Show/hide SwiftUI MenuBarExtra menu using Bindings

MenuBarExtraAccess

Gives you Extra access to SwiftUI MenuBarExtra.

  • Programmatically hide, show, or toggle the menu by way of a standard Bool binding
    • Fully compatible with one or multiple MenuBarExtra
    • Compatible with both .menu and .window based styles
  • Introspect the underlying NSWindow for the .window based style

Why?

There is no 1st-party MenuBarExtra API to obtain or set the menu presentation state, or access the popup’s NSWindow. (As of Xcode 14.3 / SwiftUI 4)

How?

  • A new .menuBarExtraAccess(isPresented:) scene modifier with a binding to hide/show/toggle the menu
  • A new .introspectMenuBarExtraWindow { window in } view modifier passing in the NSWindow reference
  • Window-based menu extra status items now remain highlighted while the window is open so it feels like a native menu
  • No private API used, so it’s Mac App Store safe

Getting Started

The library is available as a Swift Package Manager (SPM) package.

Use the URL https://github.com/orchetect/MenuBarExtraAccess when adding the library to a project or Swift package.

Then import the library:

import SwiftUI
import MenuBarExtraAccess

Standard Menu Style

An example of showing the menu extra menu by clicking a button in a window:

@main struct MyApp: App {
    @State var isMenuPresented: Bool = false
    
    var body: some Scene {
        WindowGroup {
            Button("Show Menu") { isMenuPresented = true }
        }
        
        MenuBarExtra("MyApp Menu", systemImage: "folder") {
            Button("Menu Item 1") { print("Menu Item 1") }
            Button("Menu Item 2") { print("Menu Item 2") }
        }
        .menuBarExtraStyle(.menu)
        .menuBarExtraAccess(isPresented: $isMenuPresented) // <-- the magic ✨
    }
}

Window Style

An example of a button in the popup window dismissing the popup and performing an action:

@main struct MyApp: App {
    @State var isMenuPresented: Bool = false
    
    var body: some Scene {
        MenuBarExtra("MyApp Menu", systemImage: "folder") {
            MyMenu(isMenuPresented: $isMenuPresented)
            	.introspectMenuBarExtraWindow { window in // <-- the magic ✨
                    window.animationBehavior = .alertPanel
                }
        }
        .menuBarExtraStyle(.window)
        .menuBarExtraAccess(isPresented: $isMenuPresented) // <-- the magic ✨
    }
}

struct MyMenu: View {
    @Binding var isMenuPresented: Bool

    var body: some View {
        Button("Perform Action") { 
            isMenuPresented = false 
            performSomeAction()
        }
    }
}

Multiple MenuBarExtra

MenuBarExtraAccess is fully compatible with one or multiple MenuBarExtra in an app.

Just add an index number parameter to menuBarExtraAccess and introspectMenuBarExtraWindow like this:

var body: some Scene {
    MenuBarExtra("MyApp Menu A", systemImage: "folder") {
        MyMenu(isMenuPresented: $isMenuPresented)
            .introspectMenuBarExtraWindow(index: 0) { window in // <-- add index 0
                // ...
            }
    }
    .menuBarExtraStyle(.window)
    .menuBarExtraAccess(index: 0, isPresented: $isMenuPresented) // <-- add index 0
    
    MenuBarExtra("MyApp Menu B", systemImage: "folder") {
        MyMenu(isMenuPresented: $isMenuPresented)
            .introspectMenuBarExtraWindow(index: 1) { window in // <-- add index 1
                // ...
            }
    }
    .menuBarExtraStyle(.window)
    .menuBarExtraAccess(index: 1, isPresented: $isMenuPresented) // <-- adde index 1
}

Future

The hope is that Apple implements this feature (and more) in future iterations of SwiftUI!

Until then, a radar has been filed as a feature request: FB11984872

Known Issues

  • When using .menuBarExtraStyle(.menu), the popup menu blocks the runloop so setting the isPresented binding to false while the menu is presented has no effect. The user must dismiss the menu themself to allow event flow to continue. We have no control over this until Apple decides to change the MenuBarExtra behavior.

Author

Coded by a bunch of ? hamsters in a trenchcoat that calls itself @orchetect.

License

Licensed under the MIT license. See LICENSE for details.

Sponsoring

If you enjoy using MenuBarExtraAccess and want to contribute to open-source financially, GitHub sponsorship is much appreciated. Feedback and code contributions are also welcome.

Contributions

Contributions are welcome. Posting in Discussions first prior to new submitting PRs for features or modifications is encouraged.

GitHub

View Github