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wifi display – simple network awareness
Ever wished you could see at a glance whether your network has changed without having to click on the Wifi icon in the Status bar to check the currently active connection? I know I have, particularly when toting the laptop between work, home and coffee shop.
Although you can require admin approval for changing networks in System Preferences, in practice that can often be quite disruptive. It also has the potential to expose your login password in public places or situations where it might be awkward or inconvenient to insist on privacy while you type it in.
It would be easier, it seemed to me, if I could just always see the name of the currently connected network in the Status bar, instead of having to actively go and look to see if it has changed.
I decided to solve the problem by writing my own little Wifi Display utility, which I’m sharing here for free for anyone that has a similar need.
The Wifi Display.app simply displays the currently active SSID Wifi name in the Status bar. You can command-drag the Wifi name along the Status bar to move it next to your Wifi icon for visual contiguity. The app is sandboxed and signed with my Apple developer ID.
Wifi Display is free to use and requires macOS 10.10 Yosemite or higher.
Share and enjoy! 🙂
how to display wifi name (ssid) in menu bar
If you’re one for visiting coffee shops and other places with public networks, you might have an interest in today’s Hammerspoon tip.
This little code added to your config file will display the name (SSID) of the currently connected Wifi network in your menu bar. Whenever the Wifi network changes, the name will automatically update so you can always see at a glance that you’re connected to the Wifi network that you think you are.
Playing around with that unusually long number (between 2147483644 and …647) will move the SSID name along the icon bar. Set it to the default ‘1000’ if you want macOS to decide where it should be.
wifiWatcher = nilfunction ssidChanged()local wifiName = hs.wifi.currentNetwork()if wifiName thenwifiMenu:setTitle(wifiName)elsewifiMenu:setTitle("Wifi OFF")endendwifiMenu = hs.menubar.newWithPriority(2147483645)ssidChanged()wifiWatcher = hs.wifi.watcher.new(ssidChanged):start()
Enjoy! 🙂
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