Music Bar For Mac

Apple Music and the superseded iTunes both come with good mini players that allow you to manage playback without having the entire app's UI on your desktop, or even while other applications are in focus. However, there is still no way to control playback from the menu bar, which is something quite a few users want.

If you're one of them, Music Bar could be what you need. It is a small open-source app that shows information about the current track in the menu bar, while also allowing you to manage playback easily.

Assuming you already use Apple Music, this app will feel very familiar. The popout's layout is not too different from that of the MiniPlayer, but you do have fewer options, and it cannot be resized.

The biggest difference, of course, is that this controller is accessible directly from the menu bar. You can view information about the current song without even clicking the menu bar icon.

You can configure exactly what you want to see in the menu bar. Music Bar can display the title, artist, both, or even neither, should you only be interested in the playback controls or album art.

What's more, you can set the desired artwork quality, which can be important if you have a poor internet connection. Lastly, the gap between the menu bar and the popover can be disabled if you prefer.

For future releases, some additional features can be added, such as volume control or an Up Next list. These are already available in the Apple Music MiniPlayer, and they could be made optional so as to keep clutter to a minimum.

All things considered, seeing as it's completely free and open-source, you have nothing to lose by trying out Music Bar. It worked great for me, and it's just the thing for users who want to manage their music from the menu bar.