Finbar is an Indy Gem for People Who Are Keyboard First

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This is a review. I am not the developer. I

In past lives, my bosses pressed me into using a few complex and complicated apps - mostly Adobe and Microsoft stuff, some AutoCAD. One thing they all have in common is crammed menu bars where what you are actually looking for seldom makes sense and when it does, it's buried three levels deep. Those are the ones that Microsoft likes to use as answers to questions on certification exams.

There's no shortage of specialty apps, like Paletro and automation tools like Raycast, Alfred and BetterTouchTool that try to address menu bar searches. Most of them are good at doing 70% of what it takes but they just never seem to get that final burst of polish it takes to solve the problem. That's where Finbar steps in. For $9.99, you get an app that sees every menu bar option, no matter how deep.

• Can't remember the name of what you're looking for? Finbar has fuzzy search.

• Use the same commands over and over? Finbar remembers that and surfaces them for you.

• Don't use part of the app? Exclude its menu choices from what you see to reduce clutter and simplify things.

If your keyboard skills are equal to or greater than your clicking skills, take advantage of the free trial and test Finbar. Outline Mode is the feature to try first--it transforms every menu bar into a keyboard-navigable tree, like Finder's sidebar. You can arrow through, expand/collapse, and commit without lifting your hands.

If your workflow isn't keyboard centric and you aren't regularly drilling into menu items, you don't need this. Use Raycast or Alfred. But, if your daily drivers include the apps I mention earlier, this should be an instabuy.

$9.99, one-time purchase. Free trial available. Download at finbarapp.com or via Homebrew (brew install --cask finbar). Requires macOS Big Sur or later. Roey Biran--@finbarapp on X--built this on the Unix principle of doing one thing well. It shows.