Triple-tap Caps Lock — a session starts. Step away — it pauses. Sit back down — it asks if you're ready to focus.
Free download · Notch Pro $14.99 once · macOS 13+
Focus isn't really a willpower problem — it's an attention problem. Every other Mac timer hides in the menu-bar corner and waits for you to remember it's there. The moment you're deep in something, it's the first thing you forget. Notch sits where you're already looking and does the remembering for you.
The design rule is one line: never waste your attention to ask for it. No badges screaming for a tap, no streak guilt-trips, no dashboard to maintain. A timer you can feel in your peripheral vision — one that starts in three taps and steps back the moment you do. If you care about doing focused work, that's the whole pitch.
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Everything else is parity with Session, Flow, TomatoBar. These three are the wedge.
The keyboard's most-wasted key claims a new job. No modifier-key gymnastics — just three quick taps and a session starts. Doesn't fight Cursor, VS Code, Xcode, or Chrome DevTools.
Every other Mac focus timer hides in the menu bar corner. Notch sits dead-center, peripheral vision, never covering your work. The black hardware cutout becomes part of the timer.
Walk away from your Mac — Notch pauses itself. Sit back down — it expands the notch and asks if you're ready to focus. The app meets you halfway.
Pomodoro durations, smart check-ins, history, achievements. The basics done right, plus what no one else has.
Your task names ("Reviewing layoffs", "Doctor's appointment") never leave your Mac. The privacy claim isn't marketing — it's a sandbox entitlement. The only network call Notch makes is to Apple's StoreKit for purchases. Optional crash reporting is opt-in and off by default.
No third-party SDKs in the app. No "we collect anonymized…" — the app collects nothing. This website uses Google Analytics (page views only).
Indie Mac craft pricing. No subscription. Your Mac App Store purchase covers every major version, forever.
If yours isn't here, email hello@notch.rocks.
No. One-time purchase, $14.99. Family Sharing is on. Every major version is included for launch buyers, forever.
Notch works great on any Mac — it lives in your menu bar with the same feel. The in-notch timer is the hero surface on MacBook Pro 14"/16" and the notched MacBook Air; on every other Mac it sits cleanly in the menu bar.
Caps Lock is the most-wasted key on your keyboard. Apple disables it by default in many regions. Triple-tap is a gesture nobody else uses, so it doesn't conflict with Cursor's command palette, VS Code's keyboard shortcuts, Xcode's build hotkey, or Chrome DevTools. Once it's in your fingers, you stop fighting modifier collisions.
The free tier is the trial — and it's a real product, not a teaser. Triple-tap Caps Lock to start, Pause hotkey, halfway + every-15-min check-ins, 3 templates, 7 days of history, overlay nudges, first two productivity levels. All indefinitely. Pro adds Watch Mode (auto-pause when you step away), custom hotkeys, unlimited templates and history, all 10 tiers, and sound themes.
None. Notch is sandboxed. No account, no cloud, no analytics, no telemetry, no third-party SDKs. The only outbound network call is to Apple's StoreKit for purchases. Optional crash reporting is off by default; if you opt in, it sends anonymized stack traces only — never task names or session data.
Refunds are handled through the Mac App Store (Settings → App Store → Purchase History → Report a Problem). Restoring on a new Mac: open Settings → Get Pro → Restore Purchases. Family Sharing covers up to 5 family members on the same iCloud family.
No. Team features force a backend, accounts, and cloud sync — which kills the local-first privacy positioning that's the whole point. If a future version adds collaborative focus, it'll be local-network only (AirDrop / Bonjour) — never a cloud server.
Yes — sessions chain, max single duration is 240 minutes, auto-pause covers meal breaks. We're shipping a "Marathon Mode" in v1.1 with milestone reminders for 12+ hour sprints if hackathon teams adopt it.
Mac App Store. macOS 13+. Any Mac — notch optional.
Free · Notch Pro $14.99 once · Questions? hello@notch.rocks