PDFResume.pdfOpen in PreviewNotchKo
Native macOS App
NotchKo turns the MacBook's notch into a Dynamic Island: hover it and it opens into a panel, leave and it tucks away. It runs as a background agent with no Dock icon or window and starts at login. I built it because the notch apps I tried ran my battery down, so the whole architecture is event-driven: nothing polls, and nothing runs while it is closed.
Role
Solo developer
Year
2026
Status
0% CPU
while the notch is closed
~30 MB
idle memory footprint
Event-driven
no background polling
Every display
real notch or virtual pill
Case study
01
The notch is useful space, but the apps I tried kept doing work in the background. NotchKo keeps music, temporary files, timers, connected-device details, image tools, a teleprompter, and a mirror within reach while behaving like a quiet system utility when closed.
02
Spotify, charging, Bluetooth, and timers push notifications into the app; nothing polls. Elapsed and remaining times are derived from wall-clock anchors, so closing the notch stops all timer work. The collapsed equalizer runs as a Core Animation loop in the system render server: I measured about 9% WindowServer usage while music plays and 0% from NotchKo itself.
03
The app uses public macOS APIs only. Spotify integration relies on its scripting interface and playback-change broadcast, while panels are keyed by CGDirectDisplayID so they survive resolution and display changes. It ships as a Swift Package with a custom bundling and code-signing script rather than an Xcode project.
Product tour
Choose a feature below. Select any screenshot to see it larger.
Overview
Hovering the notch opens a compact control surface for current playback, connected devices, battery state, parked files, clocks, and utilities without creating a normal app window.
Music, battery and devices, and the shelf at a glance.
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