Dynamic Island was one of the most anticipated features of the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 15 when it was originally announced, and it’s become an incredibly useful feature that I now can’t live without. While I wait for Apple to introduce Dynamic Island to the Mac, NotchNook is already on the case.
You can download NotchNook and try it out for free for two days. Once the trial is over, you can subscribe for $3 a month or buy it outright for $25, and I honestly think it's worth it if you already rely on Dynamic Island on your iPhone. If you've been living under a rock for the past few years and need a refresher on what Dynamic Island is all about, don't worry.
Dynamic Island acts as a hub for notifications and ongoing background activities, like audio output controls and alerts. If you have an iPhone 14 Pro, Pro Max, or any iPhone 15 model, the front-facing camera notch records the timer, changes your songs or podcasts, and logs your cheeky takeout deliveries.
This makes it an incredibly useful information hub that you can access in the middle of any task and quickly access apps and tasks without having to search for them. Since the feature is activated automatically, you can start multitasking in a matter of seconds without any additional actions.
Don't wait for Apple
Even if you don't rely on this feature, it makes a lot more sense (to me, at least) to have Dynamic Island on your laptop for quick access to your media settings or shortcuts, and it makes the controversial camera notch that comes with modern MacBooks a lot more useful.
I'm a big fan of the little tools and features that make my life just a little bit easier, which explains why I'm a big fan of iPhone Screen Mirroring Feature Comes to macOS SequoiaWhen you install NotchNook, you can move your mouse over the FaceTime webcam notch on your MacBook and it will expand into a Dynamic Island-like menu, just like it would on your phone, displaying media controls and shortcuts that you can configure yourself. For example, you can set up your favorite playlists or podcasts or open an app you use frequently.
NotchNook also has plenty of customization options to match your own shortcuts, including the ability to change the layout and even control the size of the notch.
If you don't have a notch on your device or you use a Mac mini like me, don't worry! The app creates an artificial notch at the top that blends in perfectly with the rest of the screen. That's why, on my monitor, I have a neat little Dynamic Island that lets me quickly switch between music or tabs in Slack.
I'm a little wary of paying for apps that simply add features that, it could be argued, should have been included in the OS to begin with, but at least you can try them out for free beforehand, and if you find them useful, it makes more sense to buy the app outright (and you can get a discount for posting about the app on social media!).
Hopefully, once macOS Sequoia makes its official debut later this year, we'll be able to see Apple introduce a Mac Dynamic Island in its own right. Until then, I'll continue to use the NotchNook.
Through The edge
