I’ve been managing my smart home setup through the Google Home web interface for years, but keeping a browser tab perpetually open felt wasteful. My Mac Mini M4 typically runs with dozens of tabs across multiple browser windows, and dedicating one just to occasionally check camera feeds or trigger automations seemed inefficient.
GHomeBar addresses this specific frustration. It’s a lightweight menu bar utility that wraps the Google Home web interface in a native macOS app. Click the menu bar icon and you get immediate access to all your connected devices, cameras, and automations without opening Safari or Chrome.
The app is remarkably straightforward. It loads the home.google.com interface in a webview, which means you get the exact same functionality Google provides in their web app, just in a more convenient package. You can manage devices, create and start automations, view camera feeds, and access everything else the Google Home web interface offers. The key advantage is the persistent menu bar presence, letting you control your home without context-switching to a browser.
I’ve been using GHomeBar for several weeks, and it has become one of those utilities that quietly does its job. The performance is solid, using roughly 80MB of memory when idle and barely registering CPU usage. When you need to check a camera or trigger an automation, it’s right there in your menu bar rather than buried in browser tabs. The app includes a “Launch at login” option, which I’ve enabled so it’s always available.
This is an unofficial open-source project released under the MIT license by developer Paolo Rotolo. The GitHub repository shows active maintenance, with the latest version 1.1.0 released in January 2026. Being open source means you can examine the code yourself if you’re concerned about what’s happening with your Google Home credentials. The developer has been clear that this is a personal project not affiliated with or endorsed by Google.
System requirements are reasonable. You’ll need macOS 13.0 or higher, which covers any Mac running Ventura or newer. The app works on both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs. Installation is standard for macOS apps. Download the .dmg file from the GitHub releases page, drag it to your Applications folder, and you’re done. If you encounter the standard macOS security warning about apps from unidentified developers, you can clear it with xattr -cr /Applications/GHomeBar.app in Terminal.
The limitations are worth acknowledging. Since this is essentially a wrapper around Google’s web interface, you’re dependent on whatever Google decides to include or remove from that interface. If Google makes breaking changes to their web app, GHomeBar could stop working until it’s updated. The app also doesn’t add functionality beyond what Google provides, it just makes access more convenient.
For anyone with a Google Home setup who finds themselves frequently checking devices or running automations from their Mac, this app eliminates the browser tab overhead. It’s free, open source, and does exactly what it promises without complications. The developer is responsive to issues on GitHub, and the codebase is simple enough that technically inclined users could contribute fixes or enhancements if needed.
