NotchNook alternative

Lost NotchNook? Here's where to go next.

Updated 27 September 2026. We make Eclipse, one of the options below, so weigh this accordingly. We've tried to be fair and to link the facts.

NotchNook was the notch app most people started with. It was polished, it made the notch feel alive, and thousands of people bought it. If you're one of them and it stopped working, or you can't activate it on a new Mac, you're not alone, and it isn't something you did.

What happened

• The website and licence server went offline in September 2026. The lo.cafe domain no longer resolves, so new activations fail.
• Homebrew disabled the notchnook cask on 19 September 2026, with the reason “unreachable” (Homebrew API).
• On 23 September, the founder posted that he had been removed from the company on 17 July 2026, that former partners had taken it over, and that he plans a rebuild with a discount for lifetime licence holders (his post on X).

We don't know more than that, and we hope the people who paid get looked after.

If you paid for NotchNook

• A copy that's already activated may keep working for a while. Nothing is going to update it, so a future macOS release could break it.
• Keep your receipt. If the rebuild honours old licences, you'll want proof of purchase.
• If you bought recently, the store or payment provider you used may be able to help.
• Before switching, quit NotchNook and remove it from System Settings › General › Login Items, so two notch apps don't fight over the same space.

NotchNook features, and where they are in Eclipse

Eclipse is free. Here's how the things you used map across, including the ones it doesn't do yet.

What Eclipse adds

• Approve Claude Code from the notch. Permission requests drop out of the notch with the exact command; allow, deny or always allow without switching windows. Opt-in, local-only, and Claude asks in the terminal as usual if Eclipse isn't running.
• Clipboard history that skips password-manager items.
• Timers and Pomodoro, with the countdown peeking beside the notch.
• System stats: CPU, GPU, memory, disk, network.
• No permissions at launch, and never Accessibility or Screen Recording.
• Automatic updates, so a macOS point release doesn't strand you.

The other good options

Eclipse isn't the only answer. Depending on what you loved about NotchNook, one of these may suit you better:

• Boring Notch: free and open source (GPL-3.0), with any-app Now Playing, a shelf and HUD replacement. Its last stable release was November 2025; 2.8 is in release candidates.
• Alcove: $14.99, known for the most iPhone-like animation and live activities. Narrower in scope: no shelf or clipboard.
• DynamicLake Pro: $16.90, very broad (shelf, clipboard, HUDs, plugins), with early macOS 27 support.
• NotchOwl: $4.90, new in September 2026 and focused on tasks, notes, focus timers and calendar.

Prices and status as of 27 September 2026, from each app's own site, repository or changelog. See the full comparison table.

Moving over takes two minutes

1. Quit NotchNook and remove it from Login Items.
2. Download Eclipse below, open the DMG and drag it to Applications.
3. Open it and hover the notch. Turn tools on or off from the menu bar icon.