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Notchlight
Notchlight puts live widgets on your Mac's lock screen and turns the notch into a Dynamic Island: the song that's playing with Apple Music's own lyrics, your calls, notifications and more.
Download for Mac
brew install --cask victorabuchi/tap/notchlight
macOS 15 or later
Signed and notarized by Apple
No account
Updates itself
Low OrbitMira Vale
City lights are spelling out your name
Friday 16 October
9:41
Up next
Nothing else today or tomorrow.
World clock
New York3:41−6 h
London8:41−1 h
Friday 16 October
Good morning, Alex
21° and sunny, high of 24°No reminders left
Design review at 10:30Night trains are back
Low Orbit · Mira Vale
City lights are spelling out your name
We drove until the morning found us
System
CPU16%
Memory64%
Network↓ 2 MB/s
Before Friday
— Pick up the camera
— Book the train
— Call Mum
— Pick up the camera
— Book the train
— Call Mum
S&P 500
6,412.30
▼ 0.28%
4 h 49 min left
Finish the slides
— Robotics project
— Reading list
— Robotics project
— Reading list
🐼
Alex
Enter Password
?
Dynamic Island
The notch, doing something useful.
Live activities sit beside the notch at its own height, like the iPhone's Dynamic Island, and alerts drop out of it. Pick one on either side to see it beside the notch and open, as it looks when you point at it.
Lock screen widgets
Twenty-one widgets, ready before you unlock.
Glance at your Mac without signing in. These are the real widgets, drawn by Notchlight with sample data on the Glass style. Pick a style to see it.
Small · Medium · Wide · Ultra Wide · Large
Calendar
The date, the month, or what's next.
Small · Medium · Wide · Large
Clock
Digital, analog or world time.
Small · Medium · Wide · Ultra Wide
Battery
Charge and time left.
Small · Medium · Wide
Now Playing
The song in Apple Music or Spotify.
Small · Medium · Wide · Large
Music Card New
The song in a glass card, like iPhone. It appears only while music plays.
Medium · Wide
Live Lyrics
Apple Music's synced lyrics, line by line.
Medium · Wide · Large
Favourite Apps New
Your apps in a grid, or one or two anywhere you like.
Small · Medium · Wide · Large
Recent Activity New
Time in each app today, hour by hour.
Medium · Wide · Large
Reminders
What's still open, soonest first.
Small · Medium · Large
Countdown
Days until a date you pick.
Small · Medium · Wide
Pomodoro
Focus sessions with breaks.
Small · Medium
Stopwatch
Time anything, from the menu bar.
Small · Medium
Sticky Note
A note in five paper colours, or glass.
Small · Medium · Large
Earth
A live globe with day and night.
Small · Medium · Large
Location New
A map of where you are, with the place name.
Small · Medium · Wide · Large
News
Headlines from any RSS feed.
Medium · Wide · Large
Stock Ticker
A watchlist, or one stock and its day.
Small · Medium · Wide · Large
Photos
Favourites, or any folder.
Small · Medium · Large
System
CPU, memory, network and disk.
Small · Medium · Large
Daily Brief
Your morning in one card.
Medium · Wide · Large
Layout Studio
Drag your widgets where you want them.
Layout Studio is your lock screen in miniature, with the real widgets on it. Add one, drag it into place, change its style or size, and see exactly how your Mac will look when you lock it.
Calendar
Clock
Battery
Now Playing
Music Card
Live Lyrics
+Add a widget. Pick any of the 21 widgets, in the style and size you want, and it lands on your lock screen.
Layout Gallery
Start from a layout.
Seven ready-made layouts, from a quiet clock to a full dashboard. Use one as it is, or make it your own in Layout Studio.
Friday 16 October9:41
🐼
Alex
Everyday
4 widgetsA little of everything
Friday 16 October9:41
🐼
Alex
After Hours
4 widgetsLet the music take over
Friday 16 October9:41
🐼
Alex
In the Zone
3 widgetsFind your focus
Friday 16 October9:41
🐼
Alex
Day Ahead
3 widgetsCatch up. Look ahead.
Friday 16 October9:41
🐼
Alex
Mission Control
4 widgetsThe bigger picture
Friday 16 October9:41
🐼
Alex
Traveller
3 widgetsTime and weather wherever you are
Friday 16 October9:41
🐼
Alex
Minimal
2 widgetsJust the essentials, out of the way
Or start from nothing
Begin with an empty lock screen in Layout Studio and add any of the 21 widgets, in any size.
See Layout Studio
Appearance
Make your widgets match your wallpaper.
Choose one card style for every widget, from see-through glass to no card at all, and the corner radius you like. Try each style on a few macOS wallpapers.
Card style
See-through blur that picks up your wallpaper.
Wallpaper
Friday 16 October9:41
🐼
Alex
Music
Apple Music
Spotify
Apple Music and Spotify, with the lyrics Music shows.
The song that's playing in Apple Music or Spotify shows on the lock screen and in the island. Lyrics come from Apple Music: Notchlight reads the time-synced lyrics Music already downloaded, so every line lands exactly when it does in Music.
Apple Music
Spotify
Low Orbit · Mira Vale
City lights are spelling out your name
We drove until the morning found us
Hold the moment, let the record play
Every window glowing like a sign
Private and safe
Everything stays on your Mac.
No data collected
No account, no analytics. Weather comes from Open-Meteo, lyrics from Music on your Mac, and notifications are read from macOS's own database without leaving it.
Notarized by Apple
Every release is signed with a Developer ID and scanned by Apple before it reaches you, so it opens like any other app.
Signed updates
Notchlight checks for a new version once a day and asks before installing it. Your Mac only accepts updates signed by Notchlight.
Install
Ready in a minute.
- Download Notchlight.dmg and open it.
- Drag Notchlight into Applications, then open it.
- Pick your first widgets in the Setup Guide.
- Lock your Mac with ⌃ ⌘ Q to see them.
Prefer Homebrew?
brew install --cask victorabuchi/tap/notchlight
Requires macOS 15 or later. The Dynamic Island is made for MacBooks with a notch; on other Macs it appears only while something is live.
Download for Mac
Questions
Why isn't it on the Mac App Store?
Mac App Store apps run in Apple's sandbox, which doesn't allow drawing over the lock screen or reading notifications. Notchlight is signed with a Developer ID and notarized by Apple instead, so it installs and opens like any other app.
Is it safe?
Apple scans every release for malware before notarizing it, and updates are signed so your Mac only installs ones that come from Notchlight. The source code is on GitHub.
Which Macs does it work on?
Any Mac with macOS 15 or later. The Dynamic Island is made for MacBooks with a notch; on other Macs it shows up only while something is live.
Does it work with Spotify?
Yes: the song playing in Spotify shows in the island and on the lock screen, with its artwork and controls. Synced lyrics come from Apple Music only.
What permissions does it ask for?
Only what your widgets use: Calendar, Reminders, Location for weather, Photos, and Automation to read the song in Music or Spotify. Notifications on the island need Full Disk Access, because macOS keeps them in a protected file. The Setup Guide takes you to each one.
How do updates work?
Notchlight looks for a new version once a day and asks before installing it. Choose Check for Updates… in its menu to look now. With Homebrew, brew upgrade works too.
How do I uninstall it?
Quit Notchlight from its menu bar icon and drag it from Applications to the Trash. With Homebrew, run brew uninstall --cask notchlight.