I’ve been looking for a simpler way to play audio files on my Mac without launching a full-featured music player. Most music apps want to build massive libraries, analyze metadata, and organize everything into elaborate collections. Sometimes I just want to drop a few audio files into a player and hit play without the overhead of managing an entire music library.
AudiBar is a lightweight menu bar audio player that focuses on straightforward playback. The basic version is free and lets you drag and drop individual audio files directly onto the menu bar icon for immediate playback. It supports the standard formats you’d expect: MP3, FLAC, WAV, AAC, M4A, AIFF, CAF, and MP4. The app sits in your menu bar and stays out of the way until you need it.
The free version handles single-file playback, which works well for occasional listening or when you’re working with individual recordings. For £2.99, the Premium version adds playlist management, internet radio streaming, and the ability to save your favorite stations. This is a one-time purchase with no subscription, which I appreciate given how many apps have moved to recurring billing models.
The Premium features include support for M3U, PLS, and XSPF playlist formats, which covers most internet radio streams. You can build playlists from local files stored anywhere, including iCloud Drive if you keep audio files synced across devices. The auto-play and shuffle features work as expected, and you can customize the theme color to match your menu bar setup.
What stands out is the resource efficiency. The app uses under 50MB of memory and typically stays below 3% CPU usage, even when streaming. This matters when you’re running multiple menu bar utilities and need to keep system impact minimal. On my Mac Mini with M4, it’s basically imperceptible in Activity Monitor.
AudiBar requires macOS 13.5 Ventura or later and runs natively on both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs. The interface is straightforward with drag-and-drop file loading, a context menu for controls, and a panel view for managing playlists when you need it. There’s no complicated setup or preference configuration required.
The app deliberately avoids becoming a full music library manager. It won’t scan your entire music collection, fetch album artwork, or integrate with streaming services. For users who already have their music organized elsewhere and just need a simple playback tool, this focused approach removes unnecessary complexity. The lack of library features means the app launches instantly and doesn’t consume disk space indexing files.
For anyone who needs quick access to audio playback from the menu bar without the weight of a comprehensive music player, AudiBar handles that specific use case well. It’s available on the Mac App Store, and the free version gives you enough functionality to evaluate whether the Premium features are worth the upgrade.
