Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Sidebar VS DockGroups

Compare Sidebar VS DockGroups and see what are their differences

Note: These products don't have any matching categories. If you think this is a mistake, please edit the details of one of the products and suggest appropriate categories.

Sidebar logo Sidebar

The five best design links of the day, freshly redesigned

DockGroups logo DockGroups

The app-grouping feature the Mac Dock never shipped.
  • Sidebar Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-23
  • DockGroups Main window
    Main window //
    2026-07-30
  • DockGroups Settings
    Settings //
    2026-07-30
  • DockGroups Tray icon
    Tray icon //
    2026-07-30

App Groups

  • Organize apps into named groups, each with a custom emoji icon, stored by bundle ID.

  • Pin important groups to the top of the sidebar.

  • Create and delete groups directly from the main panel โ€” no detour into Settings.

  • Default starter groups (Work, Creative, Utilities) appear on first launch.

  • Group data is saved atomically with owner-only file permissions, and the app tolerates missing fields so updates never wipe your groups.

The Floating Panel

  • A panel anchored next to your Dock that positions itself correctly whether your Dock sits at the bottom, left, or right of the screen.

  • Opens from the Dock icon or the menu bar; closes automatically when it loses focus.

  • A collapsible sidebar toggles between full labels (with shortcut badges) and a compact icon-only rail.

  • Frosted-glass or solid panel style, plus System / Light / Dark themes.

Open All / Close All โ€” the signature feature

  • Open All launches every app in a group with a small stagger (so macOS doesn't choke on simultaneous launches).

  • Close All does the reverse, and this is something no competing dock app offers:

  • Plain click โ†’ hides every app in the group

    • โŒฅ-click โ†’ quits them gracefully
    • โŒ˜-click โ†’ force-quits them
  • Live indicators show which apps in a group are currently running, and clicking a running app restores its windows โ€” including minimized ones.

In-Panel App Management

  • Add and remove apps right in the panel grid.

  • Drag to reorder apps within a group.

  • Right-click any app for Quit, Force Quit, or Show in Finder.

Keyboard Shortcuts

  • โŒ˜1โ€“9 switches groups inside the panel.

  • โŒฅโ‡ง1โ€“9 are true system-wide hotkeys that work even in full-screen apps โ€” with no Accessibility or Input Monitoring permissions needed.

Menu Bar Mode

  • An optional menu bar icon for quick access without using the Dock.

Sidebar

Website
sidebar.io
Pricing URL
-
$ Details
-
Release Date
-

DockGroups

$ Details
freemium $9.99 / One-off (Pro)
Release Date
2026 May

Sidebar features and specs

  • Curated Content
    Sidebar offers a daily selection of high-quality design and development articles curated by industry professionals, saving time for users in finding valuable content.
  • Community Driven
    The curation is community-driven, allowing users to submit and vote on articles, which helps ensure that the content remains relevant and of high interest to the design community.
  • Simple and Clean Design
    Sidebar's minimalist design makes it easy to browse through content, focusing the user's attention on the articles without unnecessary distractions.
  • Email Newsletter
    Users can subscribe to a daily email newsletter, which conveniently delivers the top curated articles directly to their inbox.

Possible disadvantages of Sidebar

  • Limited Content Range
    The focus on design and development might limit the scope of content for users interested in a broader range of technology or creative topics.
  • Reliance on Community Submissions
    Since the content is largely community-driven, there might be variability in quality and frequency of articles submitted and approved.
  • Curation Bias
    The subjective nature of curation might lead to certain biases in the selection of topics covered, which may not reflect all users' interests.
  • No Personalization
    The curated content is the same for all users, lacking personalized recommendations based on individual preferences or past behavior.

DockGroups features and specs

No features have been listed yet.

Analysis of Sidebar

Overall verdict

  • Sidebar (sidebar.io) is widely regarded as a valuable resource for designers and creative professionals.

Why this product is good

  • Sidebar curates a daily list of the top five design-related links from around the internet, making it an efficient way for users to stay updated on design trends, best practices, and industry news without having to sift through a large volume of content. The links are typically selected by an experienced curator, ensuring a high quality of resources that are both informative and inspirational.

Recommended for

    Sidebar is particularly recommended for UI/UX designers, graphic designers, web designers, and other creative professionals who want to keep up with the latest developments in the design world, as well as those looking for inspiration and ongoing education in their field.

Sidebar videos

React Animated Sidebar Code Review

More videos:

  • Review - Product Review: Universal sidebar mount

DockGroups videos

No DockGroups videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

Add video

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Sidebar and DockGroups)
Productivity
92 92%
8% 8
Mac Tools
0 0%
100% 100
Design Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Prototyping
100 100%
0% 0

Questions & Answers

As answered by people managing Sidebar and DockGroups.

Which are the primary technologies used for building your product?

DockGroups's answer:

SwiftUI & AppKit

User comments

Share your experience with using Sidebar and DockGroups. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Sidebar seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 5 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Sidebar mentions (5)

DockGroups mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of DockGroups yet. Tracking of DockGroups recommendations started around Jul 2026.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Sidebar and DockGroups, you can also consider the following products

Designer Daily Report - Everything about design in 5 minutes

DockFlow - Switch between dock presets on MacOS instantly

TOOOLS.design - A free and growing archive of 900+ design resources, weekly updated for the community.

DockIt Space - Organize your Mac Dock like never before with custom profiles for different workflow, manual profiles and automatic dock ordering!.

RocketDock - RocketDock is a Mac OS X dock clone.

Panda - A smart news reader built for productivity, powered by integrations.