FAQs

Yes — Notchy ships through a personal Homebrew tap. Run `brew install --cask vishvavariya/notchy/notchy` and you're done. Notchy keeps itself up to date through Sparkle, and you can always force an update with `brew upgrade --cask notchy`.

Report any issue by emailing us at variyavishva98@gmail.com or starting a discussion on our GitHub feedback board. Include your macOS version and steps to reproduce.

Notchy for Mac is built by indie developer Vishva Variya (vishvavariya.com), and its only official website is notchy.dev. It is not affiliated with notchy.xyz, notchy.app, or any other similarly named project — those are unrelated products by different developers. The only official downloads are notchy.dev/Notchy.dmg and the Homebrew cask vishvavariya/notchy/notchy.

Unlike alternatives like NotchNook, Boring Notch, or Alcove, Notchy is a 100% free, native SwiftUI app designed to be blazing fast and completely ad-free. It delivers the closest experience to the iOS Dynamic Island on macOS without any subscription fees.

Nothing — Notchy is completely free. No license, no trial, no credit card. But it takes real time and effort to build and maintain. If Notchy saves you even a little frustration, please consider donating to keep it going.

Donate. Seriously — even a small one-time donation makes a huge difference. Notchy is built and maintained by one developer, and donations are the only thing funding its future. Chip in at https://ko-fi.com/vishvavariya — it takes 30 seconds.

Yes — every update is free, forever. But updates only happen if the project stays funded. A donation today keeps future updates coming.

Yes. Install it on as many Macs as you like — there are no license or device limits.

macOS 13 Ventura or later. Works on MacBooks with a notch and on notchless displays as a floating pill.

No personal data is collected. Notchy runs locally on your Mac. See our privacy policy for details.

Notchy uses system integrations that Apple may change in future macOS releases. We adapt quickly, but the app is provided as-is with no guarantee against platform changes.

On macOS Tahoe and later, hide it under System Settings → Menu Bar. Earlier versions: toggle visibility in Notchy settings.

No. Notchy is built purely in SwiftUI to ensure zero lag during video playback or when using multiple external displays. It gracefully respects your fullscreen apps, unlike heavier alternatives that cause framerate drops or intrusive overlays.

Yes. Drop an image on Notchy's notch shelf and convert between HEIC, PNG, JPEG, TIFF and PDF — fully offline using Apple's native ImageIO, with no upload to any server. Perfect for turning iPhone HEIC photos into universal JPGs.

Yes. Notchy fetches time-synced lyrics from the free LRCLIB database and scrolls the current line under the notch as your song plays — works with Apple Music, Spotify and any Now Playing source. No account or API key needed.

Yes. Notchy reads and writes your real Apple Reminders through EventKit, so you can quick-capture a reminder and see what's due without opening the Reminders app. Everything syncs to iPhone and iPad via iCloud.

Yes. Notchy lists every output device — speakers, AirPods, headphones, an external monitor — and switches the system default in one tap, with no trip into System Settings. It's a free SoundSource-style output switcher.

Yes. Notchy reads the battery level of your Magic Mouse, Magic Keyboard, Trackpad and other Bluetooth devices and shows them in the notch alongside your AirPods — including third-party Bluetooth headphones and speakers that report battery, like Soundcore or Sony — so every wireless device's charge is one glance away.

Yes. Notchy lists your Apple Shortcuts in a dedicated notch tab as one-tap chips — tap one to run it instantly, with a spinner while it executes and a success flash when it finishes. No need to open the Shortcuts app or dig through the menu bar.

Yes. Notchy watches your Downloads folder and pops a compact island the moment a file lands — with a one-tap Reveal in Finder action. Because it watches the folder rather than hooking a browser, it works with Safari, Chrome, Arc, Firefox, Edge and anything else, no extension needed.

Yes. Select files on Notchy's shelf and compress them into one Finder-compatible zip, or expand an existing archive — all from the notch, powered by macOS's native ditto tool. The result lands right back on the shelf, ready to drag out.

Yes. Notchy honors the standard concealed/transient pasteboard markers used by 1Password, Keychain Access and other password managers — secret copies are never recorded into clipboard history.

Yes. Pin any clipboard entry and it floats to the top, survives the history cap, and is kept even when you hit Clear — perfect for snippets you paste all day.

Yes. While a Focus mode or DND is active, Notchy suppresses low-priority islands like download alerts and device connections. Things you trigger yourself — volume, brightness, caffeine — and safety alerts like low battery always show.

Yes. When a USB drive or external volume mounts, Notchy pops an island with an inline Eject button — tap it and a 'Safe to disconnect' confirmation appears when the volume is released.

Notchy auto-stages every new screenshot onto its notch shelf as a draggable island, so you can drop it straight into a chat or document without digging through the Desktop. Everything stays local on your Mac.

Yes. Press ⌃⌥K (configurable) anywhere in macOS and a Spotlight-style command palette drops from the notch — type to jump to any tab, toggle Caffeine, start a timer or Pomodoro, or run an Apple Shortcut. You can also switch tabs with ⌘1–9 or arrow keys while the panel is open.

Knock lets you open the notch hands-on-keyboard: double-tap a bare modifier key (Control, Option, Command, or Shift — your pick) and Notchy opens the panel, the Shelf, Clipboard, Caffeine, or toggles play/pause. Because a modifier+key chord cancels the tap, normal shortcuts like ⌘C never trigger it. Works on every Mac and every keyboard, desktop or laptop.

Yes. Any tab — Clipboard, Timer, AI Usage, Cuely, and more — can be detached into its own menu-bar popover, so it lives beside the clock instead of (or as well as) in the notch. There's also a dedicated menu-bar Caffeine toggle.

Yes. In Appearance settings you can set the expanded island's width and height with sliders, live-previewed while you drag — from compact to extra-roomy.

Yes — optionally. Turn on native HUD hiding in Notchy's settings and the stock macOS overlay stays hidden while Notchy's island becomes your only volume and brightness HUD. It works on macOS Tahoe too — where the system HUD moved into Control Center, Notchy handles the hardware volume and brightness keys itself. Everything is restored the moment you turn it off or quit the app.