I think Adobe uses their own UI API (Adobe Air?), it’s incredibly clunky.
 
Adobe does. It just doesn’t use the macOS specific way. Photoshop uses the F key. You can go full screen with menu and without (menu bar hides). Also I think Adobe uses their own UI API (Adobe Air?), it’s incredibly clunky.
What?! Do I just press F or is it like Command+F or something? I have never known this and I use Adobe every day and get frustrated every day since the icon is a + and not a full screen option.
 
Go back to where you came from.

The only useful function of MacOS and historical HIGs is precisely the menubar, and there are even users who claim the behaviour of Linux and Microsoft.
I've read some over the decades, and the user of that time would have sent you without too many preambles.
XD
 
I know this all sounds silly when you first read it, but there is some wisdom here. It's just not clear.

I think the LEFT SIDE of the menu bar should reside within the application. There's no need for it to have a dedicated place -- that's legacy thinking.

The RIGHT SIDE is different. Micro-apps always running and accessible are a core part of the system, or of any system. Put the Apple menu inside the Right Side, Right of the clock, mandatory always there. Or better, make the entire menubar the Right Side Menu Bar. This would correct the notch issue, as you could put them on both sides. I am always using Hidden Bar, and luckily I use a multi-monitor all the time. It's silly to need Bartender just to make it usable.

xrOS is going to force adaptation, so it'll be interesting to see how they deal with this.
Why should the left part be in the application? Seems like a bad use of space, especially if you have multiple windows from the same app open. Having it in the menu bar avoids duplication and doesn’t cause issues in smaller windows.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ahurst
Even better idea, why not bring the menu bar to iPad OS?
As it is, the status bar on the iPad is basically useless…
 
What?! Do I just press F or is it like Command+F or something? I have never known this and I use Adobe every day and get frustrated every day since the icon is a + and not a full screen option.
Yes. F. F once for full screen with menu bar. F again for full screen with menu bar hidden.
 
I think the LEFT SIDE of the menu bar should reside within the application. There's no need for it to have a dedicated place -- that's legacy thinking.
What makes it legacy thinking?

In my view, having all the drop-downs and general menus for the current app *always* be visible (can’t be covered up by a window) and *always* be in the same place (so you can always find it without thinking) is a major UI benefit that I miss deeply on Windows and Linux.

It also has the benefit of saving space/reducing UI clutter on individual windows, meaning that if you have 2-3 different browser or terminal windows open at once they don’t all need to have duplicate copies of the menu bar’s dropdowns crammed in a smaller space.

For example, this is what a KDE terminal window looks like:
1675644914806.png


And here’s an iTerm2 window on macOS, free of clutter thanks to the Menu Bar:
1675645123782.png
 
  • Like
Reactions: StellarVixen
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.