The best notch apps for Mac in 2026

Quick picks

• The most packed-in, paid: NotchNook
• The closest thing to the iPhone’s Dynamic Island: Alcove
• Free and open source, music first: boring.notch
• Free volume and brightness pop-ups, plus a shelf: MewNotch
• A drop zone for files, with AirDrop: NotchDrop
• Nicer volume and brightness pop-ups, with Now Playing: MediaMate
• Hiding the notch instead of using it: TopNotch
• Download progress in the notch: Lynx Notch (ours)

Side by side

The eight apps

1. NotchNook

lo.cafe · lo.cafe/notchnook

One of the best-known notch apps: widgets, “live actions” and a file shelf that open from the notch, with lots of options. On Macs without a notch it becomes a small handle at the top of the screen with the same functions. It costs $25 once (5 Macs) or $3 a month (2 Macs).

In the notch: Widgets · File shelf · Live actions.

Keep in mind: When we checked on September 28, 2026, its website wasn’t loading, Homebrew had disabled its NotchNook package on September 19 because the download couldn’t be reached, and its Setapp page returned “not found”. MacUpdate lists 1.6.2 (June 2026) as the latest version and marks it as no longer supported by its developer. Check that the site is back before you buy.

Pick it if you want the most features in one polished, paid app.

Lynx Notch and NotchNook, side by side

2. Alcove

Alcove · tryalcove.com

Alcove brings iPhone-style Dynamic Island moments to the Mac: notifications and live activities that grow out of the notch with fluid animations, swipe gestures, customizable volume and brightness pop-ups, and widgets on the lock screen. It’s $14.99.

In the notch: Notifications · Live activities · Volume and brightness · Lock screen widgets.

Keep in mind: Needs a recent macOS. Homebrew lists macOS 15 or later.

Pick it if you want the Dynamic Island look and feel, with notifications in the notch.

Lynx Notch and Alcove, side by side

3. boring.notch

TheBoredTeam, open source · github.com/TheBoredTeam/boring.notch

A free, open-source (GPL-3.0) notch app with about 10,900 stars on GitHub. It turns the notch into a music player with a visualizer, and adds calendar and reminders, a file shelf with AirDrop, a battery indicator, a mirror and replacements for the volume and brightness pop-ups. Needs macOS 14 or later, on Apple silicon or Intel.

In the notch: Music with a visualizer · Calendar and reminders · File shelf with AirDrop · Volume and brightness.

Keep in mind: It isn’t signed with an Apple developer account, so the first launch needs a workaround. Its README gives two, or you can install it with Homebrew. The latest stable release is 2.7.3 (November 2025); 2.8 is in release candidates.

Pick it if you want a free music-and-shelf notch and don’t mind a one-time security prompt.

Lynx Notch and boring.notch, side by side

4. MewNotch

Open source, on GitHub · monuk7735.github.io/mew-notch

A free, open-source (GPL-3.0) app that shows brightness and volume changes in the notch and can hide Apple’s own pop-ups. It also has Now Playing controls, a file shelf that keeps its files after a restart, the power source, a mirror, and even a view that runs a shell command. Needs macOS 14 or later.

In the notch: Volume and brightness · Now Playing · File shelf · Power source.

Keep in mind: Not signed with an Apple developer account yet, so the first launch needs Open Anyway in System Settings.

Pick it if you mainly want nicer volume and brightness feedback, for free.

5. NotchDrop

Lakr233, open source · github.com/Lakr233/NotchDrop

Does one thing: drag files onto the notch to keep them for later, open AirDrop from there, and click to open them. Files stay for a day by default. It’s open source (MIT) and free on the Mac App Store, for macOS 13 or later.

In the notch: File shelf · AirDrop.

Keep in mind: The App Store version (2.16) is from November 2024.

Pick it if you only want a quick place to park files and send them with AirDrop.

6. MediaMate

Wouter Hennen · wouter01.github.io/MediaMate

Replaces the old-style volume, display brightness and keyboard brightness pop-ups with compact new ones, and shows what’s playing in the notch. It runs on macOS 13 or later on every Mac (Touch Bar Macs need a separate mode) and costs €6.99 on Gumroad.

In the notch: Volume and brightness · Keyboard brightness · Now Playing.

Keep in mind: It replaces pop-ups and shows what’s playing. It has no shelf or widgets.

Pick it if you want better-looking volume and brightness feedback and a glance at what’s playing.

7. TopNotch

The CleanShot team · topnotch.app

The opposite approach: TopNotch makes the notch disappear by giving your wallpaper a black strip behind the menu bar. It works with dynamic wallpapers and several displays, can add rounded corners to the wallpaper, and is free for macOS 11 or later.

In the notch: Nothing (it hides the notch).

Keep in mind: It doesn’t add anything to the notch; pair it with another app if you want both.

Pick it if the notch bothers you and you’d rather not see it.

8. Lynx Notch (ours)

Slowrox, part of Lynx · lynxdownloadmanager.com/notch

Ours, so it’s last. Lynx Notch is part of Lynx Download Manager, not a separate app: while something downloads, a thumbnail and a progress ring sit either side of the camera, and resting the pointer opens speed, time left, pause and stop. With Pro, copy a link anywhere and the notch offers to download it or cut a clip, and your music and a file shelf live there too. In our measurements it uses about 1% of one CPU core with a download running.

In the notch: Download progress (free) · Copied links (Pro) · Music (Pro) · File shelf (Pro).

Keep in mind: It comes with Lynx and isn’t sold on its own. Only download progress (and dragging a link onto the notch) is free; links, music and the shelf are Pro.

Pick it if you download big files or clips and want to see progress without switching windows. More on Lynx Notch.

How to choose

Decide what you want to see up there, then pick the lightest app that does it:

• Music and a place for files: boring.notch (free). For widgets and a shelf in one paid app, NotchNook.
• Notifications, Dynamic Island style: Alcove.
• Better volume and brightness pop-ups: MewNotch (free) or MediaMate.
• Only a drop zone for files and AirDrop: NotchDrop.
• Downloads: Lynx Notch. None of the others here list download progress.
• Nothing at all: TopNotch hides the notch.

Check the macOS you need, too: Alcove needs macOS 15, NotchNook 14.6, boring.notch, MewNotch and Lynx Notch macOS 14, NotchDrop and MediaMate macOS 13, and TopNotch macOS 11.

Running two notch apps

Notch apps draw in the same small space, so two of them can get in each other’s way. If you keep one for music and want Lynx for downloads, choose what Lynx shows, or turn it off, in Lynx › Settings › Notch.