A Free Bob Alternative for selected text
Bob is the translator power users install first: select text and press ⌥D, take a screenshot and press ⌥S, or type into its window, and it queries up to 12 of its 30+ translation services side by side — DeepL, Google, Microsoft, Apple, Youdao, Baidu and more — with screenshot OCR and a plugin system on top. It's a free download with an $8.99 Bob Pro unlock. Notchy comes at the same moment from the other side: select text and a small bar appears above it, with Translate one click away and no shortcut to remember.
- Bob price
- Free download; Bob Pro is $8.99 in-app
- Bob requires
- macOS 12 Monterey or later
- Notchy price
- Free — donations optional
Why use Notchy instead of Bob?
- No shortcut — the bar comes to you
Turn on Text Actions and every selection in any app gets a small bar above it: Copy, Search, Look Up and Translate. Bob waits for ⌥D; Notchy's bar is already there when your hand is on the mouse.
- The translation unfolds in place
Press Translate and the result opens in a card under the buttons, with the detected language and a Copy button. The button row never moves, so a second click lands where you expect.
- Links, addresses and sums get their own button
Select a URL and the bar offers Open Link with the tracking stripped; an email address gets New Email, a phone number gets Call, and 12*8.5 gets Copy Result.
- Where Bob is better
Bob compares many services at once, keeps a translation history and favourites, does screenshot and offline OCR, and has a plugin system. Notchy translates through one service and has no history. If translation is your job, Bob is the deeper tool.
How Notchy stacks up
Honest, feature-by-feature comparison of every major macOS notch app — no affiliates.
Swipe the table sideways to see every app.
| Feature | Notchy | Alcove | NotchNook | Boring Notch | DynamicLake | MediaMate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 100% Free | $17 one-time | $25 (or $3/mo) | Free (Open Source) | Paid | Paid |
| Minimum macOS | macOS 13 Ventura+ | macOS 14 Sonoma+ | macOS 14 Sonoma+ | macOS 14 Sonoma+ | macOS 14 Sonoma+ | macOS 14 Sonoma+ |
| Architecture | Pure SwiftUI (Native) | Swift (Native) | Swift (Native) | Swift (Open Source) | Swift (Native) | Swift (Native) |
| Now Playing Controls | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| AI Usage Tracker (Claude / Codex / Cursor) | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Command Palette (⌃⌥K) | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Localized (134 languages) | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Clipboard History | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Pomodoro Focus Timer | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| File Stash / Drop Shelf | Yes | — | Yes | Yes | — | — |
| System HUDs (Volume/Brightness) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| AirPods Connected Reveal | Yes | Yes | Yes | — | — | — |
| Lock Screen Widgets | Yes | Yes | — | — | — | — |
| Quick Notes | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Calendar Widget | Yes | — | Yes | Yes | Yes | — |
| Caffeine Toggle | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Synced Lyrics | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Image Converter (HEIC/JPG/PDF) | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Apple Reminders Capture | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Audio Output Switcher | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Device Battery (Mouse/Keyboard) | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Download Finished Alerts | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Run Apple Shortcuts | Yes | — | Yes | — | — | — |
| Camera Mirror / Webcam Preview | Yes | — | Yes | — | — | — |
| Zip & Unzip Files | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Hide the Notch | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Window Snapping (drag to notch) | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| App Launcher Tab | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| OCR + Searchable Clipboard | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Text Snippets / Expander | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Menu-Bar Icon Hiding | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| System-Wide Mic Mute | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Live System Stats (CPU/RAM) | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| iPhone-Style Call Island | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Built-In Terminal | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Camera Guard (camera-access alerts) | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
Everything Notchy does, for free
- 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
- 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
- Open GitHub PR count in the notch (Keychain-stored token)
- 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 Bob
Bob is the better translator — more services, OCR, history and plugins. Notchy is the lighter everyday bar: select, click Translate or Search, done, for free and alongside the rest of the notch.
Bob alternative — FAQ
Is Bob free?
Bob is a free download on the Mac App Store with an optional Bob Pro unlock listed at $8.99. Notchy's Text Actions are free, with no Pro tier.
Does Notchy translate selected text like Bob?
Yes, from 1.0.198. Turn on Text Actions in Settings → Pointer → Text, select text in any app and press Translate on the bar. The source language is detected for you.
Which translation service does Notchy use?
Google Translate, through the same public endpoint the web page uses — no account or key. That means the text you translate is sent to Google. Bob lets you choose among 30+ services, including on-device Apple translation.
Does Notchy do screenshot translation or OCR?
Notchy has OCR — it reads text out of copied images in clipboard history — but no screenshot-to-translation shortcut like Bob's ⌥S.
Can I use Bob and Notchy together?
Yes. Leave Bob on its shortcuts for heavy translation and use Notchy's bar for quick copy, search and look-up. If PopClip is running too, Notchy's bar steps aside so you never get two bars on one selection.
Does Notchy's bar appear in password fields?
No. It never reads a selection while secure input is on, and it ignores drags on buttons, sliders and window chrome.