Free Sleeve Alternative for Mac
Sleeve 3 is a genuinely lovely album-art player — but version 3 raised its floor to macOS 26 Tahoe, which strands every Mac that can't or won't upgrade. Notchy shows the same artwork, scrubber and transport controls in your notch, runs back to macOS 13 Ventura, and costs nothing.
- Sleeve price
- $5.99 one-time
- Sleeve requires
- macOS 26 Tahoe
- Notchy price
- Free — donations optional
Why use Notchy instead of Sleeve?
- Runs on Macs Sleeve 3 has dropped
Sleeve 3 requires macOS 26 Tahoe. If your Mac is on Ventura, Sonoma or Sequoia you simply cannot run the current version. Notchy supports macOS 13 Ventura and later, so an older MacBook still gets full artwork and playback control.
- Album art in the notch, not a floating window
Sleeve draws a separate desktop widget you position yourself and that Mission Control can bury. Notchy anchors to the notch itself — artwork expands on hover, collapses out of the way, and never overlaps the window you're working in.
- Music control is one feature, not the whole app
Sleeve is a dedicated music widget at $5.99. Notchy covers the same Apple Music and Spotify controls and adds a clipboard history shelf, a drag-and-drop file stash, a Pomodoro timer, AirPods battery and system HUDs — for $0.
How Notchy stacks up
Honest, feature-by-feature comparison of every major macOS notch app — no affiliates.
| 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 | — | — | — |
| 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/Mic Privacy Indicator | 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
- 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
The honest verdict on Sleeve
Sleeve is a well-made, fairly priced music widget, and its theming and Last.fm support genuinely beat Notchy's. The reason to switch is reach and scope: Sleeve 3 needs macOS 26 Tahoe and does one job, while Notchy runs from Ventura up and folds music control into a notch that also handles clipboard, files, timers and system HUDs.
Sleeve alternative — FAQ
Is Sleeve free?
No. Sleeve 3 is $5.99 as a one-time purchase, with no subscription and no in-app purchases — an honest, cheap price. Notchy is free outright, funded only by optional donations.
Why won't Sleeve 3 run on my Mac?
Sleeve 3 requires macOS 26 Tahoe. On anything older the current build will not install. Sleeve 2 may still run, but it stops receiving fixes. Notchy targets macOS 13 Ventura and later, so it installs on Macs Sleeve 3 has left behind.
Does Notchy support Spotify as well as Apple Music?
Yes — both. Notchy reads the system Now Playing feed, so Apple Music, Spotify and most other players show artwork, title and transport controls without any per-app setup.
Can I get album art on the MacBook notch for free?
Yes. Notchy renders the current track's artwork directly in the notch, expanding to a full player with scrubber and volume on hover, at no cost.
Does Sleeve support Last.fm scrobbling and Notchy doesn't?
Correct — this is a real gap. Sleeve integrates with Last.fm for scrobbling and can like tracks in Spotify. If Last.fm scrobbling is central to your listening, Sleeve does something Notchy currently does not.
Is Sleeve's theming better than Notchy's?
Sleeve's theme system is deeper — you can create, edit and share themes controlling artwork scale, corner radius, shadow and typography. Notchy is more opinionated, matching the native Dynamic Island look rather than offering a theme editor.