iStat Menus 6 Released for Mac With Notifications, Weather, Hotkeys, and Improved Customization

[Analog Kid]

What don’t you like about the way iStat Menus displays weather info? We’re always open to feedback, and want iStat Menus to be the best.

Great app, keep up the good work. This is just a personal preference.

It's not that the presentation is objectively wrong, it's just less aesthetically pleasing to me and doesn't organize data as nicely as, for example, ForecastBar would if their data were actually accurate.

Of course I can turn it off, and not pay for the data, and I assume this is well written software so unused modules aren't a burden on resources-- so why am I calling out this module in particular?

I don't keep fan speed in my menu either, but it seems of a kind with the rest of the features. Pretty much everything else is related to the local functioning of my machine. Weather feels unrelated to the iStat Menu's purpose. "One of these things is not like the others. One of these things doesn't belong."

You guys seem to be good at the menu item panels. I'd prefer to see the weather app broken out into another application that is developed separately. I've no problem throwing $10 at something I find useful, or even to just experiment with something I might find useful, from a developer I trust.

I know you need to keep the business going, so I don't mean to be critical of your decision making. Just expressing my personal preferences. It's an odd ball module among the rest, and I'll probably keep it turned off, but I prefer a few unwanted modules to transitioning to subscription. Weather data is pay for use, I get that, and I don't mind paying for periodic minor updates to keep it alive, but-- and I want to get this message to as many devs as are willing to listen-- if the app goes to subscription, I walk.

 

[Bjango]

Thank you. This worked for me.

Great to hear! Thanks for letting me know.

Great app, keep up the good work. This is just a personal preference.

Yep! I’d love to hear your preferences. We have some options to control how the weather menubar items and dropdowns behave, and we will continue to improve and refine them. This is just our first pass at it.

Of course I can turn it off, and not pay for the data, and I assume this is well written software so unused modules aren't a burden on resources-- so why am I calling out this module in particular?

I’d rather you thought it was so awesome that you kept it on. Feedback is welcome.

And yes, you’re right — turning off items in iStat Menus does save resources. We also don’t fetch some info until the dropdown menu is opened, which also helps. We do our best to keep things lean, given it’s an app people have running all the time.

Weather feels unrelated to the iStat Menu's purpose. "One of these things is not like the others. One of these things doesn't belong."

Yep, it is a bit outside the main scope of the app. But, so are time, calendar and calendar events. The time item is probably my most used aspect of iStat Menus. We do need to be very careful about what is added though.

I know you need to keep the business going, so I don't mean to be critical of your decision making. Just expressing my personal preferences.

Please be critical! The feedback is good, and the discussion is welcome. Thank you.

if the app goes to subscription, I walk.

We have no plans to move to subscription, and I am speaking more for myself (@marcedwards) than Bjango when I say this: But I completely agree with you. I do not want all my apps to become subscription, and I think in many or even most cases, switching to subscription is a terrible idea for customers, for the product, and for the businesses that do it.

 

[macjunk(ie)]

Upgraded mine. Love this app. Have been using it for years!

 

[Bjango]

Upgraded mine. Love this app. Have been using it for years!

Thank you! We really appreciate it.

 

[maflynn]

It seems to me, that they're throwing everything including the kitchen sink into the app. I want a simple resource monitor in my menu. I use an older version and I'm quite happy with it. I see no reason to upgrade.

 

[Bjango]

It seems to me, that they're throwing everything including the kitchen sink into the app. I want a simple resource monitor in my menu. I use an older version and I'm quite happy with it. I see no reason to upgrade.

iStat Menus 6 has quite a few new features that let it be simpler. It’s now possible to disable sections you do not want in the dropdown menus, and reorder them as you’d like.

Here’s the CPU dropdown, as it is by default, and with some items disabled.

We were also able to reduce the size of the app significantly, and we added a “Very Slow” update frequency, to be even more efficient.

There are many other ways iStat Menus 6 is smaller and more efficient than iStat Menus 5. We’ve put a lot of effort into keeping it nimble.

You are — of course — completely welcome to use iStat Menus 5 for as long as you want (download links are still available on our website, if you ever need to get it again). Thank you for using iStat Menus 5! But, version 6 is a huge improvement in many ways.