Notchorious Support

Portals (Notchorious 2.0)

This section applies when your installed app includes Portals. If the Portals controls do not appear, check your Notchorious version.

Does it work over the internet?

No. Portals work only between computers on the same local network, such as your home or office Wi-Fi. Your Mac connects directly to your own computer, with no Notchorious account, no relay and no servers in between. Only connect to computers you own or are allowed to use.

What do I need?

• Windows PC: to control it, Windows Pro, Enterprise or Education with Remote Desktop turned on. To open its files, any edition with file sharing turned on. Sign in with your Windows password, not your PIN.
• Other Mac: turn on Screen Sharing and Remote Login in System Settings → General → Sharing, then sign in with that Mac's account name and password.

How do I connect?

Open the Windows or Mac Portal from the icons at the top of the panel. Notchorious looks for your computers on the network, or you can type an address yourself. The built-in guides walk you through each setting step by step.

Notchorious can't find my computer

• Make sure both computers are on the same network.
• Allow Notchorious in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Local Network.
• On a PC, turn on Network Discovery. You can also type the computer's address yourself.

A file won't copy

If the file is open in an app on the other computer, close it there and try again.

Why did it disconnect?

To save battery and keep things secure, a Portal closes when your Mac goes to sleep or after one hour in the background. Connect again anytime.

Security

The first time you connect, Notchorious asks you to confirm it's the right computer and warns you if it ever changes. Sign-ins are kept in your Mac's Keychain. Use Disconnect to end a session, Forget in Portal Options to remove one computer, or Settings → Portals → Forget All to remove them all. Never open Remote Desktop, file sharing or Remote Login directly to the internet just to make Portals work.

See Privacy Policy → Portals and privacy choices.

Open-source libraries

For versions with Windows Portals, Notchorious uses FFmpeg for Windows Portal video decoding alongside FreeRDP/OpenSSL and other open-source libraries. FFmpeg source, LGPL notices and all bundled third-party notices.

Contact

Opening the panel

• Notchorious lives in the menu bar. Move the pointer to the notch (or the top-center of the screen on a Mac without a notch) to open the panel, or choose Show Notchorious from the menu bar icon.
• With an external display, choose where Notchorious appears in Settings → General → Display. Automatic uses your MacBook's own display, or the main display when the lid is closed. If a selected display is disconnected, Notchorious uses Automatic until it reconnects.
• Fullscreen Mode decides what happens over fullscreen apps: stay closed, open on hover, or open only when you click the notch.
• If the panel sits slightly off your notch, adjust it in Settings → General → Notch fit.

Trial, purchase, and restore

Notchorious includes a free 7-day trial and a one-time Lifetime Unlock, both handled by Apple through the App Store. There is no subscription and the trial does not renew. After the trial, widgets and editors lock until you buy the Lifetime Unlock; Apple Weather current conditions and the six-day forecast stay available at no charge.

Already bought it on another Mac? Open Settings → Store and choose Restore Purchases while signed in to the same Apple Account. If a purchase is waiting for approval (for example Ask to Buy), Notchorious unlocks automatically once it is approved. If the App Store cannot be reached, a previously verified purchase keeps working for up to 72 hours while Notchorious retries.

Permissions

Notchorious asks for macOS permissions only when you add or use the feature that needs them. You can see and manage them in Settings → Permissions or in System Settings → Privacy & Security.

• Location — Weather, only when it is set to Current Location.
• Reminders — the To-do widget.
• Bluetooth — accessory batteries in the Battery widget (optional; your Mac’s own battery works without it).
• Screen Recording — screenshots and recordings in Capture, and the Screen button in AirDrop.
• Automation — Spotify and Apple Music for Now Playing, and Apple Notes for Quick Notes.
• Accessibility — only so Brightness and Keyboard Brightness can send brightness-key presses.
• Local Network — Portals, to find and connect to your PC and your other Mac.

If a widget shows an access overlay, a permission it used was turned off. Turn it back on from the overlay or from System Settings. If Notchorious asks to restart after a permission change, allow it and then try again.

Brightness and Keyboard Brightness

macOS does not show a permission prompt for this, so Notchorious walks you through it: it opens Privacy & Security → Accessibility and shows the app in Finder. Turn on the switch next to Notchorious, or add it with + or by dragging it into the list. Notchorious then restarts itself once so the change takes effect. The widgets step brightness up and down; they don’t show an exact level.

Now Playing

Now Playing works with Spotify and Apple Music. When you add the widget, macOS asks for Automation access for each installed player. If you declined, turn it on in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Automation → Notchorious. The widget shows what is playing only while the player is open. During setup Notchorious may open an installed player in the background so macOS can ask for access; after that it never launches a player on its own.

Quick Notes and To-do

Quick Notes saves your text as a new note in Apple Notes when you press Save; allow Automation for Notes when asked. The To-do widget shows incomplete reminders from all your lists and adds new ones to your default Reminders list.

Clipboard History and Drop Shelf

Clipboard History starts when you add the Clipboard widget and stops, clearing everything, when you remove it. Clips stay in memory only and disappear when Notchorious quits. Copies from password managers are skipped. You can clear the list from the widget or from Settings → General → Privacy.

Drag files onto the notch to park them on the Drop Shelf; the notch glows blue while you hold them and the panel opens when you let go. Drag items back out when you need them. Files stay where they are, and the shelf empties when Notchorious quits. Turn the shelf on or off in Add Widgets or in Settings → General → Privacy.

Re-copying a file clip may show a one-time macOS confirmation asking to allow access to that location. That is expected.

Screen capture and AirDrop

Capture takes screenshots and screen recordings when you press its controls, and saves them to the folder chosen in Settings → General → Capture Folder. Recordings can include system audio but never the microphone. The AirDrop widget can send a screenshot of your screen or files and media you pick.

Weather

Weather can use Current Location or a city you choose in Settings → General → Weather Location. If you don’t want to share your location, choose City. Temperatures follow the Temperature setting in System Settings → General → Language & Region. Weather data is provided by Apple Weather.

Battery, Wi-Fi, and Sleep

The Battery widget always shows your Mac’s battery. With Bluetooth allowed, it also shows connected accessories that report a level; some accessories never report one to macOS. The Wi-Fi widget turns Wi-Fi on and off; macOS may ask you to authorize this when you add the widget. Sleep puts your Mac to sleep right away.

Alarms and timers

Alarms and timers ring inside Notchorious, so the app must be running and the Mac must be awake at the scheduled time. Notchorious does not wake a sleeping Mac. Turn on Start at Login in Settings → General so alarms keep working after a restart. If you quit with an alarm or a running timer set, Notchorious asks first.

Apps on the canvas

Add Widgets lists the apps in your Applications folder and updates on its own when you install or remove one. If a new app doesn’t appear, make sure it has finished installing and is in the Applications folder, not in Downloads.

If you delete an app that is on your canvas, its icon stays in place but appears dimmed. Reinstall the app and it returns to normal, or remove the icon in edit mode.

Reset and removal

Settings → General → Reset to Defaults restores appearance, display, notch fit, tips, login behavior, alarm sound, fullscreen behavior, and the Drop Shelf switch. Your alarms, cities, notes, timers, and Capture folder are kept.

To remove Notchorious completely, quit it, delete the app, and delete the com.fotis.Notchorious folder in ~/Library/Containers if it is still there. Notes, reminders, and captures you saved stay where you put them.

Privacy

Notchorious has no accounts, no analytics, no advertising, and no developer-operated server, and the developer collects no personal data. Read the complete Privacy Policy.