Advanced
The unsandboxed Menu Band — a direct download, with the parts the App Store can't carry.
Most people want the Mac App Store version. It updates itself, it's signed and sandboxed, and it plays the same instruments. This page is for the build that does more than Apple's sandbox permits.
What only this build can do
The Mac App Store requires the App Sandbox, which forbids the APIs these features are built on. They aren't disabled in the store version — they aren't compiled into it.
- Type to play in any app. The store build only listens while Menu Band is frontmost. This one plays notes while you're in another window.
- The ⌘⌘ launcher. A background daemon that summons Menu Band from a double-tap of Command, anywhere.
- The fleet. Nearby Macs discover each other and play together over MultipeerConnectivity.
- Multitouch trackpad. Your trackpad becomes a continuous, multi-finger surface rather than a mouse.
What you give up
- Self-updating is on us, not Apple. The app checks for its own updates and tells you when one lands.
- Permissions to grant by hand. Global typing needs Accessibility access in System Settings → Privacy & Security; the store version never asks because it never uses it.
- First launch is a gatekeeper conversation. The build is notarized, so it opens — but macOS will still want a moment to check it.
Source
Both builds come from one codebase; the store version is carved out of it with #if MAC_APP_STORE. Read it at tangled.org.
Help
Playing tips and troubleshooting live on the support page. Email [email protected] for anything else.