Sidebar logo
The modern Dock replacement for your Mac
7 day free trial. Works on macOS 12.0 Monterey or newer
Those features will be available in the next version
More types of icons / actions in Sidebar - null
We will add multiple different actions along with custom icons to Sidebar. This will e.g. allow you to add folder links, stacks of applications, scripts,... directly to Sidebar and make them available via just a single click

Show important notifications of running apps - null
We will highlight the application that sent the important notification in your Sidebars. If you don't know what we are talking about, it's basically the bounce animation from the MacOS Dock. Don't worry we will provide multiple ways of how notifications can be displayed.

Translation: German - null
The next release of Sidebar will be translated to German. Make sure to check the settings if you would like to change the language.

Those features will be added in future versions
Those features are already released and available in the latest version

Multliple screen support - null
You can add Sidebar on either on, some or all of your screen. Sidebar will even remember you monitor setup and restore the setting for you.

Reserves screen space - null
The macOS Dock doesn't prevent windows from overlapping with the Dock. Sidebar does if you enable this setting. This will make your Sidebar feel al lot more like other systems (e.g. Windows or Linux)

Customizable styling - null
You can customize the style of your Sidebars to match your style!

Preview windows - null
Just hover over an application and you will get a preview of all its windows. You can easily switch between multiple windows using this feature!

Calendar - null
Just hover over the date or time on any of your Sidebars to open a convenient calendar

Application list - null
Click on the Sidebar logo to open a list of all launchable applications, along with some convenient short actions.

Control the alignment of your application icons - null
Align your application icons to the left, center or to the right of Sidebar

Additional styling option: rounded corners - null
You can now customize the corner radius of Sidebar

Add window titles to preview windows - null
Sidebar now also shows the window title of each window in the preview windows. Makes navigation more easily

Additional styling option: individual app-spacing - null
Customize the spacing between applications. We also added an option for dynamic spacing so that application icons will distribute evenly across Sidebar

Configure Sidebar position - null
You can now pin Sidebar also to the left or right side of your screen

Auto hide - null
You can now automatically hide your Sidebars when you don't need it. Just move your cursor to the side of the screen that you pinned Sidebar on to make it appear again

Different types of running indicators - null
You can now also use a line instead of a dot as running indicator for applications

Add more features to previews window - null
You can now close windows directly from the preview window. Just hover over a preview and press the X button. Clicking on a preview window will now maximize or minimize the window depending on the current window state
WindowSnap - null
WindowSnap is a set of new features to save, restore or even lock positions of application windows. You can either trigger those actions manually or automatically when system events occur (e.g. wake up from sleep or open an application)
Added even more features to previews window - null
You will now also get a full-size preview window when hovering over a preview window. The size of the preview window is now also adjustable in the settings
Customizable styling per screen - null
You can now customize Sidebar's style individually per screen. E.g. place it at the bottom on one screen and on the right edge on another screen
Trash folder - null
You can now add the trash folder to Sidebar (it's in the styling options, additional elements). You can combine this feature with individual styling per screen

See what has changed in each version
Version 1.3.2 - May, 26th 2023
Includes the following bug fixes:
  • Fixed a bug that sometimes caused pinned apps not to shop up on Sidebar
  • Mitigated an issue that caused live previews to sometimes crash
  • Fixed an error that caused some applications to cause a crash

Version 1.3.1 - May, 23rd 2023
Includes the following features:
  • You can now hover over a small preview window to get a full size preview of this window
  • Customize Sidebar's styling per screen; for instance, position it at the bottom on one screen and on the right edge on another
  • We've redesigned our styling options for a more intuitive user navigation
  • You can now enable to show the trash folder directly in Sidebar. This is a first step into supporting general folder links
  • If a crash occurs, now you can submit a crash report upon restart of Sidebar, assisting us in enhancing the Sidebar's stability
  • We've optimized resource usage and enhanced the overall stability and performance for a smoother user experience
Includes the following bug fixes:
  • Fixed a bug that prevented to correctly open a running instance of the Steam app from Sidebar
  • Fixed a bug that occasionally prevented the Sidebar from appearing correctly when it was set to auto-hide and the mouse was moved to the edge of the screen
  • Fixed a bug caused some apps not to detect the correct screen after pinning an application to Sidebar
  • Fixed sorting order of applications and sorting order retention
  • Fixed a bug that sometimes caused previews to duplicate
  • Fixed an issue that caused previews to be too big
  • Fixed detection for menu bar only applications without an active window. This is now identical to the standard Dock
  • Greatly improved error handling for previews, live previews etc. This should address issues with e.g. preview generation of Microsoft Teams windows. If you still experience crashes, please use the reporting feature to submit your crash reports

Version 1.3.0 - April, 7th 2023
Includes the following features:
  • Added "WindowSnap" a set of new features to save, restore or even lock positions of application windows. You can either trigger those actions manually or automatically when system events occur (e.g. wake up from sleep or open an application)
  • Redesigned settings dialog. Added different categories of settings for basic Sidebar settings, as well as WindowSnap settings.
  • Now displaying an animation of the application icons during the startup of an application
  • Completely redesigned the dialog to ask for accessibility and screen recording permissions
  • When hovering over a preview window of an application, you will not get a full-size preview of this window while you hover the preview. This feature can be enabled or disabled via the settings
  • Sidebar will now show preview windows for minimized applications. This feature is limited to applications that have at least once not been minimized after Sidebar has been started
  • Added an option to enable or disable live preview windows
  • Added a setting to adjust the size of the preview windows
  • Added a new running indicator setting: Dynamic. This will use a line for the active (frontmost) application and dots for all others
  • Added website and support information to the about dialog
Includes the following bug fixes:
  • Fixed a bug that caused certain styling setting combinations to cut off elements of Sidebar
  • Fixed invalid detection of full screen applications that caused Sidebar to vanish / unintendedly show in full-screen mode
  • Fixed a bug that caused some applications to not correctly display on Sidebar
  • Fixed some rare memory issues that caused Sidebar to crash
  • Fixed application sorting. New applications will now always open on the end of the application list

Version 1.2.7 - March, 1st 2023
Includes the following bug fixes:
  • Fixed a bug that sometimes exiting full screen content (e.g. a YouTube video) caused Sidebar to vanish
Version 1.2.6 - February, 21st 2023
Includes the following bug fixes:
  • Fixed a bug that sometimes maximizing and minimizing applications hid the menu bar
Version 1.2.5 - February, 21st 2023
Includes the following bug fixes:
  • Fixed a bug that somtimes made Sidebar unresponsive when the license expired
  • Fixed a bug that sometimes maximizing and minimizing applications did not work when clicking the icon in Sidebar
Version 1.2.4 - February, 20th 2023
Includes the following features:
  • You can now maximize / minimize apps directly from the app icon in Sidebar. This feature works like the maximize / minimize feature of the preview windows
Version 1.2.3 - February, 10th 2023
Includes the following features:
  • Release notes of version updates are now displayed directly in the update dialog
Includes the following bug fixes:
  • Fixed a few typos in the description of the settings
Version 1.2.2 - February, 7th 2023
Includes the following bug fixes:
  • Removed an unnecessary item from the menu bar that wasn't supposed to be there
Version 1.2.1 - February, 3rd 2023
Includes the following bug fixes:
  • Fixed a bug that when enabling the setting to prevent windows from overlapping Sidebar, it will now resize all windows immediately
  • Fixed a bug that sometimes the preview window caused Sidebar to crash (e.g. Microsoft Teams notification windows)
Version 1.2.0 - February, 1st 2023
Includes the following features:
  • You can now automatically hide your Sidebars when you don't need it. Just move your cursor to the side of the screen that you pinned Sidebar on to make it appear again
  • You can now also use a line instead of a dot as running indicator for applications
  • We added an option that disables the color of the menu bar icon. If you enable this setting the menu bar icon will be either white or black depending on the system appearance
  • You can now close windows directly from the preview window. Just hover over a preview and press the X button
  • Clicking on a preview window will now maximize or minimize the window depending on the current window state
Includes the following bug fixes:
  • If you hide the standard Dock, the minimise effect of windows will now automatically change to a less prominent effect

Version 1.1.3 - January, 29th 2023
Includes the following features:
  • Sidebar now automatically requests a trial license on your first start. No distractions anymore, just start right away
Version 1.1.2 - January, 25th 2023
Includes the following features:
  • Added the title of the window to the application preview windows
Includes the following bug fixes:
  • Fixed a bug that sometimes activating an app by clicking the icon was unresponsive while showing the application preview window
  • Fixed a bug that sometimes two or all windows of an application became active when activating a certain application window from the application preview window
  • Fixed a bug that the bouncing animation of Dock application was visible, even though the Dock is hidden
  • Fixed a bug that sometimes the "Keep in bar" and "Hide in bar" context menu option did not work
Version 1.1.1 - January, 23rd 2023
Includes the following features:
  • You can now access the settings from the context menu (right click) on any application icon if neither the Sidebar icon is visible in the bar, nor the top menu bar icon is visible
Version 1.1.0 - January, 23rd 2023
Added the following features to Sidebar:
  • Sidebar can now also be positioned on the side of your screen (e.g. left or right side of the screen)
  • You can now hide the Sidebar icon
  • App icons can now also be centered or be displayed at the end of Sidebar
  • The spacing between application icons can now be adjusted
  • Added an option that automatically adjusts the spacing between application icons, so that the icons distribute evenly across Sidebar
  • You can now set up the corner radius of Sidebar. This will round the upper corners (or left / right corners when placed on the side)

Version 1.0.3 - January, 17th 2023
Includes the following bug fixes:
  • Fixed a bug caused Sidebar not to refresh the displayed apps after certain actions (e.g. after hiding an app from Sidebar)
Version 1.0.2 - January, 17th 2023
Includes the following bug fixes:
  • Fixed a bug that prevented Sidebar from correctly positioning on different screens on the same display when switching between those screens
Version 1.0.1 - January, 17th 2023
Includes the following bug fixes:
  • Fixed a bug that caused the app to not show text in various windows on devices with German language enabled
Version 1.0.0 - January, 15th 2023
The initial release of Sidebar. Includes the following features:
  • Preview windows when hovering over application icons
  • Reserves screen space
  • Supports multiple displays
  • Basic customizability options
  • Calendar when hovering over date / time
  • Application launcher with application list
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