I tried the Dynamic Island on my MacBook, here’s how

Apple introduced the Dynamic Island with the iPhone 14 Pro, and brought it to base-model iPhones with the most recent iPhone 15 series. It’s a polarizing feature, with some viewing it as a software game-changer and others seeing it as more of a gimmick. However, Apple is somewhat known for controversial features, and there’s no better example of that than the notch on the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro. These great laptops don’t have Face ID hardware inside, so there isn’t a functional reason for the notch to exist. Apple seemingly added it just because, perhaps for brand consistency.

So, what happens when you combine two of Apple’s most controversial features into one? You get NotchNook, a macOS app from the developers at lo.cafe that brings the Dynamic Island to the best MacBooks. With NotchNook, you can control your media, view your calendar, or store files inside your laptop’s notch. Common actions are just a hover-and-click away, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed using NotchNook.

What is NotchNook?

It’s like a Dynamic Island for your notch

I’ll admit that I don’t mind the notch on my M2 MacBook Air. A crucial part of macOS is the menu bar, and that takes up more space at the top of your screen than the notch. Unless you have a ridiculous amount of menu bar apps — I know it’s very possible, but still rare in practice — the notch is unlikely to be an issue. With that being said, the notch doesn’t really provide any value. Considering how Apple cleverly found a way to make the camera housing useful on the iPhone with the Dynamic Island, it’s somewhat surprising we haven’t seen a similar feature debut on the Mac.

After installing the NotchNook app, your notch will become dynamic. If there’s nothing playing in the background, the notch simply serves as an access point for your nook. This is the part of NotchNook that houses widgets and apps, like media playback controls, shortcuts, calendar, mirror, and more. You can customize your nook to match your exact preferences — my current loadout is simply media playback controls and a mirror. There’s also a tray, which serves as a short-term file storage and as a quick AirDrop toggle. Again, this is quite customizable, and the app’s developers are pretty steadily adding new features.

Everything you can do with NotchNook

It’s the king of media playback controls, but it helps with other tasks too

The reason why I love NotchNook is that it replaces a few separate apps and actions that I already use. For example, I find that the media playback toggle is super useful. In fact, it’s so convenient that I found myself listening to music from my laptop while working; typically, I’d stream music from my phone instead. By having the controls right in front of me, I could easily skip tracks and see what’s playing without getting distracted. I’m really not a fan of the Control Center on macOS — it’s just not meant for a desktop OS, in my opinion — but NotchNook is way better.

Another default widget you can use in the nook is called mirror, and it does exactly what it sounds like. It’ll show you a preview of your webcam feed so you can check what you look like. This is the perfect way to figure out whether your webcam quality and appearance is excellent before joining that important video call or meeting. I’ve used a separate app, HandMirror, for this kind of thing for years. However, having it in the notch right beside media playback controls makes the experience more consolidated and streamlined.

Related

5 essential apps every Mac user should be using

macOS is a great operating system, but it can be made even better with these must-have apps

The tray is one of my favorite parts of using NotchNook. Essentially, it’s short-term file storage. You can drag a document to the tray, it’ll stay there, and then you can go back to it when you need it. This is perfect for screenshots that you’ll need to upload to another app, or for files you don’t want to physically drag all the way to another app. I’ve used Dropover for this in the past, which is one of our essential Mac apps. Now, NotchNook handles that functionality, so I’ve trimmed at least two apps into one. The tray also serves as a way to initiate AirDrop, and it’s much quicker than using the share menu or the Finder.

Is NotchNook worth the money?

Maybe, maybe not — but it’s always nice to support fun developer projects

Personally, I think NotchNook is useful and has the potential to streamline my productivity. Any time I can cut down on the number of apps I use and streamline my workflow, I’ll take it. It’s hard to call this app a necessity, but it doesn’t have to be. NotchNook is a fun, neat way to use the Dynamic Island on your MacBook. I don’t mind paying $25 to support an indie developer project, because we want more cool projects like NotchNook to make their way to macOS.

NotchNook

NotchNook aims to bring the Dynamic Island experience to your MacBook Air or Pro. There’s a free trial, but it otherwise costs $3 per month or $25 for a lifetime license.