MenuPop - Have Your Menus Exactly Where You Need Them

very good
key review info
application features
  • Pop up menu at current mouse location using a hotkey
  • (2 more, see all...)

If you are the proud owner of a large display going back and forth to the status bar to access different functions of your favorite applications can become uncomfortable. MenuPop will improve your workflow by allowing you to access your applications' menus in no time, at your current mouse position.

Complex applications provide an extensive number of functions that are usually accessible via keyboard shortcuts: learning all of them is the tricky part. Of course, all features are most likely available via the apps menus, but, unfortunately, when using a large display or a track pad, accessing the status bar so many times adds up to your workload and becomes an issue.

MenuPop is a small application that intends to eliminate the extra mouse movement through a simple solution: it will display the menus at your current pointer location, and the activation is done via a mouse click or a keyboard shortcut. This may not seem much, but I am sure experience will point out just how useful such a tool can be.

The Looks

Initially, MenuPop presents itself as a status bar menu item that allows you to easily access the application’s preferences or the MenuEverywhere website (an application also developed by Hisham Khalifa, designed to put the menu bars on top of each window).

Although the application’s icon comes in a colorful red the menu item is gray and does not bring attention upon itself in any way. It also has no purpose once you've finished making all the adjustments in the Preferences window and you can easily disable it.

Since you can choose to have MenuPop automatically launched at startup, after the initial setup, you will have the application conveniently running on your system without taking up space or too many resources, dealing with it only when and where you need it.

The Works

Theoretically, even the most inexperienced user can find out everything he needs to know about MenuPop through the Preferences window. To be exact, at the bottom of the Hot Key Setup panel you can read a short but concise guide on how to use MenuPop.

On top of the same area you can adjust two of the most important functions offered by MenuPop: the Hot Key and the mouse button. The default hotkey is Alt+Z and I recommend leaving it like that.

Although one of the tips included underneath the setup panel states that “ System-wide shortcut combinations in use by other apps cannot be set, unless changed in respective apps.”, experience showed me that not only you can set keyboard combinations used by other applications, but the initial purpose was completely replaced.

Some might argue that this is simply a guideline, but I must admit that it would be great if MenuPop could automatically detect shortcuts that are already in use and eliminate them as possible hotkeys. This way, even though the user forgot or doesn’t even know about them, the limitation makes sure nothing can get broken.

If you also want to set a mouse button to enable MenuPop (the hotkey remains available at all times though) note that you cannot set the left or right button no matter how much you try. This  limits your choices to the scroll button, but, if you own a mouse that does not have the Apple logo on it, any of the additional buttons can be used.

On the other hand, it seems that MenuPop is using its own algorithm to assign numbers to each button: as a result the same button can have one number in MenuPop and another in the System Preferences, which translates in having a double function. I’m afraid that the only way to learn what is what is to try on your own all the possible combinations and see which one works best for you.

During testing I have also noticed that, in some situations, MenuPop does not detect immediately which button you're pressing: closing the Preferences window and opening it again usually gets things back to normal.

Further customizations are available in the Advanced panel: you can change the menu's font size (small, regular, extra large or super large), Fold alternate menu items, show/hide the Apple or application’s menu or the keyboard shortcuts for each function.

Most adjustments are made effective immediately but take into account that at least when it comes to toggling the display of keyboard shortcuts, an application relaunch is needed.

For those always in search for a good deal, MenuPop's developer provides a special offer through the 14 days trial version: in the first day of trial you can buy MenuPop with a 40% discount.


The Good

MenuPop is simple, very easy to use and can run on your system without making its presence noted unnecessarily. In my opinion, MenuPop is one of those little things that once you've discovered, you wonder how come you survived all this time without it.

Furthermore, MenuPop provides customizations that give you the possibility to access exactly what you need in a compact manner.

The Bad

MenuPop allows you to set hotkeys that are also used by system tools or other applications and simply oversteps the initial function. As a result the user must be extra careful not to break anything.

Since MenuPop is using its own algorithm to assign numbers to buttons you may also end up having buttons with double functions. Also, the developer does not mention anywhere that some features need a MenuPop restart to become active, a fact that might lead to confusions.

The Truth

MenuPop can prove to be a very useful companion once you are past the initial setup, if you have a hard time using your track pad or if your mouse is not sensitive enough to deal with large displays.

Here are some snapshots of the application in action:

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user interface 5
features 4
ease of use 3
pricing / value 3


final rating 4
Editor's review
very good
 
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