RetrosTrip Review: Nostalgic Utility Brings the Legendary Mac -Control Strip Back

Best prices today: Retrostrip

Questions for classic Mac users going back to System 6 or 7: Do you remember the control strip that gave you direct access to different applications or features with a mouse click? It was released in 1994 with System 7.1, with the Powerbook 500 series Powerbook Duo 280 computers. With System 7.5.3, it was made available to all Macintoshes.

Control Strip was a very useful tool as it enabled settings such as volume, screen resolution, color depth and more that needed to be adjusted with a mouse click. It was relatively extensive configurable and could quickly turn on and off. But with the emergence of dock in Mac OS X, the control beam was superfluous because the dock gives direct access to several applications, files or folders.

However, the dock also records screen space, which is why there is an option to automatically hide the dock and only make it appear briefly when you move the cursor to an edge of your screen. This is how I do it on my Mac, and in practice I almost never see the dock. I like the Alfred 5 as the App -Launcher (it does much more, but that’s what I mainly use it for). I think it is quite practical and nostalgic beautiful to have such a small control beam for some frequently used apps that permanently flow in the foreground without being intrusive. This is exactly what Retrostrip offers.

Comprehensive adaptation options

You can take existing buttons with links and assign them to other destinations such as sites, folders or apps and even e -mail links and add more. This can also be done using drag-and-slip. Click on it opens a menu with multiple options or if you have only set a destination, it all acts as a one-click button.

For example, I placed my bank app MacGiro 14 on a button and AI Mistral app Le Chat (which I use in Safari) on another. I added Pixelmator Pro and Mactracker as additional apps that I often use. Different icons can be selected for the respective applications or site destinations, which are, for example, based on the classic Mac OS (1996).

Alternatively, you can choose other icon motifs from 1984 to 2024. You can also set the view of a notepad (scratchpad) for tasks and reminders as we know it from the classic Mac OS.

There is also the super -sized option that makes the individual buttons significantly larger. The bar can also be shrinked or clicked away completely. All of these settings are available in a separate control panel for the settings – the app is only available with an English user interface.

Motorcycl3 Retrostrip

The icons are very generic, as opposed to the classic control strip where you could find a miniature referral to the associated control field (such as volume) or the application. With Retrostrip, remember what you have created. Even if you hover over the respective button with the cursor, it does not show what application or destination it is. Developer J. Blake Harris has revised the icons to make them more meaningful and also activated Apple’s classic tool tips, but I found that this only works unreliable or not at all.

IDG

Retrostrip is free; Just download the Retrostrip LE package from the purchase section of the site. You can also buy additional icon themes such as the next style or OS X (Aqua) from 2000. The individual additional themes are available for $ 2 each or you can buy all three of them for at once for $ 5. A Mac with Intel or Apple Silicon and at least MacOS 15.2 is required.