Coming in 1.0.198
Select Text, Get the Action
Most of what you do with selected text is the same four things: copy it, search it, look it up, translate it. Notchy's Text Actions puts those on a small bar above every selection, in every app — and turns links, addresses and sums into one-click buttons.
A bar above every selection
Drag across text, or double- or triple-click, and the bar appears centred above the selection — below it when there's no room. Copy, Search, Look Up in Dictionary and Translate, most useful first.
Buttons that read what you selected
A URL gets Open Link with tracking parameters stripped. An email address gets New Email, a phone number gets Call, 12*8.5 gets Copy Result and a blob of JSON gets Copy Formatted.
Translate without leaving the page
Press Translate and the result unfolds in a card beneath the buttons, with the detected language and Copy. The button row never moves under your pointer.
Careful by default
Off until you switch it on. It never reads password fields or secure input, ignores drags on buttons, sliders and title bars, skips ⌘-drags, and stays hidden while PopClip runs.
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
- 134 languages, fully localized
- Native SwiftUI, tuned for Apple Silicon
Text Selection Actions — FAQ
How do I get a popup when I select text on a Mac?
macOS has no built-in selection bar. In Notchy 1.0.198, open Settings → Pointer → Text and switch on Text Actions, then grant Accessibility access when asked.
How do I translate selected text on a Mac?
With Text Actions on, select the text and press Translate on the bar. The source language is detected for you and the translation appears right under the buttons.
Which search engine does Search use?
Whichever you picked in Notchy's Quick Search — Google, DuckDuckGo, Perplexity and the rest, or a custom engine you added.
Is my selected text sent anywhere?
Only when you press Translate (it goes to Google Translate) or Search (it opens in your browser). Copy, Look Up and the smart buttons run on your Mac.
Does it work with PopClip installed?
Yes. Notchy notices PopClip and keeps its own bar out of the way while PopClip runs, so you never get two bars on one selection.
Can I add my own actions?
No — the action set is fixed. If you want extensions, PopClip is the specialist.
Is it free?
Yes — no trial, action limit, licence or subscription.