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Interesting: CandyBar

September 13th, 2008

CandyBar

CandyBar icon

I recently reviewed SuperDocker, a Mac OS X freeware program that lets you change the appearance of the OS X dock using various themes. Reader Mike suggested checking out CandyBar, a shareware program that also allows easy customization of the Dock but is a management solution for all your Mac icons. After a few minutes of using CandyBar, I think it’s a much better program.

The Good

  • A well-designed interface, using an iTunes-like sidebar, plus drag and drop to apply icons. Applying a set of icons icons to the dock or system is just a matter of selecting what you want to apply and then clicking a button to apply. And there are “Restore” buttons to return everything to the system defaults.
  • Many cool, custom icon sets are available at the IconFactory – the icons are provided in a package called an iContainer which you just double click to load into CandyBar, or drag into the CandyBar sidebar. I used to download IconFactory icons back in the OS 9 days, so it was fun to rediscover their work and realize they’ve developed alongside OS X.
  • A “Quick Drop” area if you want to apply a custom icon to just one file or application.
  • You can even get deeper with your icons with search (icons from IconFactory have tags), list view, and even “smart collections.”

The Bad

  • A bit of a wait when selecting the Applications option as CandyBar locates programs to apply icons to.

Conclusion

Forget what I wrote about Superdocker. The better program by far is CandyBar, based on the variety of icons and ease of use. It’s a free demo for 15 days and then costs $29.

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  • jcieplinski
    I've been using Candybar for years. It keeps getting better and better with every version, too.
  • Yep, me too -- it's an excellent program and I was glad to see it merged with Pixadex.

    The one thing I do miss from previous versions is the ability to change icons within an application package, e.g. the different stages of a Safari download.
  • Mike
    Way cool! Glad you like, dude...been a happy CandyBar user since this version came out. :)

    Both Panic and The Iconfactory do excellent work! It's really nice to see them working together.
  • MOin
    oh wow how beautiful the icons are looking nice i must gona give it a try. icon factory are the real icon makers.
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