Monday 28 September 2026Hidden until it matters
01
Show in the BarApps come out when they matter
- A tucked app can come out by itself: during calls (while your mic or camera is on), while a VPN is on, at a desk (when an external display is plugged in) or while another app is in front. It tucks away again after.
- One choice per app. There's no rule builder.
- Setup suggests call apps and VPNs as Tuck, with the matching choice already ticked.
- No extra permission. Tiidy only asks macOS whether the mic or camera is in use. It never listens or looks.
02
Icons that speak upPop-outs now stay until you've seen them
- When a tucked icon's words change, like a sync app saying "Syncing 3 files", it comes into the bar and stays until you click it or it changes back.
- Hover the broom and it says why: "Dropbox came forward: Syncing 3 files".
- Tiidy reads an icon's words and width, not its picture. An icon that changes without new words visits for 10 seconds. A change to the picture alone isn't noticed.
03
Napping appsRarely used apps sleep until you click them
- Choose which apps may nap. After 3 hours unused (or 1, 8 or 24), Tiidy quits them to give your Mac its memory back.
- Their tile stays in the shelf and the broom's menu with a small "z". Click it and the app wakes with its menu open.
- Tiidy blocks napping for background apps it recognises, including VPNs, sync, backup, password managers, mouse and keyboard tools and dictation, and says why.
- It's a normal quit, so an app can still ask about unsaved work. Settings shows how much memory was freed this week.
- For tucked and buried apps, tidy suggestions now offer Let it nap instead of Quit.
04
Clock offWhen work ends, so does Slack
- After work, the work apps you choose leave your bar, even when you click the broom, and come back in the morning. Weekends count as off.
- Optionally, Tiidy quits them at clock-off and reopens them when work starts. Option-click still shows them.
05
What runs quietlyA new page in Settings
- Lists apps running without an icon, and helpers that start by themselves, like updaters and background agents, in plain words with their memory.
- Stop a helper without a password, and choose Start Again to bring it back. A stopped helper stays stopped, even after you quit Tiidy. A few belong to System Settings, and Tiidy takes you there.
06
Where did my icon go?An answer, and a fix
- If an app you used has no icon now, Tiidy says why, like "Not running. Open it and its icon comes back.", with a one-click fix.
07
Setup, refreshedA checkup, then the cards
- Setup opens with your menu bar today: its apps, icons and memory, the heaviest apps, and what macOS will do on its own.
- It now looks like this site: paper, ink, a yellow highlighter and soap bubbles.
08
Also newSmall, and useful
- Live Activities: one click on the broom shows your iPhone's Live Activity at once.
- Report a Problem makes a report on your Mac that you can read, then email yourself. Tiidy never sends it.
Sunday 27 September 2026Keeping it tidy, and getting it ready for you
09
New icons ask where to liveStays tidy on its own
- When a newly installed app adds a menu bar icon, it starts Tucked and the broom shows a small dot.
- Click the broom and a short note asks where it should live: Keep in the bar, Tuck or Bury. Ignore it and the icon just stays tucked.
- Icons that appear a few seconds after their app opens are caught too.
10
Tidy suggestionsNothing moves without your yes
- After 4 days, icons you haven't clicked are suggested for tucking. Suggestions come at most once a week, as a dot on the broom.
- It works both ways. Tucked icons you haven't clicked in 30 days are suggested for Buried, and hidden icons you click on 3 of the last 7 days are suggested for the bar.
- Heavy apps you haven't used in 4 days are suggested for quitting.
- Each one offers the change, Not now (quiet for 30 days), or Always keep here (never asked again). Tidy Suggestions in the broom's menu shows them any time.
- Settings shows how much memory and processor each menu bar app uses, and marks the heavy ones. You can quit an app from its row.
- Your click history stays on your Mac.
11
Pop-outsFor tucked icons with news
- When a tucked icon's text changes, like a finished upload, it steps into the bar for 10 seconds, then tucks back. (Changed on 28 September: see Icons that speak up.)
- Each app pops out at most once every 5 minutes, so a ticking timer doesn't keep jumping out.
12
iPhone Live ActivitiesShow, then tidy up
- macOS hides iPhone Live Activities while icons are hidden. So while one is running, Tiidy shows the whole bar, then tidies again once it ends.
- Want it tidy anyway? Click the broom. It stays tidy until that activity ends.
13
Layout export and importTake your bar to another Mac
- Export writes a .tiidy file with your sections and preferences. Import applies it, and apps only on the new Mac keep their places.
- The file never includes click history.
14
The permission guideSwitching on Accessibility
- A panel sits beside System Settings and shows you exactly where to switch Tiidy on.
- Already on but not working? It suggests switching it off and on again, which fixes a stale entry.
- If something's wrong later, Settings says what, why, and how to fix it.
15
Trial, licence and updatesBuy once, yours forever
- A 7-day free trial with everything on. In the last 3 days, a quiet line in the broom's menu counts down. No notifications.
- After the trial, every icon shows again and your layout is kept. Settings offers Buy and Enter Licence.
- One licence covers 3 Macs.
- Signed and notarised by Apple, and Tiidy checks for updates once a day.
16
Small thingsThat make it feel right
- Clicking the clock while the bar is tidy opens Notification Center, as you'd expect.
- Settings opens with a little sweep, and there are soap suds along the bottom you can pop.
- Links in setup are Tiidy yellow.
Saturday 26 September 2026The foundations
17
Setup cardsSet up in a minute
- One card per app, each with a suggestion: Keep in the bar, Tuck or Bury.
- Sort with the arrow keys: ← Bury, ↓ Tuck, → Keep. Or accept the rest in one click.
- Used Bartender, Ice or Vanilla? Setup fills in your first layout from their settings, and says so.
- No dragging icons around.
18
Tucked and BuriedThree places for every icon
- In the bar is always visible. Tucked shows when you click the broom, then tucks back a few seconds later. Buried shows only when you Option-click.
- Right-click the broom and choose Open to reach one hidden app without showing the rest.
- Tiidy never moves an icon by itself. Quit it and every icon comes back.
19
The broomTiidy's only icon
- It stands upright when your bar is tidy, leans when icons are out, and rocks as it sweeps.
- With Reduce Motion on, it simply changes pose.
- Its menu is short: Open, Settings, Quit.
20
The notch shelfFor MacBooks with a notch
- Tucked icons drop from the notch as a black shelf, with their names underneath.
- Click one to open its menu. Click anywhere else and the shelf tucks away.
21
SettingsDark, calm and short
- A live preview of your menu bar, and three columns, In the bar, Tucked and Buried, to drag apps between.
- Three pages in all: Menu Bar, General and About.
- The new app icon: a charcoal broom on a Tiidy yellow tile.
Before 0.5: private builds only.Tiidy starts here.
Tiidy