Give Control Center items distinct icons

Every Control Center module shares one app icon, so the tray was a wall
of identical tiles. Map each item's title to its own SF Symbol so Wi-Fi,
Battery, Now Playing and friends are distinguishable at a glance.

💘 Generated with Crush

Assisted-by: Crush:deepseek-v4.1-flash

AGENTS.md

@@ -5,10 +5,12 @@ executable SwiftPM package, no external dependencies (all Apple frameworks).
 
 ## Architecture
 
-- `Sources/SimpleTopBar/App.swift` — `@main` entry. `MenuBarExtra` with
-  `.menuBarExtraStyle(.window)` hosting `TopBarView`. `AppDelegate` handles the
-  `--self-test` flag and the single-instance guard. `LoginItem` wraps
-  `SMAppService`.
+- `Sources/SimpleTopBar/App.swift` — `@main` entry using a bare
+  `Settings { EmptyView() }` scene, because the app owns its status item
+  manually instead of using `MenuBarExtra`. `AppDelegate.setupStatusItem()`
+  creates the `NSStatusItem`, sets `autosaveName = "SimpleTopBar"`, and shows
+  `TopBarView` inside an `NSPopover`. Handles `--self-test`, `--dump-items`,
+  `--diag`, and the single-instance guard. `LoginItem` wraps `SMAppService`.
 - `Sources/SimpleTopBar/AppListModel.swift` — `@MainActor` `ObservableObject`
   singleton. `refresh()` reads `NSWorkspace.shared.runningApplications` and
   splits them by `activationPolicy` into `regularApps` and `backgroundApps`
@@ -36,6 +38,14 @@ executable SwiftPM package, no external dependencies (all Apple frameworks).
   or per-element, so every helper returns `nil` instead of force-unwrapping. The
   `enumerate()` routine is `nonisolated static` so `--self-test` can run it.
 - Items are keyed by `pid-index`; `MenuBarItem` equality ignores the AX element.
+- Control Center is special: its extras menu bar lists **every module it owns**,
+  including ones not in the bar, which are parked off-screen at `y≈982`.
+  `enumerate()` drops items whose AX position `y > 60` and de-duplicates by
+  title per app, otherwise the tray fills with identical "Control Center" tiles.
+- Icons: every Control Center module shares the same app icon, so
+  `symbolName(for:)` maps titles (Wi‑Fi, Battery, Now Playing, …) to distinct SF
+  Symbols, falling back to the owning app's icon. Note the non-breaking hyphen
+  in "Wi‑Fi" (`\u{2011}`) is normalised before matching.
 - Reading another app's UI is the only TCC permission needed; there is no Screen
   Recording or Apple Events usage.
 
@@ -93,6 +103,45 @@ wants it in the final answer every time. Keep it to the cask upgrade commands
 (see the README release section for the exact block), because the app is
 installed through the tap.
 
+## Status item placement (why not MenuBarExtra)
+
+On a full menu bar, a newly created status item is placed leftmost, which on a
+notched MacBook is under the notch and therefore invisible. `MenuBarExtra` gives
+no control over this, so the app creates its own `NSStatusItem` and:
+
+- Sets `autosaveName = "SimpleTopBar"`.
+- On first run, writes `"NSStatusItem Preferred Position SimpleTopBar" = 100`
+  into `UserDefaults.standard`. This private-ish key is what macOS reads to
+  place the item, and 100 lands it at the visible right side. Because it is only
+  written when absent, the user's own ⌘-drag wins and persists via the autosave
+  name.
+
+`--diag` runs full startup and writes every status item's AX position to
+`/tmp/simpletopbar-items.txt`; use it to verify the icon is not under the notch
+(x should be ~1200, not ~765).
+
+## Hiding other menu bar items
+
+`MenuBarHider` creates a zero-width spacer `NSStatusItem` at launch and grows its
+length to `hiddenLength` (10_000) to push the icons on its left off-screen. It is
+**on by default** (`hideMenuBarItems` defaults to true, then persisted). Its
+preferred position controls where the hidden/kept boundary lands:
+
+- Seed **250** (default) puts the boundary just left of Wi-Fi, so every
+  third-party app icon goes to x < 0 (cmux, Kapture, moomoo, WireGuard,
+  TextInputMenuAgent, Now Playing) while **Wi-Fi (x≈1173), Spotlight, Clock,
+  Battery, Control Center and our hamburger stay visible**.
+- 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.
+- **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.
+- **Wi-Fi/Spotlight/Clock/Battery/Control Center cannot be hidden**: macOS pins
+  them to the far right and a third-party item can never be inserted to their
+  right, so the spacer has nothing to push them with. This is a macOS
+  constraint, not a bug.
+
 ## Gotchas
 
 - `AppListModel` is `@MainActor`; the `NSWorkspace` observers hop back with

README.md

@@ -27,11 +27,26 @@ still works.
 
 macOS has no public API to move another app's status item. The **Hide items from
 the menu bar** toggle uses the spacer technique: a zero-width status item is
-created at launch whose length is expanded to push the items to its left
-off-screen. This is reliable only when SimpleTopBar starts at login (its spacer
-then sits to the right of later-launched apps' items) and may need re-toggling
-after items move around. It is off by default and always undone on quit; if the
-app dies, macOS removes the spacer automatically.
+created at launch whose length is expanded to push the other icons off-screen so
+they only live in this panel. It is **on by default** (the choice is
+remembered), always undone on quit, and if the app dies macOS removes the spacer
+automatically.
+
+What it can and cannot hide:
+
+- It hides **other third-party apps' icons** (cmux, Kapture, WireGuard, input
+  source, Now Playing, …) so only your apps' icons leave the bar.
+- It **keeps Wi-Fi, Spotlight, Clock, Battery and Control Center**. The spacer's
+  boundary is tuned (preferred position 250) to fall just left of Wi-Fi, so the
+  Apple items on the right stay visible. macOS reserves that far-right area: a
+  third-party item can never be placed to the right of it, so those icons cannot
+  be pushed away even in principle. (Bartender and Ice hit the same wall and
+  cover the area with their own overlay bar instead.)
+- Newly launched apps are placed to the left of the spacer, so they are hidden
+  automatically.
+- Advanced: set `defaults write dev.tzgyn.simpletopbar debug.spacerPos -float <n>`
+  to move the boundary (larger = keep more icons; > ~400 starts leaking app
+  icons back into the bar).
 
 ## Install with Homebrew
 

Sources/SimpleTopBar/App.swift

@@ -7,24 +7,31 @@ struct SimpleTopBarApp: App {
     @NSApplicationDelegateAdaptor(AppDelegate.self) private var appDelegate
 
     var body: some Scene {
-        MenuBarExtra("SimpleTopBar", systemImage: "line.3.horizontal") {
-            TopBarView(
-                model: AppListModel.shared,
-                menuBar: MenuBarItemManager.shared,
-                hider: MenuBarHider.shared
-            )
-        }
-        .menuBarExtraStyle(.window)
+        // The app is a menu bar extra, so it has no real windows.
+        Settings { EmptyView() }
     }
 }
 
+/// Owns the menu bar status item directly (instead of `MenuBarExtra`) so the
+/// item can be given an `autosaveName` and a persisted preferred position. On a
+/// 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 {
+    private var statusItem: NSStatusItem?
+    private var popover: NSPopover?
+
     func applicationDidFinishLaunching(_ notification: Notification) {
         if CommandLine.arguments.contains("--self-test") {
             runSelfTest()
             return
         }
 
+        if CommandLine.arguments.contains("--dump-items") {
+            dumpMenuBarItems()
+            return
+        }
+
         // Single instance: stale copies keep a menu bar icon around after an
         // update and swallow clicks meant for the new instance.
         let myPid = ProcessInfo.processInfo.processIdentifier
@@ -36,11 +43,29 @@ final class AppDelegate: NSObject, NSApplicationDelegate {
 
         AppListModel.shared.start()
         MenuBarItemManager.shared.start()
+        // Create the hamburger before the hider so it is placed in the visible
+        // part of the bar; the hider then contracts the space around it.
+        setupStatusItem()
         MenuBarHider.shared.prepare()
 
+        if CommandLine.arguments.contains("--diag") {
+            DispatchQueue.main.asyncAfter(deadline: .now() + 2.5) {
+                dumpMenuBarItems()
+            }
+            return
+        }
+
+        if CommandLine.arguments.contains("--diag-hide") {
+            MenuBarHider.shared.enabled = true
+            DispatchQueue.main.asyncAfter(deadline: .now() + 3) {
+                dumpMenuBarItems()
+            }
+            return
+        }
+
         // The tray is empty without Accessibility permission, so surface the
-        // system prompt once at launch instead of waiting for the user to
-        // open the panel and find the button.
+        // system prompt once at launch instead of waiting for the user to open
+        // the panel and find the button.
         if !AccessibilityPermission.isGranted,
            !UserDefaults.standard.bool(forKey: "didRequestAccessibility") {
             UserDefaults.standard.set(true, forKey: "didRequestAccessibility")
@@ -52,6 +77,52 @@ final class AppDelegate: NSObject, NSApplicationDelegate {
         // Never leave the menu bar resized behind us.
         MenuBarHider.shared.restore()
     }
+
+    private func setupStatusItem() {
+        let name = "SimpleTopBar"
+        let positionKey = "NSStatusItem Preferred Position \(name)"
+        // Only seed the position on first run so the user's own drag wins and
+        // persists through the autosave name.
+        if UserDefaults.standard.object(forKey: positionKey) == nil {
+            UserDefaults.standard.set(100.0, forKey: positionKey)
+        }
+
+        let item = NSStatusBar.system.statusItem(withLength: NSStatusItem.variableLength)
+        item.autosaveName = name
+
+        if let button = item.button {
+            let image = NSImage(systemSymbolName: "line.3.horizontal", accessibilityDescription: name)
+            image?.isTemplate = true
+            button.image = image
+            button.target = self
+            button.action = #selector(togglePopover)
+            button.setAccessibilityLabel("SimpleTopBar")
+        }
+        statusItem = item
+
+        let popover = NSPopover()
+        popover.behavior = .transient
+        popover.animates = false
+        popover.contentViewController = NSHostingController(
+            rootView: TopBarView(
+                model: AppListModel.shared,
+                menuBar: MenuBarItemManager.shared,
+                hider: MenuBarHider.shared
+            )
+        )
+        self.popover = popover
+    }
+
+    @objc private func togglePopover() {
+        guard let popover, let button = statusItem?.button else { return }
+        if popover.isShown {
+            popover.performClose(nil)
+        } else {
+            NSApp.activate(ignoringOtherApps: true)
+            popover.show(relativeTo: button.bounds, of: button, preferredEdge: .minY)
+            popover.contentViewController?.view.window?.makeKey()
+        }
+    }
 }
 
 enum LoginItem {

Sources/SimpleTopBar/MenuBarItems.swift

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ struct MenuBarItem: Identifiable, Equatable {
     let pid: pid_t
     let appName: String
     let title: String
-    let appIcon: NSImage
+    let icon: NSImage
     let element: AXUIElement
 
     static func == (lhs: MenuBarItem, rhs: MenuBarItem) -> Bool {
@@ -57,28 +57,40 @@ final class MenuBarItemManager: ObservableObject {
         items = Self.enumerate()
     }
 
-    nonisolated static func enumerate() -> [MenuBarItem] {
+    nonisolated static func enumerate(includeOwn: Bool = false) -> [MenuBarItem] {
         let ownPID = ProcessInfo.processInfo.processIdentifier
         var found: [MenuBarItem] = []
 
         for app in NSWorkspace.shared.runningApplications {
             let pid = app.processIdentifier
-            if pid == ownPID { continue }
+            if !includeOwn && pid == ownPID { continue }
             let axApp = AXUIElementCreateApplication(pid)
             guard let bar = extrasMenuBar(of: axApp),
                   let children = children(of: bar) else { continue }
 
+            var seenTitles = Set<String>()
             for (index, child) in children.enumerated() {
+                // Control Center reports every module it owns, including the
+                // ones not in the menu bar, which are parked off-screen around
+                // y=982. Keep only items actually sitting in the bar.
+                if let position = pointAttribute(child, kAXPositionAttribute), position.y > 60 {
+                    continue
+                }
+
                 let title = stringAttribute(child, kAXDescriptionAttribute)
                     ?? stringAttribute(child, kAXTitleAttribute)
                     ?? app.localizedName
                     ?? "Item"
+                // Several Control Center modules share the generic title
+                // "Control Center"; show each distinct title once per app.
+                if !seenTitles.insert(title).inserted { continue }
+
                 found.append(MenuBarItem(
                     id: "\(pid)-\(index)",
                     pid: pid,
                     appName: app.localizedName ?? app.bundleIdentifier ?? "Unknown",
                     title: title,
-                    appIcon: app.icon ?? NSImage(named: NSImage.applicationIconName) ?? NSImage(),
+                    icon: Self.icon(forTitle: title, app: app),
                     element: child
                 ))
             }
@@ -101,6 +113,52 @@ final class MenuBarItemManager: ObservableObject {
         return AXUIElementPerformAction(item.element, kAXShowMenuAction as CFString) == .success
     }
 
+    // MARK: - Icons
+
+    /// Picks an icon for a menu bar item. Control Center owns many unrelated
+    /// modules, and they all share the Control Center app icon, so map their
+    /// titles to distinct SF Symbols for readability. Anything unknown falls
+    /// back to the owning app's icon.
+    nonisolated static func icon(forTitle title: String, app: NSRunningApplication) -> NSImage {
+        if let symbol = symbolName(for: title),
+           let image = NSImage(systemSymbolName: symbol, accessibilityDescription: title) {
+            image.isTemplate = true
+            return image
+        }
+        return app.icon ?? NSImage(named: NSImage.applicationIconName) ?? NSImage()
+    }
+
+    /// Keyword table mapping a menu bar item's title/description to an SF Symbol.
+    nonisolated static func symbolName(for title: String) -> String? {
+        // Control Center uses a non-breaking hyphen in "Wi‑Fi".
+        let text = title.lowercased()
+            .replacingOccurrences(of: "\u{2010}", with: "-")
+            .replacingOccurrences(of: "\u{2011}", with: "-")
+        let table: [(matches: [String], symbol: String)] = [
+            (["wi-fi", "wifi"], "wifi"),
+            (["battery"], "battery.100"),
+            (["clock", "time"], "clock"),
+            (["now playing"], "play.circle"),
+            (["focus"], "moon.fill"),
+            (["sound", "volume", "audio"], "speaker.wave.2"),
+            (["airdrop"], "dot.radiowaves.left.and.right"),
+            (["bluetooth"], "dot.radiowaves.left.and.right"),
+            (["mirroring"], "rectangle.on.rectangle"),
+            (["search", "spotlight"], "magnifyingglass"),
+            (["siri"], "waveform"),
+            (["keyboard"], "keyboard"),
+            (["stage manager"], "rectangle.3.group"),
+            (["brightness", "display"], "sun.max"),
+            (["control center"], "switch.2"),
+            (["notification"], "bell"),
+            (["vpn"], "lock.shield"),
+        ]
+        for entry in table where entry.matches.contains(where: { text.contains($0) }) {
+            return entry.symbol
+        }
+        return nil
+    }
+
     // MARK: - AX helpers
 
     nonisolated static func extrasMenuBar(of app: AXUIElement) -> AXUIElement? {
@@ -126,13 +184,23 @@ final class MenuBarItemManager: ObservableObject {
               !string.isEmpty else { return nil }
         return string
     }
+
+    nonisolated static func pointAttribute(_ element: AXUIElement, _ attribute: String) -> CGPoint? {
+        var value: CFTypeRef?
+        guard AXUIElementCopyAttributeValue(element, attribute as CFString, &value) == .success,
+              let value,
+              CFGetTypeID(value) == AXValueGetTypeID() else { return nil }
+        var point = CGPoint.zero
+        guard AXValueGetValue(value as! AXValue, .cgPoint, &point) else { return nil }
+        return point
+    }
 }
 
 /// Best-effort menu bar item hiding. A zero-width spacer status item is created
-/// at launch; expanding its length to a huge value pushes the items to its left
+/// at launch; expanding its length to a huge value pushes the other apps' icons
 /// off the visible menu bar, so they can only be reached through SimpleTopBar's
-/// panel. Reliable only when SimpleTopBar starts at login (its spacer then sits
-/// to the right of later-launched apps' items). Always restored on quit.
+/// panel. On by default; the choice is persisted. Always restored on quit, and
+/// a crash cleans up automatically because status items die with the process.
 @MainActor
 final class MenuBarHider: ObservableObject {
     static let shared = MenuBarHider()
@@ -140,37 +208,55 @@ final class MenuBarHider: ObservableObject {
     /// Width that pushes the neighbouring items off the visible menu bar.
     static let hiddenLength: CGFloat = 10_000
 
+    private static let defaultsKey = "hideMenuBarItems"
+
     @Published private(set) var isHiding = false
-    @Published var enabled = false {
+    @Published var enabled: Bool {
         didSet {
             guard enabled != oldValue else { return }
+            UserDefaults.standard.set(enabled, forKey: Self.defaultsKey)
             apply(enabled)
         }
     }
 
     private var spacer: NSStatusItem?
 
-    private init() {}
+    private init() {
+        // Hide by default: the menu bar then shows only SimpleTopBar's hamburger
+        // plus the Apple items macOS will not let us move.
+        enabled = UserDefaults.standard.object(forKey: Self.defaultsKey) as? Bool ?? true
+    }
 
     /// Create the spacer early (at launch) so it lands as far right as possible.
     func prepare() {
         guard spacer == nil else { return }
+        let name = "SimpleTopBarHider"
+        let key = "NSStatusItem Preferred Position \(name)"
+        // The boundary between "hidden" and "kept" falls just left of Wi-Fi at
+        // ~250, so the other apps hide while Apple's Wi-Fi/Clock/Battery/Control
+        // Center/Spotlight stay visible. `debug.spacerPos` overrides the seed.
+        if let override = UserDefaults.standard.object(forKey: "debug.spacerPos") as? Double {
+            UserDefaults.standard.set(override, forKey: key)
+        } else if UserDefaults.standard.object(forKey: key) == nil {
+            UserDefaults.standard.set(250.0, forKey: key)
+        }
         let item = NSStatusBar.system.statusItem(withLength: 0)
+        item.autosaveName = name
         item.button?.isHidden = true
         spacer = item
+        apply(enabled)
     }
 
     private func apply(_ hiding: Bool) {
-        prepare()
         spacer?.length = hiding ? Self.hiddenLength : 0
         isHiding = hiding
     }
 
-    /// Put the menu bar back the way we found it. Called on quit.
+    /// Put the menu bar back the way we found it. Called on quit. Leaves the
+    /// user's preference intact.
     func restore() {
         spacer?.length = 0
         isHiding = false
-        enabled = false
     }
 }
 

Sources/SimpleTopBar/SelfTest.swift

@@ -1,6 +1,33 @@
 import AppKit
 import ApplicationServices
 
+/// Diagnostic used by `open SimpleTopBar.app --args --dump-items`. Writes the
+/// live Accessibility view of the menu bar to /tmp so it can be inspected
+/// without a GUI, then exits.
+func dumpMenuBarItems() {
+    var lines: [String] = []
+    lines.append("bundle=\(Bundle.main.bundleIdentifier ?? "?")")
+    lines.append("authorized=\(AXIsProcessTrusted())")
+    let items = MenuBarItemManager.enumerate()
+    lines.append("count=\(items.count)")
+    for item in items {
+        let pos = MenuBarItemManager.pointAttribute(item.element, kAXPositionAttribute)
+        lines.append("\(item.appName) | \(item.title) | pid=\(item.pid) | id=\(item.id) | pos=\(pos.map { "\(Int($0.x)),\(Int($0.y))" } ?? "?")")
+    }
+    let own = MenuBarItemManager.enumerate(includeOwn: true).filter {
+        $0.pid == ProcessInfo.processInfo.processIdentifier
+    }
+    lines.append("own-status-items=\(own.count)")
+    for item in own {
+        let pos = MenuBarItemManager.pointAttribute(item.element, kAXPositionAttribute)
+        lines.append("OWN \(item.appName) | \(item.title) | id=\(item.id) | pos=\(pos.map { "\(Int($0.x)),\(Int($0.y))" } ?? "?")")
+    }
+    let text = lines.joined(separator: "\n")
+    try? text.write(toFile: "/tmp/simpletopbar-items.txt", atomically: true, encoding: .utf8)
+    print(text)
+    exit(0)
+}
+
 /// Headless verification for `swift run SimpleTopBar --self-test`.
 /// Exercises the background-app overflow helpers and reports the live split
 /// between regular and background applications, then exits 0/1.
@@ -53,12 +80,20 @@ func runSelfTest() {
     check(MenuBarItemManager.children(of: systemWide) == nil, "no children on a non-app element")
 
     let element = AXUIElementCreateSystemWide()
-    let first = MenuBarItem(id: "1-0", pid: 1, appName: "A", title: "T", appIcon: NSImage(), element: element)
-    let same = MenuBarItem(id: "1-0", pid: 1, appName: "A", title: "T", appIcon: NSImage(), element: element)
-    let different = MenuBarItem(id: "1-1", pid: 1, appName: "A", title: "T", appIcon: NSImage(), element: element)
+    let first = MenuBarItem(id: "1-0", pid: 1, appName: "A", title: "T", icon: NSImage(), element: element)
+    let same = MenuBarItem(id: "1-0", pid: 1, appName: "A", title: "T", icon: NSImage(), element: element)
+    let different = MenuBarItem(id: "1-1", pid: 1, appName: "A", title: "T", icon: NSImage(), element: element)
     check(first == same, "menu bar items compare by id and title")
     check(first != different, "different ids are not equal")
 
+    // Control Center items map to distinct symbols instead of one shared icon.
+    check(MenuBarItemManager.symbolName(for: "Wi\u{2011}Fi, connected, 3 bars") == "wifi", "wi-fi maps to wifi symbol")
+    check(MenuBarItemManager.symbolName(for: "Battery") == "battery.100", "battery maps to battery symbol")
+    check(MenuBarItemManager.symbolName(for: "Now Playing") == "play.circle", "now playing maps to play symbol")
+    check(MenuBarItemManager.symbolName(for: "Control Center") == "switch.2", "control center maps to switch symbol")
+    check(MenuBarItemManager.symbolName(for: "Search") == "magnifyingglass", "search maps to magnifier symbol")
+    check(MenuBarItemManager.symbolName(for: "cmux") == nil, "unknown titles fall back to the app icon")
+
     let authorized = AXIsProcessTrusted()
     print("accessibility authorized=\(authorized)")
     if authorized {

Sources/SimpleTopBar/TopBarView.swift

@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ struct TopBarView: View {
                 .controlSize(.mini)
                 .padding(.horizontal, 12)
                 .padding(.top, 6)
-                .help("Best-effort: pushes the real items off the menu bar so they only live here. Reliable when SimpleTopBar starts at login.")
+                .help("Best-effort: pushes other apps' icons off the menu bar so they only live here. Apple's Wi-Fi, Spotlight, Clock, Battery and Control Center stay visible; macOS won't let any third-party app move them.")
             }
         }
     }
@@ -245,7 +245,7 @@ private struct MenuBarTile: View {
         Button {
             menuBar.press(item)
         } label: {
-            Image(nsImage: item.appIcon)
+            Image(nsImage: item.icon)
                 .resizable()
                 .frame(width: 20, height: 20)
                 .padding(6)

build-app.sh

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 set -euo pipefail
 cd "$(dirname "$0")"
 
-VERSION="${1:-0.2.1}"
+VERSION="${1:-0.2.3}"
 
 swift build -c release