Thaw changelog

Thaw 1.1.99-beta.10

13 March 2026

For macOS 14 and 15Downloads on GitHub

Hello everyone,

This beta focuses on modernizing the Thaw Bar visual experience to align with the latest macOS design language and significantly improving memory management during display changes.

New

Thaw Bar & Visuals

  • Hover Highlights: Added a subtle rounded-rectangle background highlight when hovering over items in the Thaw Bar (IceBar).

Changed

Thaw Bar & Visuals

  • Adaptive Styling: Highlight colors now derive from actual menu bar brightness for perfect integration across all system appearances.
  • Modern Geometry: Increased the hover backdrop corner radius from 4pt to 16pt to better match macOS 26's design language.
  • Improved Interaction: Increased backdrop opacity and implemented NSTrackingArea in IceBarItemClickView for more reliable mouse enter/exit detection.

Memory & Performance

  • Wallpaper Optimization: The app now skips periodic wallpaper captures when showsMenuBarBackground is enabled to reduce memory overhead.
  • Aggressive Cleanup: Added logic to clear stored wallpapers, windowImage, and averageColorInfo when panels are hidden or displays are changed.

Permissions & Localization

  • Privacy Controls: Screen recording permissions are now checked before enabling tooltips or search features; relevant controls are hidden if permissions aren't granted.
  • I18n: Updated the German translation.

Fixed

Thaw Bar & Visuals

  • Refined Sizing: Added vertical padding to the hover backdrop so it no longer extends the full height of the menu bar, matching the Ice icon's native appearance.

Memory & Performance

  • Display Stability: Fixed memory growth issues by cleaning up caches for disconnected displays, specifically menuBarHeightCache and applicationMenuFrameCache.
  • Leak Fixes: Resolved a notification observer leak in the Search Panel and improved the close() routine to release all retained states.

New Contributors

Full Changelog: https://github.com/stonerl/Thaw/compare/1.1.99-beta.9...1.1.99-beta.10

Donations

If you find Thaw useful and want to support its further development, consider throwing a coin in my hat.