What is notchnotes?

oil-oil/notchnotes — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-06-24

★ 12SwiftAudience · generalComplexity · 2/5Setup · easy

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((notchnotes))
    What it does
      Notch hover panel
      Markdown editing
      Image embedding
      Local storage only
    Tech stack
      Swift
      SwiftUI
      AppKit
      UserDefaults
    Use cases
      Quick scratchpad
      Link clipboard
      Screenshot store
    Audience
      MacBook users
      Productivity fans

mindmap root((notchnotes)) What it does Notch hover panel Markdown editing Image embedding Local storage only Tech stack Swift SwiftUI AppKit UserDefaults Use cases Quick scratchpad Link clipboard Screenshot store Audience MacBook users Productivity fans

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What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Keep a quick notes scratchpad accessible with a cursor hover without cluttering your screen or dock.

USE CASE 2

Store links and screenshots in the notch panel for easy access during a work session.

USE CASE 3

Build on the open-source Swift code to create your own custom notch-based macOS utility.

What is it built with?

SwiftSwiftUIAppKitmacOSUserDefaults

How does it compare?

	oil-oil/notchnotes	kageroumado/refrax-browser	a9eelsh/heliocore
Stars	12	12	13
Language	Swift	Swift	Swift
Setup difficulty	easy	hard	hard
Complexity	2/5	4/5	3/5
Audience	general	developer	developer

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min

Must right-click to open on first launch because the app is not notarized for the Mac App Store.

So what is it?

NotchNotes is a small macOS app that uses the notch at the top of a MacBook screen as a hidden entry point. When you move your cursor to the notch area, a dark Markdown notebook panel slides open, giving you quick access to notes, links, screenshots, and short reminders. Move the cursor away and it folds back up, leaving the notch looking normal. The app is native to macOS, built with Swift and Apple's own toolkits. The floating panel, cursor detection, and window positioning are handled by AppKit, while the notebook interface uses SwiftUI. Notes are stored locally using UserDefaults, which is a lightweight on-device storage system, and the app supports live Markdown editing with the ability to embed images. Installation is straightforward: download the ZIP from the releases page, unzip it, move it to your Applications folder, and right-click to open it on the first launch (macOS requires this step for apps from outside the App Store). The app can also be built from source using the Swift command-line tools if you prefer that route. The current release is labeled as a testing distribution. Anyone who wants to share it more widely outside Apple's App Store would need to sign it with an Apple Developer ID certificate and run it through Apple's notarization process, which is Apple's check for malware and code integrity. NotchNotes is a focused utility with no server component, no account required, and no data leaving your machine. It fills a narrow gap: a scratchpad that is always one cursor movement away without cluttering your screen or dock.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1

I want to customize the NotchNotes panel width and default Markdown font size. Guide me through the SwiftUI source file where these values are set and how to change them.

Prompt 2

Help me extend NotchNotes to sync notes to iCloud using CloudKit instead of local UserDefaults so notes persist across MacBooks.

Prompt 3

I want to add a global keyboard shortcut to open and close the NotchNotes panel without moving my cursor to the notch. Show me how to add this using AppKit event monitors in Swift.

Frequently asked questions