Allow menubar items for WebApps to toggle their visibility

rosenrot

There are a lot of menubar applications for macOS that just provide a browser implementation to open certain services like ChatGPT or Bing Chat. And I guess there are many more.

By using your WebApps functionality, these applications become obsolete. At least almost. Currently, there is no easy way to toggle the visibility of WebApps. For me, it would make sense to add an option to show the favicon as a menubar item to toggle its visibility.

As always I'm open to discussing.

Vlad

rosenrot It is a cooll idea. It cna be just a checkbox in options o show icon on the menu bar.

rosenrot

Vlad Exactly as easy as that. Not sure if the favicon should be converted to grayscale or something to make it look nice. Up to your creativity 🙂

An additional feature would be:
When such a checkbox - to bring the WebApp to the menubar - is enabled, show an option to toggle the visibility by user-definable hotkey like CMD+J. Almost any menubar app has this feature as well.

Vlad

@eirk this is similar to https://orionfeedback.org/d/4828-menu-bar-browser but not the same.

I see this as two checkboxes one is to make the web app accessible through menu bar and the other to have then the app open from the menubar (instead of in its window)

rosenrot

Vlad Not sure if you need two checkboxes.

If one checks the menubar checkbox, position the window top right in a proper size for a menubar app.

But let the app window be resizable and moveable. So everyone can decide where the WebApp window opens. So one could have two WebApps open at the same time - when moving one top right, the other bottom right.

Only the size and position of the WebApp window has to be stored somewhere so that it is know for the next time.

Vlad

rosenrot Usually menu bar apps dont have moveable or even resizable windows. Can you name the few that have?

rosenrot

Vlad
Helium - is a menubar browser that allows it.
MenubarX - is a menubar browser that allows it.

Another generative AI tool allows that as well. It is not uncommon and I don't think it hurts if Orion menubar WebApps can be resized. No one has to do it.

What i currently see is that certain menubar apps open windows directly under the menubar item. which leads to overlapping windows when I use two of them in parallel. Having Orion with moveable/resizable windows would eliminate my issue.

Vlad

rosenrot I tried menubar browser and it allows only resize, not move. I could not get Helium to do either. Can you post a video?

rosenrot

Vlad Sure.

Vlad

rosenrot It is not clear from the video that it was opened through menubar?

rosenrot

Vlad You are right, helium seems to be limited a bit when it comes to hide the browser when clicking menubar.

Here is another example of a menubar browser allowing resizing and moving windows. If you open the link to the store the first video shows both.

https://apps.apple.com/app/zuriweb-menu-bar-web-browser/id1570407056

Vlad

rosenrot I think the point is that this is an anti-pattern. Menubar apps typically can not be moved or ven resized. I could not find any Apple system app that does this.

rosenrot

Vlad Apple per se doesn’t really offer menubar apps. At least none really come to my mind right now. Besides OS extension’s itself.

I‘m completely with you that it might be exotic for Orion to provide the possibility to move the window. On the other hand I‘m not sure if someone would be hurt if the possibility to move such a window exists.

I‘m more than happy if resizing works, if the window size is persistent after restarts and if hotkeys could be assigned. This would serve my basic needs.

Vlad

rosenrot THere are a few built into macOS like for example this one

rosenrot

Vlad These are what I called OS extensions. Surely, they are not moveable/resizable because their purpose is to provide easy access to certain functions. The purpose of a Webapp in the menubar is different - at least to me.

Apple also doesn’t use floating windows for hardly any of their apps, maybe in FindMy I saw it? - but still they are used by certain programmers. Also Orion Webapps use this.

The entire purpose of a web browser sitting in the menubar is to have easy and fast access to simple applications like Generative AI tools, news sites, Whatsapp, and countless others. These tools I want to bring to foreground quickly while working on something without interrupting the desktop assembly. Sometimes the menubar Webapp should be as big as 1/4 of the screen and sometimes even smaller or half the screen if you want to read a newsfeed.

As an example. If I split my screen and have some text processing tool open on the right side. I would love to drag the Webapp to the left when opening a translation tool for example. Or sometimes when waiting for a generative AI tool to process, I quickly answer a whatsapp from within another Webapp. If they popup over each other that is not really convenient.

The possibility to move these windows would allow all that but not forcing anyone to use it like that. No one has to move the window.

Vlad

rosenrot Purpose is clear the only question is what happens when you click menu bar icon. There are two posibilities - it behaves like a menu bar app above, or it behaves like showing a window that can be anywhere on the screen.

rosenrot

Vlad I think it is maybe not even as easy as that. Other apps like MenubarX or Zuriweb are hosting the menubar items for each website.

From what I understand, Orion Webapps are independent from each other, meaning, opening one isn't likely closing another one. So, Orion Webapps in the menubar would behave as independent apps. Am I correct?

Vlad

rosenrot Yes each would have a menubar icon (if user selects this option)

rosenrot

Vlad Thus, if you have Webapp1 open and click Webapp2, Webapp2 opens above Webapp1. I guess this will be the UX as the Webapps are not synced.

If this is the case, this would be another reason why I would prefer to move the windows not to overlap in first place.

Also, if you would add the a shortcut feature I would see an advantage in Webapps having moveable windows as they feel less menubar app like in this case anyway.