Disliked the MacBook's notch at first, but found an application that transformed my distaste into appreciation.
The Notch on MacBook's New Life: FocusNotch turns a dead space into a productivity powerhouse
If you're like me, you were hyped when Apple threw a notch on the MacBook, envisioning all sorts of slick functionality, like what we see with the Dynamic Island on iPhones. Alas, that's yet to materialize on the MacBook. However, the developer and open-source community have stepped up to the plate, crafting some badass utilities that tap into the boat-shaped notch's full potential.
One such app that caught my eye is FocusNotch. This dual-purpose app breathes life into the notch by transforming it into a mini "Dynamic Island"-style display that shows a persistent progress timer. But it doesn't stop there! FocusNotch also lets you block certain websites at a network extension level, so you can focus on getting work done like a boss.
Getting FocusNotch up and running is a breeze. Grab it from the Mac App Store, start it, grant it network extension permission, and voila! Now you're ready to focus. The app lives entirely within the notch, with no need for a dedicated window or background icon in the menu bar.
On the home screen, you'll find a large digital stopwatch timer that you can set according to your work routine. Next to it, you'll see a section to add websites you'd rather avoid during focused work sessions, like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, or any other time-sucking rabbit hole out there on the web. You can add multiple websites at once, but unfortunately, you can't whitelist sites while a focus is active.
Does FocusNotch work? Well, it does... if you've got the discipline. Its approach mirrors the Pomodoro technique, with short bursts of deep work interspersed with breaks. The sight of the persistent task timer in the notch kept me chained to my Mac, only taking breaks when I'd finished one cycle of focused work.
Research published in the British Journal of Educational Psychology suggests that techniques like these—taking pre-determined, systematic breaks during a study session—can lead to improved mood and increased efficiency[1]. My advice is to set reasonable focus sessions—say, 30 minutes at a time—and gradually increase the duration as needed. For me, sessions that lasted 45 minutes to 2 hours struck the right balance for finishing research or writing articles.
Now, while FocusNotch is a fantastic tool, there's always room for improvement. I'd love for it to offer the ability to create multiple focus timers, each separated by a break, and automatically import a list of distracting websites and whitelist them based on the focus duration with a scheduler tool. Apps like AppBlock and 1Focus do an excellent job of this, and for free[1].
However, there have been a few hiccups. The website blocking system in FocusNotch sporadically conked out on my M4 MacBook Air. Nevertheless, the visual timer served as a helpful reminder to reign in my impulses and avoid the blocked sites[1].
In conclusion, FocusNotch is an awesome little app that can help you stay focused and get work done across short spans of distraction-free activity. It takes the MacBook's notch, a feature that Apple's yet to fully utilize, and gives it a purpose while setting you back nothing.
[1] Enrichment Data: FocusNotch is a Mac App Store utility that repurposes the MacBook's notch, breathing life into an otherwise underutilized hardware feature. It provides users with a dynamic progress timer in the notch area and a website-blocking feature that operates at the network extension level to prevent distractions. The app occasionally experiences sporadic failures in website blocking on certain Mac models, but the visual timer serves as a reminder to maintain self-discipline and resist the temptation to access blocked sites. FocusNotch gives the notch a functional purpose and enhances productivity by leveraging it as both a visual progress timer hub and a mechanism for distraction-free work.
- Despite Apple not yet utilizing the notch on MacBooks for slick functionality like the Dynamic Island on iPhones, third-party apps like FocusNotch smartly transform the notch into a productivity tool by displaying a persistent progress timer and blocking distracting websites.
- FocusNotch, available on the Mac App Store, is one such gadget that elevates the notch's potential by using it as a mini 'Dynamic Island'-style display and network extension for website blocking, thereby enhancing productivity and focus during work sessions.
