The Dock is a desktop application designed to reduce desktop clutter, provide users with feedback about an application, and allow users to switch easily between tasks. With Mac OS X version 10.1 and later, you can customize your application Dock tile by modifying the Dock icon and adding items to the menu displayed for your application. With Mac OS X version 10.5 and later, Cocoa applications can customize the Dock icon of a minimized window.
This document provides an overview of the Dock and describes how you can customize the menu associated with your application Dock tile. It does not describe how to create icons. You should consult Apple Human Interface Guidelines for tips on designing Dock icons, naming Dock menu items, and using badges in your Dock tile.
This document is organized into the following sections:
“Dock Tile Concepts” describes the purpose and use of the Dock, the icon used by an application Dock tile, and the menu that is available for a Dock tile.
“Dock Tile Tasks for Cocoa Applications” describes how to customize Dock icons and the application Dock tile menu inside a Cocoa application.
“Creating a Dock Tile Plug-in” describes how to create a Cocoa plug-in that can customize your application’s Dock icon and menu when your Cocoa application is not running.
“Dock Tile Tasks for Carbon Applications” describes how to customize Dock icons and the application Dock tile menu inside a Carbon application.
These references are relevant to customizing a Dock tile on Cocoa:
These references are relevant to customizing a Dock tile on Carbon:
Tiler is a sample application that shows how to set Dock tiles and badges.
For information on creating icons, see:
Obtaining and Using Icons With Icon Services
Icon Services and Utilities Reference
Last updated: 2009-08-28