uBar alternatives

A cDock alternative for modern Macs

cDock was a theming and customization tool for the macOS Dock. Its last release was in 2020, it requires System Integrity Protection to be turned off, and its developer says it does not support M1 Macs, so people who used it are looking for something that runs on the Mac they have now. This page is part of our uBar alternatives guide.

What happened to cDock

cDock, from macenhance, let you apply themes to the native Dock, hide apps from it and control its behaviour. The latest version is 4.5.0, released on 19 November 2020, for macOS 10.14 and later, from $9.99. Because it modifies the Dock itself, it requires System Integrity Protection to be disabled, which is a step most people would rather not take on a current Mac. The macenhance site also states that cDock does not currently support M1 machines. No release since then lists a newer macOS or Apple Silicon.

What you keep, what you gain

cDock was a theming tool for the Dock, and uBar is a different kind of app. uBar does not modify the Dock; it replaces it with a bar of its own, which can look like a dock or a taskbar. If what you want is the native Dock with a different skin, uBar will not give you that. If what you want is a Dock you can theme and control that runs on a current Mac without disabling SIP, uBar covers that.

cDock feature	cDock	uBar
Themes	Yes. Themes for the native Dock.	Yes, for uBar’s own bar: System, Light, Dark, Platinum Neue, Now Playing and Custom. The native Dock is left as it is, or hidden.
Hide apps from the Dock	Yes.	Yes. The Included Applications list in the Application pane of Preferences controls what appears.
Control Dock behaviour	Yes, by modifying the native Dock.	uBar has its own behaviour settings: grouping, rows, pinning, auto-hide, app order, sizes. It does not modify the native Dock.
Requires SIP disabled	Yes.	No. uBar is a normal app; it asks for the Accessibility and Screen Recording permissions.
Apple Silicon	No. cDock 4.5.0 “does not currently support M1 machines”.	Yes. Universal binary, native since 4.1.7.
macOS support	10.14 and later, as of version 4.5.0 (19 November 2020).	10.13 through macOS Tahoe, as of 4.2.4 (2 September 2026).
Price	From $9.99, one-time; upgrading from cDock 3 was a paid upgrade.	$30 personal (two Macs) or $50 commercial, one-time, after a 14-day trial.

What uBar adds that cDock never had

Labeled windows: every window is a tile with its title.
Window grouping set to Always, Never or Automatic, and window previews on hover.
A bar on every monitor showing that monitor’s windows, or Mirror mode.
Taskbar mode and dock mode, on any edge of the screen, pinned or floating.
Badges, App Activity (CPU and memory per app), drag-and-drop and up to five rows.
Custom icon overrides for folders and the Trash, without touching system files.

How to switch

Download the uBar trial. It runs for 14 days with no license, and you do not need to disable System Integrity Protection.
Grant Accessibility and Screen Recording when uBar asks. See the Permissions section of the documentation.
Open uBar’s preferences and click Dock Defaults for a dock layout, or Taskbar Defaults for labeled window tiles. Pick a theme in Preferences.
Pin your favorites: right-click an open app and choose Add to Favorites, or use the Add to uBar Favorites service in the Finder.
Hide the macOS Dock. The Terminal section of the documentation has the command.

Permissions, presets and icon overrides are in the documentation; the Dock command is in the Terminal section.

Frequently asked

Does cDock work on macOS Tahoe?

The latest cDock release is 4.5.0 from 19 November 2020, which lists macOS 10.14 and later and requires System Integrity Protection to be disabled. macenhance states that it does not currently support M1 machines. There is no release that lists macOS Tahoe. uBar 4.2.4 supports Tahoe.

Can uBar theme the macOS Dock the way cDock did?

No. cDock modified the native Dock. uBar leaves the Dock alone and replaces it with its own bar, which has its own themes and a dock mode. If you want to keep using the native Dock and only change its look, uBar is the wrong tool.

Do I need to disable SIP for uBar?

No. uBar is a standard application. It asks for the Accessibility permission to control windows and the Screen Recording permission to read window titles and draw previews; nothing is recorded.

Bring your taskbar with you.

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