After some additional work, the second version of Omnibar just launched on Mac. This version includes a command palette, with interaction which I based on three sources:

  • Zen Browser (regarding handling of web stuff)
  • Nova Editor (it’s what I aimed for concerning app functionality, including tab switching and menu bar lookup)
  • LaunchBar (its URL expansion, such as .nytimes expanding into https://www.nytimes.com heavily informed the app)

Venting on some technical hurdles regarding the app

This command palette, due to it being rendered in the web view, had to be done using the WebExtensions API. As a result, I tried migrating the entire extension (in the toolbar as well) into this API. This resulted in major slowdown of about half a second when clicking the toolbar icon, due to how Safari renders WebExtensions, and as a result the app ships both a Safari App Extension (for the toolbar) and a WebExtension (for the palette).

Due to the implementation of the command palette, a decision was made to ship an iPad port of the extension (still in App Review as of writing this post, Oct 7 2026 9:13 Jerusalem time), for people who use tablets with keyboard attachments.

Download Omnibar on the App Store