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iGeneo

macrumors demi-god
Original poster
Jul 3, 2010
1,393
2,595
Not sure why.. killed bartender and screen sharing for now

Screenshot 2023-06-22 at 11.06.31.png
 

arw

macrumors 65816
Aug 31, 2010
1,099
859
Technically it's plausible why Bartender requires access to the screen (and always did).
Bartender does not record the screen.
Bartender needs this permission for 3 reasons;
● To get information about your menu bar items (name, location)
● To get images of the menu bar items to show in Preferences and make show for updates work
● To get images of the menu bar to make the transition of showing hidden items smooth
But apparently Sonoma’s effort towards more transparency doesn't take such use cases into account.
 
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fisherking

macrumors G4
Jul 16, 2010
11,103
5,447
ny somewhere
this has been discussed a bit on this forum; it's a nuisance, and i've let both surtees and apple know about it.

for me, the icon is replaced (after opening bartender, then after waking from sleep) with the mic icon (related to boom 3D, who i also let know about this).

hoping it gets sorted out soonish.

1.png


becomes this (after sleep/wake)

2.png
 

Jakimo

macrumors 6502
Apr 25, 2008
468
97
Colorado Springs
Is there a way to have the icon hidden? I've tried a few ways..

..also my tight spacing for the menubar is gone, and I can't find the terminal command to accomplish the same thing manually. Until Bartender fixes it, does anyone know the terminal command to change this setting in the system?
 

fisherking

macrumors G4
Jul 16, 2010
11,103
5,447
ny somewhere
Is there a way to have the icon hidden? I've tried a few ways..

..also my tight spacing for the menubar is gone, and I can't find the terminal command to accomplish the same thing manually. Until Bartender fixes it, does anyone know the terminal command to change this setting in the system?
seems no way to hide the icon currently. annoying, but it's life on a beta. still, hoping apple sorts this out soon. report it in feedback app ppl! 👍
 
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Jakimo

macrumors 6502
Apr 25, 2008
468
97
Colorado Springs
Now I'm wondering if squeezing the menubar items closer together is a Bartender-unique ability or can be done via Terminal, as I've scoured for a terminal command to accomplish this and just haven't found it yet..
 

fisherking

macrumors G4
Jul 16, 2010
11,103
5,447
ny somewhere
interesting that the screen sharing icon is NOT showing on my dell monitor with my M2 mini (only persistently on my M2 air). just reporting this (in case someone has a theory about why that is)

EDIT: has something changed? i just rebooted my macbook air, and the icon is gone there too... so not on either mac. odd, as there's been no OS update this past week...
 
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Jakimo

macrumors 6502
Apr 25, 2008
468
97
Colorado Springs
I am pretty sure this is Bartender-unique. Or needs some other third party app doing the same thing.
Yep, I've since downgraded my Mac in efforts to have SMS sync work between iOS and macOS. It didn't work..

However, while on Sonoma - I did get the spacing to work on the Menubar by ALSO running this free app:

I found a free app that still works to adjust menubar spacing! https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ibar-menubar-icon-control-tool/id6443843900?mt=12
 

cxEasye

macrumors newbie
Jul 14, 2023
3
1
It's kind of annoying to see the icon telling you that your screen is being recorded, as it defeats the purpose for Bartenders primary use case. If anyone has any ideas on how to get rid of it, or push feedback to the developers of both Mac OS and Bartender, I'd hope they can work out a fix soon.
 

cxEasye

macrumors newbie
Jul 14, 2023
3
1
Technically it's plausible why Bartender requires access to the screen (and always did).

But apparently Sonoma’s effort towards more transparency doesn't take such use cases into account.
I really hope we soon are noticed.
 

cxEasye

macrumors newbie
Jul 14, 2023
3
1
I went ahead and submitted feedback for the Mac OS Beta with these contents, and I would love for you to do the same.
"This is on all displays, MacOS Sonoma forces the icon that tells you that your screen is being recorded, AltTab and Bartender 4 utilize the screen recording feature in certain ways for the application to work as intended, or to work at all. This is a problem because the purpose of Bartender 4 is to re-organize and expand on what the Menu Bar is capable of doing, showing, etc. Whereas AltTab is an important application that lets me utilize AltTab similar to Windows operating systems, which is a good system.

It would make sense to have the option to hide the Screen Recording Menu Bar icon for certain apps that you allow without having to look at it up there all of the time. As it is confusing, what if I want to look at just Zoom, Discord, FaceTime, etc. And not be confused by Bartender 4, AltTab, or any other application that utilizes screen recording. I’d love to hear back."

1689404856294.png
 
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aevan

macrumors 601
Feb 5, 2015
4,357
6,903
Serbia
Bartender and also Alt-Tab are continuously telling me they are screen sharing

I use both and initially they do show they are screen sharing, but then the screen sharing icon disappears from the Menu Bar.

I'm on Public Beta.

Edit: it reappears when I use alt-tab or anything in Bartender, yup, my bad.
 

aevan

macrumors 601
Feb 5, 2015
4,357
6,903
Serbia
I went ahead and submitted feedback for the Mac OS Beta with these contents, and I would love for you to do the same.
"This is on all displays, MacOS Sonoma forces the icon that tells you that your screen is being recorded, AltTab and Bartender 4 utilize the screen recording feature in certain ways for the application to work as intended, or to work at all. This is a problem because the purpose of Bartender 4 is to re-organize and expand on what the Menu Bar is capable of doing, showing, etc. Whereas AltTab is an important application that lets me utilize AltTab similar to Windows operating systems, which is a good system.

It would make sense to have the option to hide the Screen Recording Menu Bar icon for certain apps that you allow without having to look at it up there all of the time. As it is confusing, what if I want to look at just Zoom, Discord, FaceTime, etc. And not be confused by Bartender 4, AltTab, or any other application that utilizes screen recording. I’d love to hear back."

View attachment 2232689
It would seem that this is not a bug, instead - these apps will have to start using a different API (which, currently, does not support everything Bartender needs).

CleanShot 2023-07-15 at 12.53.50@2x.jpg
 
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fisherking

macrumors G4
Jul 16, 2010
11,103
5,447
ny somewhere
still curious why the icon vanished for me (during dev beta 2); it has not returned on my air, and has never shown up on my mini. am not complaining ☺️


EDIT: developer beta 4, and the icon has not returned, on either mac. possibly a system setting? anyway, interesting (or odd) that some people have the icon, some don't...
 
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dojo-onassis-cat

macrumors newbie
Jul 28, 2023
1
0
I went ahead and submitted feedback for the Mac OS Beta with these contents, and I would love for you to do the same.
"This is on all displays, MacOS Sonoma forces the icon that tells you that your screen is being recorded, AltTab and Bartender 4 utilize the screen recording feature in certain ways for the application to work as intended, or to work at all. This is a problem because the purpose of Bartender 4 is to re-organize and expand on what the Menu Bar is capable of doing, showing, etc. Whereas AltTab is an important application that lets me utilize AltTab similar to Windows operating systems, which is a good system.

It would make sense to have the option to hide the Screen Recording Menu Bar icon for certain apps that you allow without having to look at it up there all of the time. As it is confusing, what if I want to look at just Zoom, Discord, FaceTime, etc. And not be confused by Bartender 4, AltTab, or any other application that utilizes screen recording. I’d love to hear back."
I have sent feedback too ✅
 

berian.lowe

macrumors newbie
Apr 26, 2008
1
0
I have also sent feedback for this.

If anyone would like a template of the feedback report please see below and change as required! Would appreciate as many people report this as possible!

Markdown (GitHub flavored):
Summary:
The new resource access icons in macOS, designed to indicate screen sharing and camera/microphone usage, exhibit unintended behaviour that needs attention. This report outlines the observed issues and provides steps to replicate them.

Description:
The recent update introducing icons in the menu bar to signify screen sharing and camera/microphone access has brought about some unexpected problems. While the intention of enhancing transparency and user awareness is commendable, the current implementation presents challenges that might affect user experience and system aesthetics.

Issues:

Disruptive Icons: The size and visibility of the icons in the menu bar appear disproportionate and could potentially disrupt the overall design coherence of the macOS interface. This might result in a visual clutter that deviates from the seamless user experience macOS aims to deliver.

Lack of Customisation: Users currently lack the ability to customise the behaviour of these icons. Certain applications that require screen sharing access, such as virtual display managers or menu bar organisers, might trigger these icons unnecessarily. Users should have the option to exempt specific apps from displaying these icons, especially when the apps' access requirements are already permitted in the Privacy settings.

Steps to Reproduce:

- Open any application that accesses the camera/microphone or necessitates screen sharing access.
- Observe the icons that appear in the menu bar.
- Note the disruption caused by the icons' size and the absence of customisation options.

Expected Behaviour:

- Icons should seamlessly integrate into the menu bar design without causing visual disruption.
- Users should have the ability to disable or customise the display of these icons for specific apps, particularly those with approved screen sharing and camera/microphone access.

Additional Notes:

The purpose of this report is to highlight the observed issues in the current implementation of resource access icons. Addressing these concerns could lead to an improved user experience and greater user satisfaction with macOS.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Please consider investigating and rectifying these issues in future updates.
 

fisherking

macrumors G4
Jul 16, 2010
11,103
5,447
ny somewhere
so random. developer beta 5, and the icon has reappeared occasionally... until today, when it popped up (playing a movie trailer in safari)... and NOW it won't leave 🙄

EDIT: gone for now after rebooting...
 

Jakimo

macrumors 6502
Apr 25, 2008
468
97
Colorado Springs
I jumped off of Sonoma, primarily because my SMS texts stopped syncing

But I'm curious, on the latest Sonoma beta does Bartender function better now?
 

fisherking

macrumors G4
Jul 16, 2010
11,103
5,447
ny somewhere
I jumped off of Sonoma, primarily because my SMS texts stopped syncing

But I'm curious, on the latest Sonoma beta does Bartender function better now?
it's been erratic, apparently; for me, the icon vanished early in the beta cycle; now it pops up sometimes, and got stuck once (until i rebooted).

other than that, bartender the app has worked thru all the beta versions...
 
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GaryPDX

macrumors member
Mar 8, 2008
80
29
Portland, OR USA
It would seem that this is not a bug, instead - these apps will have to start using a different API (which, currently, does not support everything Bartender needs).

View attachment 2232726
I just upgraded to a 15" MBA (with the notch). Immediately ran into problems with Bartender, even though they claim the notch situation is worse out.. When I saw this, I decided to redo my menubar so I didn't need it any more. My experiences is that once the key API is pulled, as seems to be the case here, yaz got nuthin' but future problems with an app.
 

fisherking

macrumors G4
Jul 16, 2010
11,103
5,447
ny somewhere
I just upgraded to a 15" MBA (with the notch). Immediately ran into problems with Bartender, even though they claim the notch situation is worse out.. When I saw this, I decided to redo my menubar so I didn't need it any more. My experiences is that once the key API is pulled, as seems to be the case here, yaz got nuthin' but future problems with an app.
huh? i've used bartender for years (and will continue to use it). the only issue i see is the occasional popup of the screen share menu icon... which doesn't keep the app from doing what it does. the sky is definitely not falling.
 

GaryPDX

macrumors member
Mar 8, 2008
80
29
Portland, OR USA
huh? i've used bartender for years (and will continue to use it). the only issue i see is the occasional popup of the screen share menu icon... which doesn't keep the app from doing what it does. the sky is definitely not falling.
The sky is not falling, but the API is deprecated and I know of exactly NO instances where that's happy news. 'Twas a great app, until what will now be a tortuous denouement to continuing users. Enjoy.
 
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