ZenBar

ZenBar solves a common desktop workflow problem: system status and media controls are buried in taskbar popups that require interrupting focus to access. The goal was a persistent, readable overlay that carries zero interaction cost for typical usage.

The WinUI window is configured as a layered, always-on-top window with WS_EX_TOOLWINDOW to exclude it from Alt+Tab cycling. Its position is anchored to the top edge of the primary display and recalculated on display configuration change events to handle monitor scaling or resolution changes.

System metrics (CPU, GPU, RAM usage and network upload/download speed) are collected on a 1-second polling loop running on a background thread. Results are marshaled to the UI thread via a DispatcherQueue post, keeping the render loop free from any blocking Windows API calls.

SMTC integration uses the Windows.Media.Control API to subscribe to GlobalSystemMediaTransportControlsSessionManager. When the active media session changes, the manager fires an event carrying the current track title, artist, and playback state, which ZenBar reflects in the media section of the bar.

Brightness control uses DDC/CI commands sent over the display's I2C bus via the SetVCPFeature Windows API. This controls the actual monitor brightness in hardware, which is distinct from the software gamma adjustment that most overlay tools implement.