However you feel about the Dock, you can’t deny that accessing your apps from the menu bar is often easier. However, most apps don’t offer menu bar integration.

Menu Bar Dock lets you put any and all apps in the menu bar, either permanently or only while they’re running. There are lots of rules you can tweak to suit your workflow, and the icons’ layout and appearance is also customizable.

The first use case requires you to add your favorite apps to the Regular Apps list. These will always appear in the menu bar, whether they’re running or not. This allows you to quickly launch or switch between apps.

If you’re not interested in seeing running apps as well, just set the maximum number of running apps to zero. You can drag apps in the list to reorder them, and their appearance is customizable.

Now, if you also want to see running apps, things get a bit more complicated. You can either remove all regular apps or mix them up with running apps, which will require you to play around with the settings.

There are options for managing duplicates, with either regular or running apps being prioritized, sorting app icons, hiding Finder (very much recommended), and hiding the currently active app.

If you configure Menu Bar Dock just right, it allows you to hide the Dock altogether and manage your apps directly from the menu bar. For users working with limited screen space, such as MacBook owners, this can be a godsend.

With all the options at your disposal, you should have no trouble getting the exact behavior you’re looking for. It seems that every possible issue and preference has been considered, making the app impressively versatile and easy to work with.