Stretchly Alternative for Mac
Stretchly is a free, BSD-licensed break reminder: a 20-second micro break every 10 minutes, a 5-minute long break every 30, with idle and Do Not Disturb detection. It's also an Electron app, which is a real cost in memory and battery on a laptop. Notchy runs work and break cycles natively in the notch, free, with the timer visible instead of interrupting.
- Stretchly price
- Free
- Stretchly requires
- macOS 12 Monterey
- Notchy price
- Free — donations optional
Why use Notchy instead of Stretchly?
- Native, not Electron
Notchy is a SwiftUI app in the notch, so the running timer costs you a sliver of memory rather than a bundled browser. On a MacBook that shows up in battery life.
- Glanceable instead of blocking
Stretchly's model is to take over the screen when a break is due. Notchy keeps a live ring on the notch so you can see the cycle coming and finish your sentence first — with an alert when it flips.
- One island, many tools
The break cycle sits beside clipboard history, media controls, a file shelf, system stats and AI usage tracking. Stretchly is a break app and nothing else.
- Where Stretchly wins
Enforced breaks you can't wave away, micro-break scheduling, per-break themes and messages, idle-time and DND awareness, postpone and skip rules — and it runs on Windows and Linux. If you need the screen physically taken away from you, Stretchly does that and Notchy doesn't.
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 | — | — | — |
| 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 Stretchly
If you need breaks enforced, install Stretchly — it's free, cross-platform and built for exactly that. If you want a native timer you can see without an app seizing the screen, Notchy runs the cycle in the notch alongside everything else, and leaves the battery alone.
Stretchly alternative — FAQ
Is Stretchly free?
Yes. Stretchly is open source under the BSD-2-Clause licence and free on macOS, Windows and Linux, with optional sponsorship. Notchy is free too, with optional donations.
What macOS does Stretchly need?
Stretchly supports macOS 12 Monterey and later. Notchy requires macOS 13 Ventura or later, so on Monterey Stretchly is the one that runs.
Does Notchy force me to take a break?
No. Notchy shows the break on the notch and alerts you, but it won't black out the screen or block input. If you need enforcement, Stretchly is the better fit.
Can Notchy do the 20-20-20 rule?
You can set a short repeating countdown for it, but Notchy's timer is built around Pomodoro-style work and break intervals rather than dedicated micro-break scheduling.
Is an Electron break app a problem on a MacBook?
It's not fatal, but a Chromium runtime idling all day uses noticeably more memory and energy than a native menu bar or notch app. That's the main practical reason to prefer a native timer.
What else does Notchy's timer do?
Pomodoro cycles, a plain countdown and a stopwatch, all visible on the collapsed notch as a live ring, with the running timer also available as a desktop or Notification Center widget.