Seven ways to put your MacBook notch to work

Since 2021 the MacBook Pro, and later the Air, has had a camera notch at the top of the screen. The menu bar wraps around it, and most of the time the space next to it sits empty. Yet it is the most reachable spot on the screen: always one mouse movement away, and it never covers your windows.

Notch apps turn it into a panel that opens on hover. Here is what is genuinely useful there, using PromNotch as the example.

1. A player without switching windows

Track title, artwork, play, pause and skip — straight from the notch, whether the music plays in Music, Spotify or a browser. No hunting for the player window among a dozen open ones.

2. A shelf for files

Drag a file onto the notch and it stays there until you drop it where it belongs. Handy when you collect a few files from different folders to send in one email. Right next to it is clipboard history, so the last thing you copied is always at hand.

The player and shelf in PromNotch are part of the base Island plan. More on the player and shelf page.

3. Upcoming calendar events

The notch shows what is next on your schedule and how long until the meeting. No need to open Calendar to see whether you will make it.

4. A timer and pomodoro

A timer in the notch is visible from the corner of your eye without being distracting. Pomodoro mode alternates focus and breaks — more in the article on pomodoro in the notch.

5. System controls

Volume, brightness, Bluetooth, Focus, dark mode, audio output and keep-awake in one place, without a trip to Control Center.

6. Notes and tasks

A quick thought you want to write down before it slips away, and today's to-do list — right by the notch rather than in a separate window. Details on the planner and notes page.

7. Voice typing

The most unusual one: start dictation from any app, speak, and get the text in the input field. Recognition runs on the Mac itself. How it works is covered in offline dictation on Mac.

Where to start

Do not turn everything on at once. Start with the player and shelf — they become habit within a day. Add the rest one at a time when you feel something is missing. You can download PromNotch and use everything for seven days, and sections you do not need can be switched off in settings.