New in 1.0.172
Per-App Audio Output for Mac
macOS sends every app to the same output. Notchy's Sound Mixer lets you pick one per app: the call in your AirPods, the music on the speakers, a video on the monitor. Free, from the notch.
One app, its own device
Open the Sound Mixer, choose an output for the app, and only that app moves. Everything else keeps playing through the system output you already had.
Volume and EQ still apply
A routed app keeps its own level, mute and three-band equaliser. Routing is one more control on the same row, not a separate tool.
Nothing in the way until you use it
Apps you leave alone get no processing at all. Only an app you adjust goes through Apple's Core Audio process tap, and if Notchy quits, macOS removes the tap and every app goes back to the system output.
Next to the output switcher
The mixer opens from the chip beside the notch's audio output picker, where you already swap speakers, AirPods and displays.
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
Per-App Audio Output — FAQ
Can you send different apps to different speakers on a Mac?
Not in System Settings — macOS has one output for everything. Notchy adds a per-app output device to its Sound Mixer in version 1.0.172, so one app can play through headphones while the rest stay on the speakers.
What macOS version does it need?
macOS 14.4 or later, because it relies on the Core Audio process taps Apple added in that release. The rest of Notchy runs on macOS 13 Ventura and later.
Does it need a permission?
Yes — System Audio Recording, which macOS requires for any app that taps another app's audio. Notchy builds nothing until it is granted.
Is this a free SoundSource alternative?
For per-app volume and per-app output, yes. SoundSource ($49) still hosts Audio Unit effects and a 10-band EQ, which Notchy does not.
Can one app play through two devices at once?
No — each app gets one output. For multi-device output, FineTune (free, open source) and Rogue Amoeba's tools go further.
Is it free?
Yes. Notchy has no trial, licence key, subscription or in-app purchase.