Allow disabling the macOS menu bar icon

[eidnoat]

The problem

On macOS, Sonora keeps an icon in the menu bar at all times, but I couldn't find a setting to turn it off, which makes the menu bar feel cluttered.

What you want instead

Please add a toggle in Settings to show/hide the menu bar icon, similar to the "Show icon in menu bar" option found in many other Mac apps.

Alternatives you considered

I checked through the settings/preferences but couldn't find a related option, so I don't have a workaround at the moment.

Area

Appearance and themes

[atleugim]

I think this can be solved using the existing switch in Settings rather than adding a second one.

The menubar icon is what makes a running Sonora instance accessible after the window is closed. With “Keep playing when closed” enabled, closing the window leaves Sonora running, so the menubar icon provides a way to access it again. With the setting disabled, closing the window quits Sonora entirely, which also removes the menubar icon.

Given that behavior, these are effectively two sides of the same setting. Instead of adding a separate option just for the menubar icon, the existing switch could control whether Sonora remains running in the background, and therefore whether the menubar icon is present.

It could also be renamed to something like “Keep running in background” to make its behavior a bit clearer.

What do you think?

[eidnoat]

I think this can be solved using the existing switch in Settings rather than adding a second one.

The menubar icon is what makes a running Sonora instance accessible after the window is closed. With “Keep playing when closed” enabled, closing the window leaves Sonora running, so the menubar icon provides a way to access it again. With the setting disabled, closing the window quits Sonora entirely, which also removes the menubar icon.

Given that behavior, these are effectively two sides of the same setting. Instead of adding a separate option just for the menubar icon, the existing switch could control whether Sonora remains running in the background, and therefore whether the menubar icon is present.

It could also be renamed to something like “Keep running in background” to make its behavior a bit clearer.

What do you think?

@atleugim Thank you for your thoughtful reply.

I think I get what you mean: the status bar serves as an entry point to access applications running in the background after their windows have been closed.

In fact, I fully agree with the rationale behind this interaction method. However, I still believe it is necessary to leave the choice to the user.

The issue I’ve encountered stems from the introduction of that blasted "notch" display on MacBooks, which severely limits the available space on the right side of the menu bar. Consequently, I usually reserve that area for system status icons—such as CPU or memory usage—and rely on Spotlight to quickly launch other background apps and perform the necessary tasks directly. I’m not sure if my workflow is typical, but a menu bar icon for controlling a background music player feels redundant to me—which is precisely why I suggest adding a toggle to control whether or not such icons are displayed.

In short, your app is excellent, though I haven't had much time to use it yet. My suggestions are based on a brief user experience, so I may not have fully grasped your design intentions in some areas.

[atleugim]

Thanks for clearing that up. I totally agree that giving people a choice is the way to go. I originally tied the menubar icon to “Keep playing when closed”, but I didn’t fully consider the limited space (especially on notched MacBooks) or how users might want things set up. Keeping the icon toggle separate while allowing “Keep playing when closed” to work independently is a great solution.

I’m working on a draft for this now and will share it soon.

Thanks again for the extra context!

[eidnoat]

Thanks for taking my suggestion on board.
BTW, your development speed is really impressive; even though it’s just a small feature, at my company—given all the processes involved—it would easily take a full day :)