An ActivityWatch Alternative that lives in the notch
ActivityWatch is the privacy-first time tracker: free, MPL-2.0, on macOS, Windows, Linux and Android, tracking the active app and window title with browser extensions for sites — all stored on your device and viewed in a local web UI at localhost:5600. Notchy's Screen Time card, new in 1.0.178, shares the local-only principle but skips the dashboard: your day, app by app, one swipe into the notch.
Looking for ActivityWatch itself? It lives at activitywatch.net.
- ActivityWatch price
- Free
- ActivityWatch requires
- macOS, Windows, Linux and Android
- Notchy price
- $24.99 one-time, 7-day free trial
Why use Notchy instead of ActivityWatch?
- No dashboard to open
Totals, a daily average, the top five apps and a seven-day chart sit in Notchy's Activity tab.
- Local by design
Like ActivityWatch, nothing leaves the Mac. There's no account and no server.
- Next to your other stats
The same app shows typing, clicks and focus rings, plus CPU, battery and AI usage.
- Where ActivityWatch is better
Detail and reach: window titles, websites through browser extensions, custom watchers, exports, and every major platform. Notchy counts apps only, on this Mac only.
Everything Notchy does, in one app
- Fluid Dynamic Island animations on the Mac notch
- Command palette (⌃⌥K) — every action one keystroke away
- Knock — double-tap a modifier key to open the notch
- AI usage tracker (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Copilot)
- Detach any tab into a menu-bar popover
- Now Playing music controls (Apple Music & Spotify)
- Time-synced karaoke lyrics under the notch
- Mac clipboard history shelf (password-manager safe)
- Searchable clipboard — filter by text, file name, or OCR'd words
- On-device OCR — copy a screenshot, get its text (Apple Vision)
- Window snapping — drag a window to the notch to tile it
- App Launcher — pin apps to the notch, open with one tap
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- Text snippets — TextExpander-style pastes from the ⌘K palette
- One-tap screen capture to clipboard + shelf
- Color eyedropper — sample any pixel, hex auto-copied
- System-wide mic mute for every meeting app at once
- Keystroke HUD for demos & screencasts (secure-input safe)
- Keyboard cleaning lock with countdown island (⌘⎋ unlocks)
- Menu-bar icon hiding — Bartender-style separator & chevron
- Live CPU / memory / network stats flyout
- Custom islands through the local developer API (off by default)
- iPhone-style call island — Answer/Decline FaceTime on the notch
- Notch Terminal — real VT100/xterm shell in a PTY, its own tab
- Camera Guard — alert (or block) when any app opens your camera
- Caps Lock HUD — brief island on every toggle
- Full Charge island with adjustable threshold + low-battery sound
- Alt HUD styles — edge-pinned bar or circular gauge off the notch
- Audio-reactive Now Playing visualizer (real FFT of system audio)
- Custom closed-notch idle animation — drop in your own Lottie JSON
- Drag-and-drop file drop shelf — persists across relaunches
- Zip & unzip files right from the shelf
- Image converter (HEIC, PNG, JPEG, TIFF, PDF) + video → GIF
- Run Apple Shortcuts with one tap
- Screenshots auto-staged on the shelf, ready to drag
- Download finished alerts with Reveal in Finder
- USB drive mount island with one-tap Eject
- Apple Reminders quick capture & due list
- macOS Pomodoro notch timer & stopwatch — streaks + 7-day chart
- Resizable expanded panel (width & height, live preview)
- System HUDs (volume, brightness, battery)
- Audio output switcher (speakers, AirPods, monitor)
- AirPods connection manager & battery
- Magic Mouse, Keyboard & Trackpad battery + low-battery alerts
- Quick notes & Calendar widgets
- Camera Mirror (check your appearance)
- Keep Awake (caffeine toggle)
- Teleprompter (Cuely) for Zoom calls
- Focus-aware alerts & native haptic feedback
- Lock screen widgets & hide-the-notch mode
- 134 languages, fully localized
- Native SwiftUI, tuned for Apple silicon
The honest verdict on ActivityWatch
ActivityWatch is the tinkerer's choice and is excellent at it. Notchy is for people who want the same local, private answer without running a dashboard.
ActivityWatch alternative — FAQ
Is ActivityWatch free?
Yes. It's open source under MPL-2.0 with no premium tiers, usage limits or ads.
Does ActivityWatch upload my data?
No — it stores tracking data on your device and never sends it to a server. Notchy works the same way.
Can Notchy export my screen time?
No. ActivityWatch's exports and API are the right tool if you want to analyse your data.
How does Notchy handle idle time?
Five minutes without input and the clock stops. The lock screen and screensaver never count.
Is Notchy free?
No. Notchy is a one-time $24.99 purchase for one Mac, with a 7-day free trial and updates included — no subscription or in-app purchase.