CandyBar - December 31, 2003
Author: Panic & The Iconfactory
Cost: $12.95
Version: 1.6.3
Reviewed by: Phillip Ryu
User Rating: 
64%
In the pre-Candybar era, system icon replacement used to be a pain, if not almost impossible. The applications or two that existed back then were usually buggy, ugly, and were thus largely unsupported. Today, however, system icons have become a large part of your OS X customization, largely thanks to this little app that could.
Features
CandyBar's allows you to change your system icons in two ways; either by dragging and dropping in your own icons one by one, or opening "iContainers", which are pre-made icon sets. Think of them as themes for your icons. You can also save your own configurations as iContainers, and there is also a 'restore default icons' function, which is self explainable.
CandyBar comes with several 'starter sets' of iContainers created by several IconFactory designers, and integration with the IconFactory's archives makes finding additional iContainers a breeze. (Though one wonders if it would be an even breezier breeze if the IconFactory's collection was integrated right into CandyBar.) And that's that. CandyBar is extremely simple, slim, and clean. As a system icon changer, it was probably a good choice to keep this a Panic 'li'l app'.
Ease of Use
CandyBar is extremely easy to use. Since most users will be replacing their system icons via iContainers, the process is extremely simple: double click an iContainer, wait until it loads, and click apply. There is simply nothing ambiguous or unintuitive about CandyBar, in part due to Panic's excellent design, and also because of the simplicity of the app's nature and function.
Price
In this reviewer's opinion, CandyBar is not worth $12.95. There is no doubt that Panic has explored every inch of the icon changing world, and given us the best of their finds. There is no doubt that CandyBar is well supported, by both Panic, the IconFactory, and many artists. However, only the iron grip that the closed iContainer format holds over icon sets, and the lack of any real competition makes the $12.95 a price that most mac GUI fans will pay. Unlike some other convicted over-priced applications, CandyBar seems to have reached a dead end as far as features goes, so a purchase wouldn't be a long term investment either.
Nevertheless, CandyBar remains still an excellent application in its field, and probably the best it could be. Every necessary feature is there, and the ease of use is about as easy as it gets, and for that, I congratulate Panic. Now, if only CandyBar was a few dollars less...
Comments
Posted by Thunderchild at January 1, 2004 02:24 AM | Edit | Delete
You take CandyBar to task over its price, but think Konfabulator's a bargain? Um, no. I've gotten waaaay more than $13 worth of use out of CandyBar.
Posted by Ernest Liu at January 1, 2004 02:29 AM | Edit | Delete
Candybar is great! I agree that the price is a bit on the high side. I think the iContainers should have some sort of compression, making a quicker download... well I guess making it a SIT file does the trick. I like the icon; very creative =).
Posted by rorschach at January 1, 2004 03:12 AM | Edit | Delete
CandyBar is a bit on the pricey side, no doubt. But it's saved me so much time that it's definately worth it!
BTW, can we use any HTML with these comments?
Posted by Wade at January 2, 2004 02:34 PM | Edit | Delete
Hi, I would just like to point out that the iContainer format is not a closed format. I'm one of the developers who worked on CandyBar (and Pixadex) and we are more than happy to provide documentation on the format for anyone who's interested. Just email us or the Icon Factory and we'd be happy to provide the information. I'd also like to say that we definitely have plans for future versions of CandyBar, so to say that it's "hit a dead end as far as features go" is definitely a little bit presumptuous. I can't comment on anything specific, but rest assured, we think all you GUI fans out there will like what we have planned.
Wade
Panic, Inc.
Posted by Phillip Ryu at January 2, 2004 04:01 PM | Edit | Delete
Indeed, the iContainer format seems open, in that IconBox reads it. I look forward to the new features you have planned, and hope that they keep up the high standard and slim profile that CandyBar has maintained so far.
Posted by Andrew L. Neff at January 2, 2004 04:03 PM | Edit | Delete
Hi Wade,
It would be pretty nice if average users could open the contents with included icons in .icns, .png or .tiff format by right-click on any iContainer file and select Show Package Contents. Right now, people are forced to purchase Pixadex in order to modify/extract the icons (please correct me if I'm wrong).
In the Read Me File, it doesn't say anything about contacting Panic for a documentation on the format so I think Phill Ryu's review is still pretty fair.
Posted by at January 2, 2004 04:56 PM | Edit | Delete
What has candybar added in major features since 1.0?
Posted by danielgrenell at January 4, 2004 01:48 AM | Edit | Delete
i'd give it an 8.5-9.0
it has no real room to grow, but it is very useful and good at what it does
there is a rumor that shapeshifter will include icon changing in a later version (2.0?)
Posted by Gito at January 7, 2004 11:18 AM | Edit | Delete
I paid the $12.95 and LOVE icons but I just wish to change more icons, for example iTunes? or what about Mail? Maybe they will improve it soon.
Posted by samdm90 at January 28, 2004 12:53 PM | Edit | Delete
It would be nice if Panic and the IF offered a free utility to 'expand' iContainers into regular folders of icons.
Posted by blackjack at February 12, 2004 08:06 PM | Edit | Delete
Fine and fantastic
Posted by Wes at February 24, 2004 06:29 AM | Edit | Delete
I love the app and happily bought it. My only complaint: the icon looks like someone took a bite out of a bar of soap with a body wash filling.
Posted by iNeusch at April 29, 2004 11:59 AM | Edit | Delete
I've always wondered if I should buy this one... Maybe SS will do the same thing later. Hint !
Posted by Heiesuke at April 30, 2004 10:05 AM | Edit | Delete
this has been a godsend i mean i do have a problem with the whole not icontainer not letting me choose individual icons and having an extra folder of the icons by themselves but hey, ya can't have everything.
Posted by Michael Heilemann at May 20, 2004 04:57 AM | Edit | Delete
I love CandyBar. I gladly paid the fee to be able to customize my entire system, literally, at the push of a button. This beats anything I've seen on any other platform period.
Posted by luxuryluke at May 27, 2004 12:06 PM | Edit | Delete
A new version is out: 1.6.4! check it out!
Posted by Mark Miller at June 22, 2004 11:45 PM | Edit | Delete
great software.. buy it!
Posted by Michael Hariot at September 11, 2004 01:06 PM | Edit | Delete
nice site i really like it
Posted by Hall Carolyn at October 2, 2004 04:41 AM | Edit | Delete
It's safer to play with a man's wife than with his cliches.
Posted by outsider at February 4, 2006 12:06 PM | Edit | Delete
Posted by outsider at February 4, 2006 12:06 PM | Edit | Delete
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