Terms, privacy and permissions
The short version: NotchDeck is free and open source, it reads what it shows on your Mac and sends none of it anywhere, it asks for each permission only when a module needs it, and it comes with no warranty. The details are below. This page is general information, not legal advice.
Last updated 8 November 2026.
Terms of use
By downloading or using NotchDeck you agree to these terms. NotchDeck is free, open-source software by lqoro, released under the MIT License. The source code is on GitHub. There is no paid version.
No warranty
NotchDeck is provided “as is”, without warranty of any kind, as set out in the MIT License. Its authors are not liable for any loss or damage arising from using it. It reads files and system data and never changes them (see Privacy), but keep your own backups as you would anyway.
macOS changes
Some features use parts of macOS that Apple does not document for apps, such as the system Now Playing information and display brightness. A macOS update can change those, and a feature may stop working until NotchDeck is updated. Where that happens, NotchDeck falls back to what macOS does on its own.
Downloads and updates
The Mac app is signed and notarized by Apple. Download NotchDeck only from this website or the GitHub releases page. Updates come through Sparkle inside the app, are signed with NotchDeck's update key, and are installed only when you agree.
Donations
Donations through Ko-fi are voluntary gifts to support development. They do not buy a licence, features, support or any other benefit, and NotchDeck stays free whether or not you donate. Ko-fi handles payments under its own terms; refunds, if any, follow Ko-fi's policies.
Changes
These terms may be updated. The current version is always on this page, with the date it changed.
Privacy
The app collects nothing
- No account, no analytics, no telemetry, no ads. NotchDeck sends no data to its developer or anyone else.
- Your calendar events, todos, notifications and what you are playing are read on your Mac, shown in the notch and kept in memory while NotchDeck runs. They are not uploaded or shared.
- NotchDeck only reads: it never adds or changes calendar events, never writes to your todo file and never changes Notification Center. Ticking a todo or clearing a notification hides it inside NotchDeck only.
When it goes online
- Update check. Once a day, Sparkle fetches one small file from this website to see whether a newer version exists. That request shows what any web request shows (your IP address, and the app and macOS version in the request) and carries none of your data. No information about your Mac's hardware is sent with it. If there is an update, it is downloaded from GitHub only after you agree. There is no setting in the app to turn the daily check off; Check for Updates… in the menu bar icon checks right away.
- Spotify covers. While the Spotify app is playing, NotchDeck asks Spotify for the address of the current cover picture and downloads that picture from Spotify's servers, the way the Spotify app itself does. Covers for Music and other players come from your Mac.
- Plugins and links. A plugin button opens the web page, file or app it names, in the app that normally opens it. NotchDeck itself makes no other network requests.
What it keeps on your Mac
- Settings (enabled modules, hover delay, the last tab, your todo file's location, notifications you cleared) in NotchDeck's preferences.
- The File Tray's list, as references to your files rather than copies, in ~/Library/Application Support/NotchDeck. Plugins you add live in the Plugins folder there.
Quitting NotchDeck, dragging it to the Trash and deleting those folders removes everything it stored.
This website
- No cookies, no analytics, no ads, no tracking pixels. Everything on this site is served from this site, not from third parties. The music, events, tasks and notifications in the pictures are made up.
- The site is hosted by Vercel. Like any web host, Vercel processes your IP address and request details to deliver pages and keep the service secure, under Vercel's privacy policy.
- Downloads are on GitHub, under GitHub's privacy statement. Donations go through Ko-fi, under Ko-fi's privacy policy; NotchDeck never sees payment details.
- The contact form sends nothing by itself and nothing is stored on this site: it opens your own email app (or Gmail, if you choose) with your message filled in, and you decide whether to send it. Email you send to lenny@lqoro.com is used only to reply to you. The X and Instagram links open those services, under their own privacy policies.
Questions and requests
NotchDeck holds no personal data about you on any server, so there is nothing to access or delete on our side. For questions, write to me at lenny@lqoro.com.
Permissions
Each permission is asked for only when the module that needs it is used, and each can be refused or withdrawn in System Settings, Privacy & Security. Without one, only that module waits; turning a module off in NotchDeck's Settings stops it completely.
| Permission | Module | What NotchDeck does with it |
|---|---|---|
| Calendars | Calendar | Reads your events from now until the end of tomorrow to list the next few. Asked when you press Allow in the Calendar tab. Never adds or changes events. |
| Automation: Music, Spotify | Now Playing | Reads the current track, position and cover, and sends play, pause, skip and seek when you press them. Only talks to a player that is already running; it never launches one. |
| Accessibility | Volume and brightness HUD | Sees the volume, mute and brightness keys so it can change the level and show it in the notch. Other keys are not looked at. Key presses with Option or Command go to macOS untouched. |
| Full Disk Access | Notifications | Reads macOS's Notification Center database, read only, to list recent notifications. Nothing in it is changed. |
| Files you drop or choose | File Tray, Todos | Keeps a reference to files you drop on the tray, and reads the todo file you pick. Nothing else on your disk is read by these modules. |
Battery and Timer need no permission. Launch at login is off until you turn it on in Settings.
Credits
NotchDeck
Copyright © 2026 lqoro. Released under the MIT License: you may use, copy, change and share it, including in other projects, as long as the copyright and licence notice stay with it. It comes without warranty. The full text is in the LICENSE file in the source code.
Inside the app
- Sparkle 2.10.0, the software update framework for macOS, by the Sparkle Project contributors, under the MIT License. Its full notice ships with the app and is in the project's third-party notices.
- Icons in the app are Apple's SF Symbols, drawn by macOS.
This website
- Type is your device's own system font. The notch and its panels are drawn in code for this site; the music, events, tasks and notifications in them are made up.
Trademarks
Apple, Mac, MacBook, macOS, Apple Silicon, Music and SF Symbols are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Spotify is a trademark of Spotify AB. Ko-fi is a trademark of Ko-fi Labs and GitHub of GitHub, Inc. NotchDeck is an independent app and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any of them.