Summary

Gruber examines a hidden macOS preference discovered by Steven Troughton-Smith that disables the controversial menu item icons introduced in macOS 26 Tahoe. While the setting works well in some AppKit apps like Finder and Notes, it's inconsistently applied across Apple's own apps — Safari being a particular disappointment where only 3 of 18 File menu items lose their icons. He argues Apple should make this a proper System Settings toggle, fix compliance across all apps, and ultimately adopt a selective approach where icons appear only on menu items where they genuinely add clarity. Third-party developers like Brent Simmons and Rogue Amoeba have already taken matters into their own hands by removing the icons from their apps entirely.

Key Insight

Universal menu icons defeat their own purpose — when every item has an icon, none stand out, but selectively applied icons for commands like Rotate actually improve clarity and make the menu bar better than before.

Spicy Quotes (click to share)

• 8

  If this worked to hide all of these cursed little turds smeared across the menu bar items of Apple's system apps in Tahoe, this hidden preference would be a proverbial pitcher of ice water in hell.

• 5

  There's an outcome just waiting to be had where the MacOS menu bar is better than it used to be, not worse, by carefully adding icons only next to commands where the icons add clarity.

• 4

  The rule of thumb should be that menu items should have icons if the icon alone could provide enough of a clue to replace the command name.

• 7

  If every menu item has an icon, the presence of an icon is never special. If only special menu items have icons, the presence of an icon is always special.

• 5

  For the most part, menu commands should be read.

• 4

  A side effect of that clutter is that it reduces the effectiveness of the menu items for which icons are actually useful.

• 6

  In the heyday of consistency in Apple's first-party Mac software, Apple's apps were, effectively, a living HIG.

Tone

critical, opinionated, meticulous