diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index fcc052e..fe2058e 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -134,12 +134,13 @@ preferred position controls where the hidden/kept boundary lands:
 - Verified with `--diag-hide` across positions 100–400. Below ~200 Wi-Fi gets
   hidden too; above ~300 app icons (Now Playing, TextInput) leak back.
 - `debug.spacerPos` (Double) overrides the seed for tuning without rebuilding.
-- Pressing a tray tile calls `MenuBarItemManager.press` (`kAXPressAction`, then
-  `kAXShowMenuAction`). Because a hidden item sits off-screen, its menu would
-  open off-screen; `AppDelegate` therefore calls `MenuBarHider.suspend()`
-  (`popoverWillShow`) to reveal items while the panel is open and `resume()`
-  0.6s after `popoverDidClose`. `suspend`/`resume` do not change the user's
-  `enabled` preference.
+- Pressing a tray tile calls `MenuBarItemManager.press`. A hidden item sits
+  off-screen, and its menu would open off-screen too, so press briefly
+  `suspend()`s the hider, waits ~0.18s for the layout to settle, performs the
+  accessibility action (`kAXPressAction`, then `kAXShowMenuAction`), and
+  `resume()`s ~1s later. The reveal is momentary, not for the whole time the
+  panel is open. macOS does not let us place or anchor another app's menu
+  anywhere else, so a momentary reveal is the only way to show it in view.
 - **Order matters**: `AppDelegate` must call `setupStatusItem()` *before*
   `MenuBarHider.shared.prepare()`. If the hider contracts the bar first, the
   hamburger is created into the collapsed space and lands off-screen.
diff --git a/Sources/SimpleTopBar/App.swift b/Sources/SimpleTopBar/App.swift
index 91d9139..4cdc96c 100644
--- a/Sources/SimpleTopBar/App.swift
+++ b/Sources/SimpleTopBar/App.swift
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ struct SimpleTopBarApp: App {
 /// full menu bar, a brand new item lands under the notch and is invisible;
 /// writing `NSStatusItem Preferred Position <name>` into defaults puts it in a
 /// visible slot, and the autosave name lets the user's own drag persist.
-final class AppDelegate: NSObject, NSApplicationDelegate, NSPopoverDelegate {
+final class AppDelegate: NSObject, NSApplicationDelegate {
     private var statusItem: NSStatusItem?
     private var popover: NSPopover?
 
@@ -103,7 +103,6 @@ final class AppDelegate: NSObject, NSApplicationDelegate, NSPopoverDelegate {
         let popover = NSPopover()
         popover.behavior = .transient
         popover.animates = false
-        popover.delegate = self
         popover.contentViewController = NSHostingController(
             rootView: TopBarView(
                 model: AppListModel.shared,
@@ -114,20 +113,6 @@ final class AppDelegate: NSObject, NSApplicationDelegate, NSPopoverDelegate {
         self.popover = popover
     }
 
-    // Reveal the hidden menu bar items while the panel is open so pressing a
-    // tray icon opens that app's menu at its real, on-screen position.
-    func popoverWillShow(_ notification: Notification) {
-        MenuBarHider.shared.suspend()
-    }
-
-    func popoverDidClose(_ notification: Notification) {
-        // Small delay so a menu just opened from a tray tile is fully on screen
-        // before the bar contracts again.
-        DispatchQueue.main.asyncAfter(deadline: .now() + 0.6) {
-            MenuBarHider.shared.resume()
-        }
-    }
-
     @objc private func togglePopover() {
         guard let popover, let button = statusItem?.button else { return }
         if popover.isShown {
diff --git a/Sources/SimpleTopBar/MenuBarItems.swift b/Sources/SimpleTopBar/MenuBarItems.swift
index df108c2..2112207 100644
--- a/Sources/SimpleTopBar/MenuBarItems.swift
+++ b/Sources/SimpleTopBar/MenuBarItems.swift
@@ -103,10 +103,30 @@ final class MenuBarItemManager: ObservableObject {
         }
     }
 
-    /// Opens the real menu bar item by pressing its accessibility element, so
-    /// its menu/popover appears at its true screen location.
-    @discardableResult
-    func press(_ item: MenuBarItem) -> Bool {
+    /// Opens the real menu bar item, so its menu/popover appears.
+    ///
+    /// A hidden item sits off-screen, and its menu would open off-screen too.
+    /// So briefly reveal the items, let the layout settle, press the item, then
+    /// hide again shortly after. The reveal is momentary rather than lasting the
+    /// whole time the panel is open.
+    func press(_ item: MenuBarItem) {
+        let hider = MenuBarHider.shared
+        let needsReveal = hider.isHiding
+        guard needsReveal else {
+            _ = performPress(item)
+            return
+        }
+        hider.suspend()
+        DispatchQueue.main.asyncAfter(deadline: .now() + 0.18) {
+            _ = self.performPress(item)
+            // Let the menu finish appearing before the bar contracts again.
+            DispatchQueue.main.asyncAfter(deadline: .now() + 1.0) {
+                hider.resume()
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    private func performPress(_ item: MenuBarItem) -> Bool {
         if AXUIElementPerformAction(item.element, kAXPressAction as CFString) == .success {
             return true
         }