Now Playing on your Mac notch
Notchy puts Now Playing on the MacBook notch — album art, a scrubbable timeline, and play/pause controls for Apple Music and Spotify, collapsed into a fluid Dynamic Island. Native, free, and no tracking.
Now Playing music controls collapsed onto the Mac notch.
How to show Now Playing on the Mac notch
- 1Install Notchy free
Download the free Notchy DMG, drag it to Applications, and launch it. Runs on macOS 13 Ventura or later, Apple Silicon and Intel.
- 2Play something
Start a track in Apple Music or Spotify. Notchy detects it and collapses Now Playing onto the notch automatically — no setup.
- 3Control from the notch
Hover the pill to expand album art, scrub the timeline, skip tracks, and play/pause — right where the MacBook notch used to be empty.
Music controls that live on the notch
macOS hides Now Playing in the menu bar or Control Center. Notchy brings it front and center: the moment a track plays, the notch morphs into a compact island showing album art and progress. Hover to expand into full controls — scrub the timeline, skip tracks, and play or pause — then it collapses back out of the way. It reads system media, so the same island drives Apple Music, Spotify, and other macOS players without switching apps.
Everything Notchy does, for free
- Fluid Dynamic Island animations on the Mac notch
- 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
- 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
Now Playing on Mac — FAQ
How do I show Now Playing on my Mac notch?
Install Notchy and start playing music in Apple Music or Spotify. Notchy automatically collapses the Now Playing controls — album art, scrubbing, and play/pause — onto the MacBook notch. It's free, native, and needs no configuration.
Does it work with both Apple Music and Spotify?
Yes. Notchy reads system media so it controls Apple Music, Spotify, and most other macOS media players from the same Now Playing island on the notch.
Can I scrub and skip tracks from the notch?
Yes. Expand the pill to drag the timeline, skip forward and back, and play or pause — without switching to the music app.
Is the Now Playing notch widget free?
Completely. Notchy is 100% free with no trial, license, or account. It's funded by optional donations only.