MeetingBar

MeetingBar is a small macOS menu-bar application for keeping current and upcoming calendar meetings visible. It suits people who move between calls throughout a workday and want a quick way to open the meeting link from an event. It supports macOS Calendar and Google Calendar providers and integrates with many meeting services, but does not replace the conferencing application's own audio/video client.

Calendar and joining controls

Show an upcoming meeting in the status bar, expand the menu to review events and join a supported link. Configure which calendars and events appear, how titles are displayed and when reminders are issued. Publisher documentation also describes bookmarks, ad-hoc meeting shortcuts, optional login startup and automation using Shortcuts or AppleScript.

The service list includes Google Meet, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Webex and many others. A detected link can open a browser or the corresponding installed application. Each service has its own account, network, device and subscription requirements; MeetingBar does not supply a conferencing account or bypass a meeting's access controls. Event parsing is not guaranteed to recognize every custom or protected URL.

Installation and verified requirements

Download the official 4.11.6 DMG, copy MeetingBar.app into Applications, or use brew install --cask meetingbar. The official DMG is 11,294,412 bytes. Read-only inspection confirms version 4.11.6 build 169, macOS 12.0 as the actual minimum, and a Universal executable with x86_64 and arm64 slices for Intel and Apple silicon. The release-tag Xcode project also targets 12.0; an older README statement of 10.15 is not used as the current artifact minimum.

The cask declares no additional Homebrew formula dependency or named conflict. For local calendars, ensure the desired accounts are synchronized with macOS Calendar. For Google Calendar as a direct provider, complete the relevant Google authorization flow. The downloaded app includes its normal dependencies; Swift/Xcode development tooling is not a separate runtime installation requirement.

Permissions and accounts

Calendar access is necessary to show your calendar events. Grant the appropriate macOS calendar permission and choose the calendars you want exposed in the menu. Notifications are optional and require permission if you use reminders. Custom AppleScript or other app automation can require the relevant Automation permission. Joining a video call may cause the external conferencing application to request camera or microphone access; those are not unconditional MeetingBar permissions.

No mandatory MeetingBar account is described. Calendar and conferencing accounts are external and may be commercial. Google synchronization and online meetings use the network, while event display depends on the available provider data. Update checks and optional links also have network behavior; do not promise every function is entirely offline.

License and privacy

MeetingBar is free and open source under Apache 2.0 in the checked publisher repository. The project offers voluntary support through donations and related mechanisms. App Store availability and external meeting services have their own terms.

The publisher states that MeetingBar does not collect personal data. The app still processes event titles, locations, notes, attendees and meeting URLs to present and open meetings. Those details may appear in your menu bar, notifications or screenshots. Review visibility settings on a shared screen, and sanitize calendar details and logs before reporting a bug. Google's authorization and each meeting provider's data handling remain governed by their own policies.

Reliability and safety

Automatic joining and custom scripts can launch programs or act at a scheduled time. Review those actions, confirm the event and avoid enabling automation you do not understand. A missed refresh or incorrect event link can cause a missed or wrong meeting; keep the calendar or service's own invitation available when timing matters. Version 4.11.6 specifically addresses Google Calendar authorization and fetching reliability.

Sources: Official repository, 4.11.6release, Publisher comparison and exact changes, License.