The free Swish Alternative for windows and Spaces
Swish turns the trackpad into a window manager: swipe a titlebar to snap into a 2×2, 3×2 or 3×3 grid, pinch to close, swipe down to minimise, pinch out for full screen, and swipe to throw a window onto another screen — 30 gestures in all, for $16 after a 14-day trial. Notchy comes at the same problem from the notch: drag-to-edge snapping into halves, quarters and thirds, a Spaces card where every desktop carries a name you chose, and a swipe across the pill to move between them. Free.
- Swish price
- $16 one-time (two machines per licence); 14-day free trial, 33% student discount
- Swish requires
- macOS 12 or later
- Notchy price
- Free — donations optional
Why use Notchy instead of Swish?
- Snapping without learning 30 gestures
Drag a window to an edge or corner and it takes that half, quarter or third, or use a shortcut. Nothing to memorise, and nothing to buy.
- Spaces you can name
Swish moves windows between screens. Notchy's Spaces card shows every desktop on the display you're using, each under a name you gave it, and switches with a click, a swipe on the notch or a hotkey.
- One app, not a single-purpose one
The same free download is a clipboard manager, a music controller, a Pomodoro timer, Face Unlock and a battery charge limit. Swish does gestures, and does them well, but that is all it does.
- Where Swish does more
Its gesture vocabulary is far richer — pinch, swipe and tap on titlebars, the Dock and the menu bar, with 3×3 grid targets and arrow, WASD, IJKL and Dvorak hotkeys. Notchy has no gesture engine of that kind, and it does not move a window from one Space to another.
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 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
- 133 languages, fully localized
- Native SwiftUI, tuned for Apple Silicon
The honest verdict on Swish
If the trackpad is how you think about windows, Swish is a genuinely delightful $16 and nothing here replaces it. If you mostly want windows snapped and desktops labelled, without another paid utility in the menu bar, Notchy covers that from the notch for nothing.
Swish alternative — FAQ
How much does Swish cost?
$16 as a one-time purchase, with no recurring fee, after a 14-day free trial. One licence covers two machines, and students get 33% off with a .edu address, per highlyopinionated.co.
Can Notchy snap windows without a trackpad gesture?
Yes — drag a window to a screen edge or corner, or use a keyboard shortcut. Halves, quarters and thirds, with no licence.
Can Notchy move a window to another Space?
No. Notchy switches which Space you're on; it doesn't carry windows between them. Swish moves windows between screens, and macOS itself can drag a window onto another desktop in Mission Control.
Does Notchy have trackpad gestures?
Only two, and they're notch gestures rather than window ones: swipe across the pill to change Space, and knock on the chassis to run an action. Swish is the app for a full gesture vocabulary.
What macOS do they need?
Swish needs macOS 12 or later. Notchy runs from macOS 13 Ventura on Intel and Apple silicon.
Is Notchy really free?
Yes — no trial, licence key, subscription or in-app purchase.