Knowledge Base

The license terms depend on whether you bought a Personal, Commercial, Site, or Enterprise license. Please refer to the uBar EULA.

Problem

I have a license for an older version of uBar, but no longer have my original copy. Where can I download it?

Solution

Please use the following download links:

• uBar 2: Download
• uBar 3: Download

The uBar clock area launches macOS's default calendar app when clicked.

Instructions

How to change the macOS default calendar app:

1. Launch Calendar.app.
2. Open its Settings.
3. Under General, you can change the default calendar app to another app installed on your system.

The Mac App Store (MAS) requires a process called Sandboxing, which prevents applications from performing many operations that are crucial to a fully functioning Dock replacement. Therefore, the version of uBar on the MAS is a sandboxed version that is missing several key features.

Step-by-step guide

If you have purchased the sandboxed version of uBar from the MAS, please follow these steps:

1. Ensure that the sandboxed version (e.g. uBar 3.app) is installed in your ~/Applications folder, and has been run at least once.
2. Quit the sandboxed version.
3. Download the full version (uBar.app) and install it in your ~/Applications folder.
4. Launch the full version.
5. Open the registration window (uBar menu > uBar > Registration...).
6. Press the "Upgrade MAS" button.
7. Follow the on-screen instructions to receive your license key.

Problem

The uBar clock is not reflecting the settings found in System Settings > Date & Time, such as "Use a 24-hour clock".

Solution

uBar doesn't use the settings found under System Settings > Date & Time. Those control the macOS menu bar clock. The uBar clock's formatting is dictated by the settings found under System Settings > Language & Region. So for example, checking "24-Hour Time" will make the uBar clock display in 24-hour format.

Problem

The registration information I have received is not being accepted by uBar and/or is not working.

Solution

If your registration information is not working, there are four possibilities:

1. In 95% of cases, the Owner and/or License Key fields have been entered incorrectly. Please carefully consider the following:

   • Did you copy-paste both fields exactly?
   • The fields are case-sensitive. Is one or more letters incorrectly upper or lower case? Is an accent missing on a letter?
   • Is there an extra or missing space?
   • The Owner field automatically populates using your macOS account's user name. It may be slightly different than your registration's Owner field.

2. You may be running the wrong version of uBar. Make sure you are not running uBar 2 or 3 and entering your uBar 4 registration information:

   • Quit all running instances of uBar.
   • Open Activity Monitor.app to make sure uBar is not running.
   • Go to your ~/Applications folder and make sure the version of uBar you are using is uBar 4 and not uBar 2 or 3. You can find this out by selecting uBar in the Finder and checking File > Get Info > Version.
   • If you only have uBar 2 or 3, download uBar 4 and delete uBar 2 or 3.
3. You may be using a 16-character code, which has to be redeemed for a license.
4. The registration information you are using is incorrect. Please make sure it is exactly what you received by email when you purchased uBar.

If your registration information is still not working, please contact us at [email protected].

Problem

Prior to uBar 3.2.6, fonts were "smoother". Is this a bug?

Solution

Prior to uBar 3.2.6, uBar used sub-pixel anti-aliasing. In uBar 3.2.6, this was replaced by regular anti-aliasing in order to eliminate shearing/corruption of animation in uBar. Unfortunately, it is not possible to have both sub-pixel anti-aliasing and properly fluid animation at the same time.

Sub-pixel rendering is especially important for non-retina displays. With a retina display, fonts should appear appropriately smooth.

Problem

When attempting to launch uBar, the following message is shown: "uBar.app" can't be opened because it was not downloaded from the Mac App Store.

Solution

If you are getting this message, it means that your security settings only allow apps downloaded from the Mac App Store. To change this, open System Settings from the Apple menu and go to Privacy & Security. Under Security, select "App Store and identified developers".

Problem

An app's windows are going under uBar and not being automatically resized out from under it.

Solution

uBar uses the Accessibility (AX) API to manage windows. If uBar is not able to stop an app's windows from resizing under it, there are three possibilities:

1. The app does not fully implement AX, which uBar uses to manage windows. While apps developed natively using Cocoa and Xcode receive a "free" implementation of AX as part of AppKit, ported or non-native apps often do not. This includes Java apps (Eclipse, and most Java IDEs), many Carbon-originated apps (Photoshop, QuarkXpress, etc.), and potentially others. For uBar to manage those apps, their developers must implement the AX API.

2. You may be running a window management app, as those also make use of AX to position windows, which can potentially cause a conflict. The following is a list of known window management applications that could be causing a conflict. If any of these are installed, try disabling them and see if uBar works:

   • AquaSnap
   • BetterSnapTool
   • BetterTouchTool
   • Breeze
   • Cinch
   • Divvy (workaround: add a bottom margin in the settings to ensure that it doesn't cover uBar)
   • DoublePane
   • Flexiglass
   • HyperDock
   • iSnap
   • RightZoom
   • ShiftIt
   • SizeUp
   • SizeWell
   • Spectacle
   • Stay
   • TileWindows
   • WindowTidy
3. You may be running a sandboxed version of uBar. Only the full version of uBar can use AX to manage app windows.

If you would like to remove or uninstall uBar from your computer, you will need to quit uBar, restore the Dock, and finally delete uBar from your computer.

Step-by-step guide

There are four main steps to uninstalling uBar:

1. Disabling Dock-less Mode

   • If you have dock-less mode turned on, you will have to ensure that it is set to off. The setting can be found in uBar Preferences > Advanced.

2. Quitting uBar

   • Click the uB menu icon, and then > uBar > Quit uBar, or;
   • Right or control-click an empty part of uBar to show the menu and then > uBar > Quit uBar.

3. Restoring the Dock

   • System Settings > Desktop & Dock > Turn off "Automatically hide and show the Dock".

4. Deleting uBar

   • Open the folder where uBar.app is (usually your /Applications folder, but it could be in your ~/Downloads folder).
   • Move uBar.app to the Trash.