Istanbul Menu Bar
https://github.com/f/istanbul- Category
- Lifestyle
- Rank
- No. 2193Tools index
Previous survey · No. 2167 ·
- Pricing
- Open Source
- Type
- APP
- Builder
- f
- GitHub
- 17 stars
- Latest release
- v1.2
- Date
About
macOS menu bar app for ambient Istanbul soundscapes pulled from BBC Rewind.
What it does
A focused sound player that offers location recordings of streets, markets, ferries, cafés, and landmarks. Choose a recording from the popover, control its volume, and optionally loop it or advance through the list. Each MP3 downloads on first play, then remains cached for offline listening.
Why it's ranked here
The narrow scope is the appeal. Native playback, local caching, volume control, looping, and automatic advancement cover the core background-audio job without a Dock icon or runtime dependencies. The limited catalogue and installation friction make it a specialist utility, not a general ambient-audio platform.
What's good
The app stays out of the workspace and keeps every control in one compact popover. Recordings show titles and durations, downloads expose progress, and failed catalogue loads offer a retry. Native SwiftUI and AVFoundation keep the implementation small, while caching avoids repeated network use.
Tradeoffs
It requires macOS 14 or newer and has no Windows, Linux, or mobile option. The app is not notarized, so manual installs may require clearing macOS quarantine attributes. Audio begins with a network fetch, and the BBC recordings permit only non-commercial, personal, educational, and research use.
How to use it well
It suits Mac users who want place-based background noise during focused work, reading, relaxation, or travel daydreaming. Install through Homebrew for the simplest setup, audition several scenes, set a low volume, then enable looping or automatic advancement. It does not replace a music service, sound mixer, or commercially licensed audio library.
Technical notes+
Istanbul/IstanbulApp.swift defines a SwiftUI MenuBarExtra with window styling. Istanbul/SoundManager.swift posts an Istanbul search to the BBC Rewind API, constructs BBCSound values from returned metadata, downloads MP3 files into the user cache, and plays them through AVAudioPlayer. Istanbul/ContentView.swift supplies playback state, volume, looping, auto-advance, retry, and download feedback; its loop control reaches the private player through Mirror, a brittle implementation detail. Istanbul/Istanbul.entitlements enables the app sandbox and outbound network access. build.sh creates arm64 and x86_64 builds, combines Mach-O binaries with lipo, and packages a DMG. .github/workflows/release.yml publishes tagged DMGs and updates a Homebrew cask.
Observed
- License
- Application source is MIT licensed; BBC recordings use the RemArc licence with non-commercial use restrictions.
- Primary language
- Swift, using SwiftUI and AVFoundation.
- Platform
- macOS 14 or newer.
- Install surface
- Homebrew cask or downloadable DMG.
- Interface
- Menu bar graphical application with no Dock icon.
- Architecture packaging
- Universal macOS build containing arm64 and x86_64 binaries.
- Dependencies
- Native application with no declared package product dependencies or runtime dependencies.
Read from README.md, Istanbul/ContentView.swift, Istanbul/IstanbulApp.swift, Istanbul/SoundManager.swift, LICENSE, build.sh, Istanbul/Istanbul.entitlements, Istanbul.xcodeproj/project.pbxproj, .github/workflows/release.yml, Istanbul/Assets.xcassets/Contents.json, Istanbul.xcodeproj/project.xcworkspace/contents.xcworkspacedata, Istanbul/Assets.xcassets/TrayIcon.imageset/Contents.json, Istanbul/Assets.xcassets/AppIcon.appiconset/Contents.json, Istanbul/Assets.xcassets/AccentColor.colorset/Contents.json, Istanbul.xcodeproj/xcuserdata/fka.xcuserdatad/xcschemes/xcschememanagement.plist.
What it can do
Play ambient Istanbul soundscapes
User selection from menu bar → Audio stream of Istanbul city sounds
Access BBC Rewind audio content
Internet connection and app request → Historical Istanbul audio recordings
Control audio playback from menu bar
User clicks on menu bar controls → Start, stop, or pause audio playback
Provide background ambient audio
Running application → Continuous environmental soundscape
Tags
Tech Stack
Comments (0)
No comments yet
Editorially curated, with community endorsements as a secondary signal. Corrections welcome.