Everything behind one keystroke

An app with fifty tools has a discovery problem. Notchy solves it the way editors do — hit ⌘K, type a few letters, run the thing. No menu hunting, no remembering which panel it lived in.

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Search by what you meant

Every command carries keywords as well as a title, so typing “copy” finds clipboard history and typing “text” finds OCR. You do not have to know the official name.

Faster than the notch, sometimes

Reaching for the notch is natural when your hand is on the trackpad. When both hands are on the keyboard mid-sentence, a palette is quicker — the two ways in exist for different moments.

Or bind it to a key

Anything in the palette can also get its own global shortcut, so the handful you use constantly skip the search entirely.

Not a Spotlight replacement

This runs Notchy's commands, not your whole Mac. If you want system-wide indexed search, Raycast and Alfred do that properly and run happily alongside.

At a glance

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

Mac command palette — FAQ

What is a command palette?

The pattern VS Code popularised: one keystroke opens a search field, you type a few letters of what you want, and hit Return to run it. No menus, no remembering where a setting lives. Notchy brings the same idea to its own toolset with ⌘K.

What can I run from it?

Notchy's tools — start a timer, open clipboard history, run OCR, take a screenshot, snap a window, toggle Focus or keep awake, and so on. Each entry is searchable by name and by related keywords, so you do not have to remember the exact wording.

Is this a Raycast or Alfred replacement?

No. Raycast and Alfred index your whole system — files, contacts, bookmarks, extensions, scripts. Notchy's palette runs Notchy's own commands. It saves you learning where each feature lives; it is not a general-purpose launcher.

Can I change the shortcut?

Yes. Notchy's hotkey manager lets you bind global shortcuts to what it can do, so the palette and individual actions can sit on whichever keys suit you.

Do I need a notched MacBook?

No. The palette is keyboard-driven and works on any supported Mac, notch or not. On Macs without a cutout the rest of Notchy runs as a floating island.

Is it free?

Yes — Notchy is free with no trial, licence key or subscription, funded only by optional donations.