Apple's Interface Guideline for the Touch Bar on the MacBook Pro says that it is intended to be used as an input device, not a secondary display.

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The Touch Bar shouldn't display alerts, messages, scrolling content, static content, or anything else that commands the user's attention or distracts from their work on the main screen.

That hasn't stopped some developers from creating uniquely useless apps that are fun, if not functional. You won't find these apps in the App Store because Apple wouldn't approve them, but you can download and install them directly and make your Touch Bar sparkle.

Note: Apps on this list might not be from identified developers and haven't been security checked by app review staff. That means they could have bugs, malware, spyware, or other problems. Please take this into consideration before downloading apps from unidentified developers and always backup your Mac.

Here are the best Touch Bar apps you won't find in the App Store!

Touch Bar Nyancat

It's Nyan Cat in your Touch Bar – complete with music! Sometimes I trigger Nyan Cat just to make me smile. Nothing beats a rainbow Pop Tart cart running across your Touch Bar!

Knight TouchBar 2000

If you want to make your Space Gray MacBook Pro look really cool, grab this funny little tool and see Kit's light runner in your Touch Bar. Hum along to the Knight Rider soundtrack while you ask Siri to look something up for you. Seriously, you'll feel like a rock star.

Touchbar Santa

When the weather starts to get frightful, but the fire feels so delightful, invite Santa to rock your Touch Bar for a while. Sip hot cocoa while a remix of Jingle Bells is sung by Ol' Blue Eyes (that's Frank Sinatra for you youngsters). Just like most thing around the holidays, you'll get sick of this pretty quick.

TouchBarBar

If you are longing for a nice, refreshing beverage, but have to wait until quittin' time, you can scratch that itch with this funny little gag. It puts four alcoholic beverage emojis on your Touch Bar. When you tap one, you'll hear the sound of the selected beverage being poured. Refreshing!

Touch Bar Dino

Here is one of the first mini-games you can play on the Touch Bar. Its a game called Dino and it's based on the hidden Easter egg dinosaur game in Google Chrome. Tap the screen to jump over the cacti. Simple, fun, and makes great use of your Touch Bar (considering it's completely useless).

Touch Bar Space Flight

This is another one of the first mini-games for the MacBook Pro. You actually use keys to maneuver. Use the up and down arrows to avoid getting hit by incoming baddies and use the space bar to wipe them off the map with your laser fire. Talk about a time waster. Best of all, your boss will think you're just typing away like a good little worker!

SL on Touch Bar

This is just a silly little joke for the Touch Bar. It's based on a coding joke about a steam locomotive showing up on your screen when you accidentally type 'ls' into a command line. What makes it special, though, is that you can change the look of the little locomotive if you know what you're doing. Your steam engine can become a bullet train!

TouchSwitcher for Touch Bar

This has quickly become one of my favorite Touch Bar tools and I'm betting it will show up in the App Store eventually. Its an app switcher for all apps that you have open on your MacBook Pro. Every app that you have open will appear in the Touch Bar. Then, you can simply tap one and go directly to it. Normally, you'd have to press Command and Tab on your keyboard to access the app switcher. Sure, some of us remember the keyboard shortcut, but for those that don't, TouchSwitcher is a gem. Plus, you can see what apps are open without having to cover your screen with that big icon list. This is a winner in my book.

Your favorites?

Do you have any favorite Touch Bar apps that aren't available in the Mac App Store? Put them in the comments!

Updated July 2019: Updated for the latest MacBooks with Touch Bars.

MacBook Pro

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The Touch Bar on MacBook Pro gives you quick access to commands on your Mac, and changes automatically based on what you’re doing and which apps you’re using. The Touch Bar is available on MacBook Pro models from 2016 or later, excluding the MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports) and MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports).

Find system controls and settings in the Control Strip

When you start up your MacBook Pro, the Control Strip on the right side of the Touch Bar shows a few familiar buttons like volume, mute and display brightness, as well as Siri. Tap the expand button in the Control Strip to access controls like brightness, Mission Control, Launchpad and media playback.

16-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar

To access the F1–F12 function buttons on the Touch Bar, press the Function (fn) button at the bottom-left of your keyboard.

16-inch MacBook Pro with Touch bar has a dedicated Escape (Esc) key. With 13- or 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, the Escape (Esc) button appears on the left side of the Touch Bar.

Explore the Touch Bar in apps

Many of the built-in apps on your Mac have Touch Bar controls that make common actions even easier. For example, in Mail, you can use Touch Bar for composing, replying, archiving, marking as junk and flagging messages.

While you’re composing emails, the Touch Bar predicts as you type — tap a word or emoji in the Touch Bar to insert it.

When you select text, the Touch Bar shows you formatting options like bold, italic and lists.

Most apps, including most third-party apps, include shortcuts, tools and controls in the Touch Bar for the tasks that you want to do. Tap around to see what you can accomplish quickly and easily.

Customise your Touch Bar

In many apps, like Finder, Mail and Safari, you can customise the Touch Bar.

Choose View > Customise Touch Bar. The customisation window appears on your display, allowing you to choose your favourite items:

When you're customising the Touch Bar, its buttons jiggle. Use your cursor to drag items that you want from the display down into the Touch Bar.

You can also drag items left and right within the Touch Bar to rearrange them, or drag them up and out of the Touch Bar to remove them. Click Done on the screen when you finish.

Customise the Control Strip

You can also add, remove or rearrange Control Strip buttons, including Siri.

In any app that supports customisation (such as Finder), Select View > Customise Touch Bar. Touch the Control Strip region of the Touch Bar to switch to Control Strip customisation.

Then use your cursor to drag items that you want from the display down into the Control Strip.

Drag items left and right within the Control Strip to rearrange them, or drag them up and out of the Touch Bar to remove them. Click Done on the screen when you finish.

You can also enter Control Strip customisation mode by clicking 'Customise Control Strip' in the Keyboard section of System Preferences.

Mac Touchbar Pet

Use accessibility options with Touch Bar

The accessibility features that help you use your Mac can also help you use the Touch Bar. Hold the Command key while you press Touch ID (power button) three times to toggle VoiceOver, which reads aloud Touch Bar commands.

Scratch Live On Touch Bar Mac Pro

Learn more about using accessibility features with Touch Bar.