The menu bar, the Dock and app settings

The menu bar icon

Show Doghouse in the menu bar is on by default. The icon is the Doghouse mascot; it gains a green dot while any vault is unlocked, so a glance tells you whether something is open. Clicking it shows either the compact panel or a plain menu, chosen with Menu bar click shows.

The compact panel

The default. A small window under the icon with:

• A header with a Free or PRO badge (Free is a shortcut to the shop) and Lock All while anything is open.
• One row per vault: a ring that fills with the vault’s usage (orange above 80 %, red above 95 %; a padlock for a locked Pocket Vault, whose fill level is unknown until it is open), the name, and a caption such as “2.1 GB used of 10 GB” or “Waiting for disk”. On the right, Unlock, or for an open vault a folder button (Open in Finder, or Open for a Pocket Vault) and Lock. Right-click a row for Reveal Vault File in Finder, Locate Vault… when needed, and More in Doghouse….
• A footer: + (New Vault…, Add Existing Vault…), Open Doghouse, Settings, What’s New, About, and Quit Doghouse.

When unlocking needs a password, a standalone “Unlock Vault” window appears rather than the main window.

The plain menu

Choose Plain menu for a standard macOS dropdown: the license line (“Doghouse PRO” or “Doghouse Free — one vault” with Buy Doghouse…), one item per vault (“Unlock “Name”” for locked vaults, a submenu with Open in Finder and Lock for unlocked ones, “Locate “Name”” or ““Name” — waiting for disk” when the file is unavailable), Lock All, Add Existing Vault…, Open Doghouse, Settings…, What’s New…, About… and Quit Doghouse.

Hide Doghouse in the Dock

Off by default. Turn it on to run Doghouse purely from the menu bar: “Doghouse won’t appear in the Dock or the ⌘Tab switcher — reach it from the menu bar icon (kept on while the Dock icon is hidden).” The menu bar switch is locked on while this is enabled, so the app can never become unreachable. Open the main window from the panel’s window button or the menu’s Open Doghouse.

Launch Doghouse at login

Off by default. Registers Doghouse as a login item through macOS; it also appears in System Settings › General › Login Items & Extensions, where it can be removed too. Combine it with a vault’s Unlock automatically when Doghouse starts to have a vault ready after you log in. If macOS refuses the change, Settings shows “Could not update the login item: …” and the switch returns to its previous state.

Design

The Design pop-up offers Classic, Native Pro, Night Watch and Soft Focus: “Same features in every design — pick the look you like. Switches instantly.” The right-click menu, sheets and settings are identical in all four. Night Watch is a dark design that also shows a short activity log of recent unlocks and locks (the last 50, kept in the app’s preferences on this Mac); the menu bar panel takes its accent colour from the chosen design.

Every setting and its default