Notch apps without a notch or on an external display

Notch apps are designed around the black cut-out at the top of recent MacBooks. But a lot of Macs don't have one: iMacs, Mac minis, Mac Studios, older MacBooks, and any MacBook working with its lid closed on an external display.

What NotchBuddy does without a notch

It draws a small black pill at the top centre of the screen and behaves exactly as it would on a notch: hover to peek, click for the full panel, your pet walks along it. Everything else (the 19 tools, alerts, themes) is identical.

Tips for big and multiple displays

• Keep your menu bar visible; the pill sits in it.
• If the pill feels too far, use the keyboard shortcut instead of the pointer.

Requirements

macOS 14 Sonoma or later, on Apple silicon or Intel.

Which Macs have a notch?

• MacBook Pro 14-inch and 16-inch, from the 2021 models onwards.
• MacBook Air 13-inch with M2 and later.
• MacBook Air 15-inch, every model.

iMac, Mac mini, Mac Studio and Mac Pro don't have one, and neither does any external display. Those are exactly the setups where the top-centre pill takes over.

Why the top centre works anyway

The middle of the menu bar is empty on almost every Mac: app menus sit on the left and status icons on the right. That makes it a predictable place to aim for, even without a physical notch, and it's never covered by a window.

Menu bar icons hiding behind a real notch

If you do have a notch and some menu bar icons vanish, it's because they'd land behind it. Remove icons you don't need, or for a specific app, select it in Finder, choose File → Get Info and turn on Scale to fit below built-in camera. A notch app doesn't add icons to that crowded space; it uses the notch itself.

Lid closed, big monitor

In clamshell mode your MacBook's notch isn't on any screen you can see, so NotchBuddy shows the pill on your display instead. Everything works the same way, including sale alerts and the focus line.