Permute alternative: image conversion by drag
Permute is a proper $14.99 media converter that handles video, audio and images. Notchy does the image half free — drag a HEIC to the notch, get a JPG — with no app to open.
| Permute | Notchy | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $14.99 licence, or via Setapp | Free — optional donations |
| Image conversion | Yes | Yes — HEIC, PNG, JPG by drag |
| Video and audio conversion | Yes | No |
| Trim, crop, resize, subtitles | Yes | No |
| How you use it | Open the app, drop files in | Drag to the notch |
| Anything beyond converting | No | 50+ tools in the same island |
From Charlie Monroe Software’s own site and Setapp listing, checked against Notchy’s shipping build.
Permute is a media tool; Notchy is a shortcut
Video, audio, batch jobs, codecs, subtitles, target file sizes — that is real work and Permute does it properly. Notchy converts images and nothing else, which is worth being clear about before anyone downloads the wrong thing.
The HEIC problem
Photos from an iPhone arrive as HEIC and half the web will not take them. Dragging one to the notch turns it into a JPG in a second, which is a smaller problem than Permute is built for.
It lands on the shelf
Converted files stay on the drop shelf, so you drag straight from there into the upload — no round trip through Downloads.
Archives too
The same drag handles zipping and unzipping, which is the other thing people keep a small utility around for.
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
- Privacy Indicator — pill when any app's camera or mic goes live
- 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
- 133 languages, fully localized
- Native SwiftUI, tuned for Apple Silicon
Notchy vs Permute — FAQ
How much is Permute?
$14.99 for a permanent licence, or included in a Setapp subscription. Notchy converts images free, but Permute does far more than images — so this is not a like-for-like swap.
Does Notchy convert video?
No. Notchy converts images — HEIC, PNG and JPG — by dragging them to the notch. Permute handles video and audio too, with trimming, cropping, resizing, subtitles and target file sizes. If you touch video at all, Permute is the app.
What does Notchy actually do here?
The common annoyance: someone sends you a HEIC and the thing you need to upload it to only takes JPG. Drag it to the notch, get the format you need, carry on. No app to open, no export dialog.
Is there a free way to convert HEIC to JPG on Mac?
Preview can export one file at a time, which is fine occasionally and tedious in bulk. Notchy does it from the notch for free, and keeps the converted file on the drop shelf so you can drag it straight where it is going.
Which should I pick?
If you convert video, batch media, or need control over codecs and output size, buy Permute — it is a proper media tool and $14.99 is fair. If you occasionally need a HEIC as a JPG, Notchy handles it free alongside everything else.
Can I run both?
Yes, and it is a natural split — Permute for real media work, Notchy for the quick format change you do without thinking.
Compare Notchy vs 146 Mac Apps
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