Notchly May Update

Notchly v1.1 makes the MacBook notch feel more useful and noticeably lighter. This release focuses on the moments people touch most often: music, the lock screen, Focus mode, settings, and the performance work that keeps the app smooth through a full day.

A major performance upgrade

The biggest change in v1.1 is how much calmer Notchly feels under the hood. Background work, animation behavior, memory spikes, and repeated state updates all received a deeper cleanup.

• Music and equalizer animations do less work when hidden.
• Memory spikes during unlock and playback interactions are lower.
• Focus and music updates are less repetitive.
• Long sessions feel steadier with less background activity.
• Internal logging and noisy permission or update flows were cleaned up.

Better music controls

The expanded music view is more useful as a real control surface, not just a now-playing preview. It is built for quick adjustments without pulling another app into focus.

• Playback controls are more consistent across the main notch experience and lock screen.
• Volume, mute, and shuffle interactions feel more natural when supported by the active music source.
• Artwork transitions are smoother when changing tracks.
• Hidden music animations do less unnecessary work when the interface is not visible.

A cleaner lock screen player

The lock screen player now feels more intentional: easier to read, easier to control, and smoother when the Mac wakes or unlocks.

• Previous, play or pause, and next controls are available on the lock screen.
• Seek interactions are easier to use, including click and drag behavior.
• Album artwork changes feel smoother when skipping between tracks.
• Unlock transitions are cleaner, with fewer rough edges around the player disappearing.

Focus mode feels calmer

Focus mode should not create more noise. In v1.1, Focus changes are handled with more restraint and fewer repeated updates.

• Focus ON and OFF animations are more stable.
• Focus state changes are handled more cleanly behind the scenes.
• Repeated Focus updates are reduced to avoid unnecessary memory growth.
• The notch experience feels less jumpy during system state changes.

Cleaner settings and display handling

Settings are easier to scan, and display behavior is more reliable when screens change. The app should feel clearer to configure and steadier across different Mac setups.

• Music and Battery settings better match the General settings structure.
• Descriptions and disabled states are easier to read quickly.
• Display selection and reset behavior are more reliable.
• Overlay behavior is steadier when screens are connected, disconnected, or changed.

The short version

Notchly v1.1 is a performance release and a usability release at the same time. It brings richer music controls, a better lock screen player, calmer Focus behavior, cleaner settings, and a stronger foundation for everything that comes next.