Yoink Alternative: The Drop Shelf You Don't Have to Buy
Yoink asks money for a holding area. Notchy turns the dead space of your notch into a free drop shelf that persists across quits and relaunches — and works for you: zip and unzip archives, convert HEIC to JPG offline, turn videos into GIFs, auto-stage screenshots, share via AirDrop.
Why use Notchy instead of Yoink?
- Free, and always where the cursor is
Drag files onto the notch — no window to position, no edge to remember. Items persist until you drag them out, even across restarts.
- A shelf with superpowers
Select shelf items and zip them into one archive, expand archives, convert images between HEIC/PNG/JPEG/TIFF/PDF fully offline, or convert video to GIF.
- Screenshots auto-staged
Every screenshot lands on the shelf as a draggable island automatically — plus the other 30 tools Notchy ships for $0.
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)
- 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
Yoink alternative — FAQ
Is there a free Yoink alternative for Mac?
Yes — Notchy. Yoink charges for its drag-and-drop shelf; Notchy's notch shelf is free, persists across restarts, and adds zip, image conversion and screenshot staging.
Does the Notchy shelf persist across restarts?
Yes. Files you stash in the Notchy drop shelf stay there across app and Mac restarts, so nothing is lost when you reboot.
Does Notchy's shelf do more than Yoink?
It adds zip/unzip, image conversion (HEIC, PNG, JPEG, PDF) and automatic screenshot staging on top of drag-and-drop holding.
Is Notchy free?
Yes — completely free, supported only by optional donations.