
Show HN: MeetingBar – A menu bar macOS app for calendar meetings - leits
https://github.com/leits/MeetingBar
======
abcdabcd987
Just want to mention bitbar[1]. Write anything to stdout, it'll make it show
up in the menu bar.

[1] [https://github.com/matryer/bitbar](https://github.com/matryer/bitbar)

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codetrotter
Oh, this is perfect! It’s been annoying me for a while that the system menu
bar clock in macOS doesn’t allow me to format the current date in ISO 8601
format.

Bitbar will solve this for me! I’ll change the system clock to only show the
day of week and the time, and then I’ll use Bitbar in order to give me the ISO
8601 date in my menu bar! :D

Edit: Neat! Someone already made a plug-in for BitBar to do this so I don’t
even have to spend any time writing anything at all. And look at that, they
even thought about it one step further and made it so that you can copy the
date to your clipboard by clicking on it!
[https://getbitbar.com/plugins/Time/date-
picker.1m.sh](https://getbitbar.com/plugins/Time/date-picker.1m.sh)

Edit 2: Initially copy to clipboard wasn’t working but I modified the script a
little bit, removing the space before each bash= and putting single quotes
around each $0 and now it works.

Edit 3: I submitted a PR for the above-mentioned change
[https://github.com/matryer/bitbar-
plugins/pull/1471](https://github.com/matryer/bitbar-plugins/pull/1471)

~~~
kitsunesoba
Another good option for a fully customizable menubar clock is Itsycal, which
as its name implies also serves as a small popup calendar that shows events
from system calendar accounts.

[https://www.mowglii.com/itsycal/](https://www.mowglii.com/itsycal/)

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ohadpr
Great - One thing Meeter does which is great (they are a commercial app that
does something similar) is popup a notification with a 'join' button 2 minutes
or so before the meeting starts. That reduces the interaction to one click
rather than two.

[https://apps.apple.com/us/app/meeter-for-zoom-teams-
co/id151...](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/meeter-for-zoom-teams-
co/id1510445899)

~~~
wdb
Yeah, really enjoying the Meeter app that comes with the SetApp
bundle/subscription :)

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dang
We changed the URL from
[https://meetingbar.onrender.com/](https://meetingbar.onrender.com/) to the
GitHub page because the latter has more explanation.

~~~
leits
Sorry, but can you return previous URL? The site is more user-friendly than
github interface.

~~~
dang
Usually we switch _from_ Github URLs to the project's home page. But in this
case there doesn't see to be any information, just a screenshot and links to
download/install. HN readers tend to want more information than that.

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emptysea
Seems similar to [https://apps.apple.com/us/app/next-
meeting/id1017470484?mt=1...](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/next-
meeting/id1017470484?mt=12) which I love and use every day.

Allows you to click on the events and open meet, zoom, etc.

~~~
Etheryte
This is super handy as it also works on older versions of macOS. Thanks a lot
for sharing this gem!

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leits
Site: [https://meetingbar.onrender.com/](https://meetingbar.onrender.com/)

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LeonB
I have a similar “me ware” app for Windows that I completely rely on.
Integrates with outlook. Plan to add google calendar. It floats on top and
gives a tiny graph of your day, with different colors for each half hour,
float over it to see what meeting, click to open meeting, and it flashes and
dances when meetingS approach. It saves me every day over and over. I must
release it.

~~~
plasma
Would love to check it out!

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jpeeler
This looks like a useful app that I've been looking for. That said, I replaced
several individual applications I had been using with Hammerspoon Lua scripts,
and had been planning on making my own for exactly this purpose as well.
Perhaps it could be argued that Swift is more pleasant than Lua and that a
calendar integration app is complex enough to warrant skipping Hammerspoon for
this task?

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misterbwong
Super cool. Anyone know if there is an equivalent in windows?

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x2f10
If you're signed into the "Calendar" app on Windows 10, you can see upcoming
meetings by clicking on the time in the taskbar.

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barbs
For anyone looking for more general menu bar calendar app that syncs with the
macOS calendar, I can highly recommend Itsycal.

[https://www.mowglii.com/itsycal/](https://www.mowglii.com/itsycal/)

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jonpurdy
I just tried to install but it requires Catalina. As someone who is planning
on staying on Mojave indefinitely to avoid the Catalina dumpster fire, would
love MeetingBar to work with Mojave if it can be easily updated to do so!

~~~
Etheryte
Same, while I understand the comfort and appeal of writing for the latest
stack, I can't imagine upgrading to Catalina any time soon. If anything, I
find it more likely that I might upgrade to Big Sur once it stabilizes.

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jeremy_wiebe
Nice! I’ve been using a similar non-OSS tool called Up Next
([https://ellen.li/up-next/](https://ellen.li/up-next/)). It works great but
is not open source.

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jedberg
I have it installed but it doesn't tell me when the next meeting is. It's just
showing a checkered flag icon. Is that because my next meeting is tomorrow?

~~~
floatingatoll
A checkered flag is using in racing to indicate "Finished", which typically
implies "done for the day" in calendaring contexts.

~~~
jedberg
That makes a lot of sense! But I've never seen that metaphor in calendaring
before. Thanks for the explanation.

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DoctorOW
Hey your app is included in the recommended set of apps for all the computers
at my former place of employment.

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elviz
Great idea, great app. You should consider making it a proper osx app on the
appstore and selling it for a 2$. If you are interested and would love some
help, let me know ([https://sideproject-help.com](https://sideproject-
help.com))

~~~
leits
Thanks, evliz! My app is completely opensource and free. I don't plan to make
it paid.

~~~
aloisdg
You can have both. Why people will pay for the app when you can download it
for free ? We will see it as a donation. I always start by using FLOSS and if
I stick with the software for more than one year I send a donation. Having the
app on a store is a way to achieve that. Thank you for choosing to open source
the application it matters a lot for some of us.

~~~
FanaHOVA
If s/he wants donation, giving Apple a 30 percent cut is not the most
efficient way to do it.

~~~
aloisdg
30%? Why Apple does even have a cut at all?

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Varauk
I can't seem to open it; I keep getting this message:

> “MeetingBar” can’t be opened because Apple cannot check it for malicious
> software.

> This software needs to be updated. Contact the developer for more
> information.

Both if I use brew or manually download it.

~~~
floatingatoll
This error occurs on default macOS when using software precompiled on another
computer, when the person who compiled and released that software has not
signed up for an Apple Developer account and submitted the precompiled bundle
for notarization, one of Apple's anti-malware prevention mechanisms.

[https://developer.apple.com/documentation/xcode/notarizing_m...](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/xcode/notarizing_macos_software_before_distribution)

You can usually work around it by right-clicking the app and choosing Open,
which usually triggers a special approval dialog. You should generally use
caution when doing so, as you're granting an arbitrary binary whose contents
you are unlikely to verify access to your private data.

ps. Developers, automating this process as part of your releasing is
relatively easy, assuming you have a paid Developer account. The shell script
at this link is accompanied by a clear walkthrough, and can be adapted to most
workflows run locally on a machine containing your signing keypair. (And if
your precompiled binary or bundle was not built with Xcode, you would skip the
“xcodebuild” step.)

[https://scriptingosx.com/2019/09/notarize-a-command-line-
too...](https://scriptingosx.com/2019/09/notarize-a-command-line-tool/)

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Zaheer
There was site someone made that automatically redirects to your next meeting.
Does anyone remember what it was called?

(Update) found it: [https://now.me/](https://now.me/)

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jdechko
Looks nice. I wish I could use it, but IT has the calendar locked down, and
most of the solutions have too much friction to make them viable

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yepthatsreality
Sounds like a nightmare.

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yarsanich
I already using it.(from Product Hunt launch) Perfect fit for work-day routine
especially on WFH.

~~~
leits
Thanks for feedback, yarsanich!

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HugoDias
Looks Amazing, congrats. Can't install since I'm still using OSX Mojave :(

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brailsafe
Seems like this is meant for remote meetings, but it would be great for in
office meetings too. I don't remember when so and so has scheduled anything
unless it's really consistent, then I'm surprised in the middle of coding and
look like a dick when I stay to finish my task before joining.

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tomcat27
very nice!!

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fnord123
This is already in the notification pane on the rhs of the screen.

