Does NotchPixel work with Spotify, YouTube and Apple Music?

Yes. It reads media from any app or site that reports playback to Windows, including Spotify, YouTube and other sites in Chrome, Edge and Firefox, Apple Music, YouTube Music, foobar2000 and VLC.

How is NotchPixel different from other Dynamic Island apps for Windows?

Other Windows notch apps draw with layered windows that copy every frame through the CPU, which is why they lag and show in Task Manager. NotchPixel composites through DirectComposition, idles at 0% CPU, hides in games and does not block browser tabs.

Windows 10 and 11

The notch Windows never had.

Name: NotchPixel
Author: NotchPixel

Now playing, volume, battery and notifications in one fluid pill at the top of your screen. It opens when you rest your cursor on it and gets out of the way when you work.

COMING SOONMicrosoft Store See it work

Free tier in Store review. Founders price on Pro for the waitlist.

No ads, no nagsNo accountNothing leaves your PC

CPU when idle

Every other notch app pays for each frame twice.

They draw into a layered window and push every pixel through the CPU. NotchPixel hands its surface to DirectComposition, the path Windows uses for its own animations, and goes to sleep when nothing moves. Measured on an Intel UHD 620 laptop: 0.0% idle, 13 MB in Task Manager.

Six moments

Real captures. No mockups.

Everything below was recorded from the app on a laptop, the wallpaper included.

Now playing, always in reach

Any app or site that reports media to Windows. Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music, YouTube Music, VLC.

Rest your cursor. It opens.

Play, skip and scrub. The album art slides between layouts instead of fading, on a spring tuned to 0.42 s.

The volume popup you actually want

Replaces the grey box in the corner. Brightness keys too.

Plug in. See it.

Charging, unplugged, low battery and critical, without a click.

Headphones on, battery known

Bluetooth connects and disconnects, with the level when the device reports one.

Notifications, mirrored

New messages show in the island. Click one to open the app.

Compact pill with album art and a visualizer

Expanded card with title, artist, controls and progress

AirPods Pro connected with battery level

The compact pill over a desktop — Compact, 212 by 36 points. Smaller than a tab.

Out of the way. On purpose.

It knows when to disappear.

01Slim under maximized windows.It collapses to a thin line so browser tabs stay clickable, and opens again when you rest the cursor on it.
02Gone in fullscreen.Games, videos and presentations get the whole screen. No overlay flags for anti-cheat to notice.
03Clicks fall through.The open card only claims its buttons. Everything else reaches the window underneath.
04No account, no network.Everything it shows is read from Windows on your PC and never leaves it.

Idle CPU

0.0%

Sleeps on the DXGI latency handle when nothing is animating.

Memory

13MB

Private working set after use, the number Task Manager shows.

Refresh

240Hz

Frames pace to your monitor, whatever it runs at.

Spring

0.42s

Open response, damping 0.8. The same curves the best Mac notch apps use.

Pricing

Free to use. Pay once for more.

No ads, no nags, no subscription. Pro is a lifetime license for three PCs with every 1.x update, sold on this site.

Free

Now playing with controls
Volume and brightness readouts
Battery and Bluetooth events
Notification mirroring
Slim mode, fullscreen hiding

Get the free app first

Pro, one time

~~$19~~$12FOUNDERS

Themes, accent and glass options
Custom position, multi-monitor
File shelf and clipboard tray
Calendar, timer, weather, stats widgets
Gamer overlay: FPS, CPU, GPU, temps
Priority support

Lock in the founders price

Founders price for the waitlist, first 14 days after launch.

Questions

Asked before buying.

Which Windows versions?

Windows 10 version 2004 (May 2020) and later, and Windows 11. Any DPI, laptops and desktops, one or more monitors.

Does it work with my music app?

Anything that reports media to Windows: Spotify, YouTube and other sites in Chrome, Edge and Firefox, Apple Music, YouTube Music, foobar2000, VLC and more. If the Windows volume flyout shows your track, NotchPixel does.

Will it get in the way of games?

No. In a fullscreen game the island hides itself completely, and it never uses the overlay window flags anti-cheat systems look for.

Does it send anything anywhere?

No. NotchPixel makes no network requests. Media, battery, Bluetooth and notification information is read from Windows on your PC. See the privacy policy.

Is this made by Apple?

No. NotchPixel is an independent app and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Apple Inc. Dynamic Island is a trademark of Apple Inc.

How is it different from the other Windows notch apps?

They draw with layered windows that copy every frame through the CPU, which is why they lag and show up in Task Manager. NotchPixel composites through DirectComposition, idles at 0% CPU, hides in games, and does not block your browser tabs.