I have a script that toggles the visibility of the menu bar between Always and Never on macOS Sonoma (14.5). However, I find the current implementation involving a pop-up button to be less than ideal as it visually interacts with the interface. Here’s the existing script:
tell application "System Settings"
reveal pane id "com.apple.ControlCenter-Settings.extension"
delay 0.5
end tell
tell application "System Events"
tell window 1 of application process "System Settings"
tell pop up button "Automatically hide and show the menu bar" of group 9 of scroll area 1 of group 1 of group 2 of splitter group 1 of group 1
click
delay 0.1
if value = "Never" then
keystroke "A"
else
keystroke "N"
end if
delay 0.1
keystroke return
end tell
end tell
end tell
tell application "System Settings"
delay 0.5
quit
end tell
Is there a more efficient or less intrusive method to achieve the same functionality without visibly interacting with the pop-up button? Any insights or alternative approaches would be greatly appreciated.
Welcome preseren,
I don’t believe that there is any method to alter this setting that doesn’t interact with the UI. This code does allow for more precise control of the settings.
Edit: Added handler to actually swap the setting from “Always” to “Never” rather than just the generic handler.
--Running under AppleScript 2.8, MacOS 14.5
--6/28/24 • https://forum.latenightsw.com/u/paulskinner
use AppleScript version "2.4"
use scripting additions
controlcenter_Swap_Alway_and_Never()
on controlcenter_set_Menu_Bar_Options(desiredSetting)
if theSetting is in {"Never", "In Full Screen Only", "On Desktop Only", "Always"} then
tell application "System Settings"
reveal pane "control center"
end tell
do shell script "open x-apple.systempreferences:com.apple.controlcenter-settings.extension"
tell application "System Events"
repeat until group 7 of scroll area 1 of group 1 of group 2 of splitter group 1 of group 1 of window 1 of application process "System Settings" exists
delay 0
end repeat
tell pop up button "Automatically hide and show the menu bar" of group 7 of scroll area 1 of group 1 of group 2 of splitter group 1 of group 1 of window 1 of application process "System Settings"
perform action "AXPress" --click
delay 1 --faster systems can reduce this value or eliminate the delay altogether
pick menu item desiredSetting of menu 1
end tell
end tell
end if
end controlcenter_set_Menu_Bar_Options
on controlcenter_Swap_Alway_and_Never()
tell application "System Settings"
reveal pane "control center"
end tell
do shell script "open x-apple.systempreferences:com.apple.controlcenter-settings.extension"
tell application "System Events"
repeat until group 7 of scroll area 1 of group 1 of group 2 of splitter group 1 of group 1 of window 1 of application process "System Settings" exists
delay 0
end repeat
tell pop up button "Automatically hide and show the menu bar" of group 7 of scroll area 1 of group 1 of group 2 of splitter group 1 of group 1 of window 1 of application process "System Settings"
set curVal to value
if curVal is not in {"Never", "Always"} then
set desiredSetting to "Never"
else
if curVal is "Never" then
set desiredSetting to "Always"
else
set desiredSetting to "Never"
end if
end if
perform action "AXPress" --click
delay 1 --faster systems can reduce this value or eliminate the delay altogether
pick menu item desiredSetting of menu 1
end tell
end tell
end controlcenter_Swap_Alway_and_Never
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