By the Echo team·26 October 2026·5 min read·Updated October 2026
We found no Apple page that says macOS has a built-in Dynamic Island. Apps add one around the camera housing, the notch, on MacBooks that have it, and some draw a small pill on Macs without one. Here is how it works, how to set one up, and what to pick, especially for music. The Dynamic Island is the black pill at the top of an iPhone screen that grows to show music, timers and calls. This post covers the Mac version of that idea. We make Echo, one of the apps below, so we say where it does less than a rival.
Does a Mac Have a Dynamic Island?
Some Macs have a notch, and Apple does not call it that. Apple's support page calls it a 'camera housing' built into the screen bezel. Apple says it is on the MacBook Air with Liquid Retina display and the MacBook Pro with Liquid Retina XDR display, which Apple's MacBook Pro and MacBook Air model pages show on the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro from 2021 onward and the MacBook Air from the 2022 M2 model onward, in 13-inch and 15-inch sizes. We found no Apple page that says whether the newer MacBook Neo has one.
As of 26 October 2026 we found no Apple page that says macOS has a built-in Dynamic Island. What people mean by one on a Mac is an app that draws a black island around the camera housing and grows it to show things like the song that is playing. The apps below do that, and each one decides what the island shows, how it opens and what it costs. Older Macs, such as the MacBook Air (M1, 2020) that Apple lists with a Retina display and a 720p FaceTime HD camera, have no notch, so those apps work differently there. We cover that further down.
What Can a Mac Dynamic Island Show?
Music is the common one: artwork, the title, and play, pause and skip when you hover. Beyond that, each app picks its own extras. According to their own pages, Boring Notch adds a calendar, reminders, a file shelf with AirDrop, a camera mirror and a charging indicator. Alcove lists Live Activities, instant notifications, calendar and Lock Screen widgets. Notchy lists clipboard history, a file shelf, timers and a calendar. DynamicLake lists file dropping, schedule and weather, and notifications. Several of them also replace the on-screen volume and brightness displays, known as HUDs.
So 'what can it show' has no single answer. A notch app can be a full toolbox or a single-purpose player. If you only want to see and control your music, a smaller app is enough. If you want files, a clipboard and a calendar in the same spot, pick one of the larger ones.
Check Your macOS Version First
Alcove needs macOS 15 or later. Boring Notch and DynamicLake need macOS 14, and Notchy and Echo need macOS 13. Open the Apple menu and choose About This Mac to see yours.
How Do You Add One to Your Mac?
The steps are the same for any of these apps:
Check whether your Mac has a notch, or pick an app that draws a small pill on Macs without one.
Pick an app from the list below.
Install it from the vendor's own page or the store it is sold in.
Grant any permissions the app asks for.
Choose what the island shows.
For Echo, it takes four steps:
Open Echo's Settings and choose Now Playing.
Switch on Notch.
Play a song in Spotify or Apple Music.
The island drops down with the title. Hover over it to open the controls.
Notch is off until you switch it on, so nothing changes on your screen before then. Echo needs macOS 13 or later. The install guide walks through the download and the first setup.
What Does Echo's Notch Look Like?
Echo's Now Playing, playing itself: the island drops down with each new song and opens with controls when you hover. Turn on any mix in Settings > Now Playing, where the Notch switch is off until you choose.
Spotify
Coral Highway
Maren ValeGolden Hour Static
1:063:42
YouTube
48 Hours in Kyoto
Temples, Tea Houses and the Best Ramen Nobody Talks About
Wander Lane
6:5218:24
Music
Undertow
Sable CoastNight Swim
0:184:05
FinderFileEditViewGoWindowHelp
Coral HighwayMaren Vale
48 Hours in Kyoto: Temples, Tea Houses and the Best Ramen Nobody Talks AboutWander Lane
UndertowSable Coast
Mon 26 Oct 09:41
Coral Highway
Maren Vale
48 Hours in Kyoto: Temples, Tea Houses and the Best Ramen Nobody Talks About
Wander Lane
Undertow
Sable Coast
Spotify
Coral Highway
Maren Vale
1:14−2:28
Menu Bar
Click the song in the menu bar for its artwork, a scrubber, and play, pause and skip, without switching apps.
Notch
The notch grows to show the artwork, drops down with each new song, and opens with controls when you hover.
Desktop
Your wallpaper can become the artwork of whatever's playing, every time you play or only when you step away.
These are the ones we checked, with prices as each vendor's own page showed them on 26 October 2026. The full comparison is in our roundup of the best notch apps for Mac.
Boring Notch
Boring Notch is free and open source under GPL-3.0, and needs macOS 14 or later. It turns the notch into a music control center with a visualizer, plus a calendar, a file shelf and system HUDs. Its release notes name Spotify and Apple Music controllers and YouTube Music through the Pear Desktop app, while its README does not list players. The README also says the team has no Apple Developer account yet, so macOS warns about an unidentified developer unless you install it with Homebrew.
Alcove
Alcove costs $13.99 one-time, with a 72-hour trial, and needs macOS 15 or later. Its site and changelog list a system-wide media player, playback controls, a live waveform, Live Activities, notifications and customisable HUDs. Its FAQ says it collects no data or personal information.
Notchy
Notchy lists $24.99 one-time for one Mac, with a 7-day trial. A Black Friday banner showing £14.99 was on its site when we looked, so check the current price. It is closed source and needs macOS 13 or later. For music it lists album art, a scrubbable timeline and play and pause for Apple Music and Spotify, and it adds clipboard history, a file shelf, timers and a calendar.
DynamicLake
DynamicLake is pay what you want with a minimum, one time, with no subscription. The minimum showed as £10.48 in the UK view of its Gumroad page. It needs macOS 14 or later and has no free trial of the full app, only DynamicLake Playground, a free app for testing plugins with basic music support. Its page says it supports all the music apps that the macOS music widget supports, and it adds file dropping and notifications.
NotchNook
On 26 October 2026 NotchNook's product page returns a not-found message, and the maker's home page (lo.cafe) carries a long statement about the company's situation, saying NotchNook has not ended and that access will be restored, and points to a successor called NOOTCH, which was a closed beta. The price on its archived product page, in an archived copy from 20 July 2026 and in later copies, was $3 a month or $25 once. We could not confirm that you can buy NotchNook today, so we have not ranked it.
Echo
Echo is a now-playing island only. The notch grows into a black island with the artwork and three animated bars, drops down with the title on each new song, and opens with controls when you hover. It has no file tray, calendar, clipboard or HUDs, so Boring Notch, Alcove, Notchy and DynamicLake do more there. It works for music, podcasts and browser video. Echo also keeps a private, searchable history of what you play across every source, with a keystroke to resume at the exact spot. Notchy lists a local listening history of your 500 most recent recordings, off by default.
App
Shows
Price
Boring Notch
Music with a visualizer, calendar, file shelf, HUDs
Free, GPL-3.0
Alcove
Music, Live Activities, notifications, HUDs
$13.99 one-time, 72-hour trial
Notchy
Music, clipboard, file shelf, timers, calendar
$24.99 one-time list price, 7-day trial
DynamicLake
Music, files, notifications
Pay what you want, one-time (£10.48 minimum, UK view)
Tuneful
Music, in the notch, menu bar or a mini player
$4.99 one-time, Mac App Store
Echo
Now playing: artwork, title, controls
Free in Echo, $4.99 once, three Macs
What If Your Mac Has No Notch?
Several apps draw a stand-in. Notchy's homepage says it floats the same island as a pill, and Alcove's changelog lists 'a pill shape for notchless displays'. Echo draws a small black pill under the menu bar. DynamicLake says it is designed to work on both notch and non-notch MacBooks. Tuneful's page describes an auto-hiding notch player on any display.
Two cases need care. Atoll, a free GPL-3.0 app, lists a MacBook with a notch in its requirements, so it is not an option without one. Boring Notch's release notes mention options for non-notch displays, but its README does not describe notchless support, so check it first. If you have a notch you would rather not see, TopNotch is a different kind of app: it hides the notch with a wallpaper instead of adding to it.
Which Is Best for Music?
If the only goal is seeing and controlling the song, the free choice is Boring Notch, and it also gives you the rest of the toolbox. Tuneful and Echo are the two focused on what is playing. Tuneful works with Spotify and Apple Music, offers a notch player, a menu bar player and a floating mini player, costs $4.99 one-time on the Mac App Store, and needs macOS 15.
Echo is $4.99 once for three Macs and needs macOS 13. The notch is free with it, and Echo adds a menu bar display, a desktop display that turns your wallpaper into the artwork, and the history that resumes music, podcasts and videos where you stopped. For the details on Spotify, see Spotify widgets for Mac, and for the menu bar side, how to show Now Playing in the menu bar.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the MacBook have a Dynamic Island?
We found no Apple page that says macOS has a built-in Dynamic Island. Some MacBooks have a camera housing, called the notch, and apps such as Boring Notch, Alcove, Notchy, DynamicLake and Echo add an island around it.
Which MacBooks have a notch?
Apple says the camera housing is on the MacBook Air with Liquid Retina display and the MacBook Pro with Liquid Retina XDR display, which its model pages list as the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro from 2021 onward and the MacBook Air from the 2022 M2 model onward, in 13-inch and 15-inch sizes. We found no Apple page that says whether the newer MacBook Neo has one. Apple's support page calls it a camera housing.
Is there a free Dynamic Island for Mac?
Yes. Boring Notch is free and open source under GPL-3.0, and Atoll is free under GPL-3.0 but needs a notched MacBook. Echo's notch display is free once you own Echo, which is $4.99 once for three Macs.
Does Echo work on a Mac without a notch?
Yes. On a Mac without a notch, Echo draws a small black pill under the menu bar instead. It is off until you switch on Notch in Settings, Now Playing, and Echo needs macOS 13 or later.
Your Music in the Notch, Free With Echo
$4.99 once, three Macs, every future update included.
We build Echo, a native macOS app that remembers everything you play across your apps and your browser, and brings any of it back at the exact spot with one keystroke.
