TickerNotch transforms your MacBook’s notch or external display into a live dashboard for market data, news, and alerts. Find out how it performed during weeks of real-world testing.
I spend a lot of my day in front of my Mac, whether I’m writing, editing photos, responding to emails, or researching products for reviews. Like many people, I also like to keep an eye on what’s happening in the news and financial markets every so often. The problem is that doing so usually means leaving a browser tab open, checking a trading platform throughout the day, or constantly switching between apps. While none of those things are difficult, they do interrupt my workflow. That’s what caught my attention about TickerNotch. Rather than requiring another window or taking up valuable desktop space, it displays market information in an area that’s normally unused.
What is TickerNotch?
TickerNotch is a native macOS application designed to keep financial market information visible while you work by turning the otherwise unused space around your MacBook’s display notch into a live information hub. On Macs without a notch or when using an external display, the app can create a simulated island that provides the same experience. Rather than relying on a browser tab, menu bar utility, or a dedicated trading platform that consumes valuable desktop space, TickerNotch keeps your watchlist, portfolio performance, news headlines, and alerts in constant view so you can stay informed without interrupting your workflow.
Built by a Trader, for Traders
The app was created by an independent developer whose background is in materials engineering and advanced informatics. After spending nearly a decade trading the financial markets, they found themselves constantly monitoring charts, news feeds, and market data throughout the day. What began as small personal software projects to solve their own workflow challenges eventually led to the development of TickerNotch. Before creating the app, they built HyperBot, a private automated trading system used to manage their own investment accounts. While HyperBot has never been released publicly, the experience of developing software responsible for trading real money around the clock shaped the reliability and production mindset that carried over into TickerNotch.
The concept behind TickerNotch was inspired by both software and hardware. The developer cites boring.notch and the TickrMeter desktop ticker among their biggest influences, along with Apple’s philosophy of transforming hardware limitations into useful features, much like the Dynamic Island on the iPhone. Instead of treating the MacBook’s notch as wasted space, TickerNotch turns the surrounding black areas into a persistent source of useful information. The developer is also expanding this concept beyond the Mac with an upcoming companion iPhone app.
Designed to Keep Market Information in View
TickerNotch is designed primarily for anyone who follows the financial markets while working on a Mac, whether that’s active traders, long-term investors, or users who simply want financial headlines and market information available at a glance. Its centerpiece is the customizable live ticker, which can display a watchlist, portfolio profit and loss, and continuously scrolling RSS news feeds simultaneously. Users can configure native macOS price alerts, and selecting a ticker opens an interactive candlestick chart complete with technical indicators such as RSI, MACD, and Bollinger Bands. Multiple chart windows can remain open at the same time, and nearly every aspect of the interface, including fonts, colors, scrolling behavior, and animated shader backgrounds, can be customized.
Unlike many competing market applications that either occupy the menu bar or require users to switch into a full trading platform, TickerNotch focuses on keeping information permanently visible while remaining unobtrusive. It uses screen space that would otherwise go unused, allowing users to monitor multiple symbols at once without sacrificing valuable workspace.
Native Performance with a Privacy-First Approach
TickerNotch is built exclusively for macOS 14 Sonoma or later and is written entirely in Swift, SwiftUI, and AppKit without relying on Electron or web-based interfaces. Charts are rendered using SwiftUI Canvas, while market data is delivered through WebSocket connections for cryptocurrency, HTTP polling for stock quotes, and RSS feeds for news. Automatic updates are handled through Sparkle, and despite its capabilities, the entire application is only about 6.5 MB in size.
Privacy is another area where the developer intentionally keeps things simple. TickerNotch does not require an account or collect personal data. The app includes optional anonymous usage statistics, which can be disabled in the Settings menu. According to the developer, these statistics only report high-level feature usage, such as how many ticker slots or weather widgets are enabled, without collecting the contents of that information or any personally identifiable data. Watchlists, settings, and other app data remain stored locally on the user’s Mac, and the application only requests notification permissions for price alerts and internet access to retrieve market data. It does not require screen recording, accessibility, location, or file system permissions. The app is Developer ID signed, notarized, and uses cryptographically signed updates to help ensure a secure installation and update process.
Pricing, Support, and What’s Next
The app is available with a seven-day free trial that doesn’t require a credit card. After the trial, users can continue using a permanent free version that supports one ticker, one news channel, and one alert. Those who need additional functionality can upgrade to Pro, which unlocks unlimited watchlists, chart windows, portfolio tracking, and alerts through monthly, annual, or lifetime licensing options. One license can be transferred between Macs, although it may only be active on one machine at a time.
TickerNotch Pro is available for $5 per month or a $40 lifetime license. With a permanent free tier, flexible upgrade options, and a lifetime purchase option, TickerNotch provides users with multiple ways to access the features that best fit their workflow.
As a solo developer, they handle every aspect of the project, from development and testing to customer support and marketing. They also embrace the use of AI coding assistants during development, describing them as collaborative programming tools that accelerate implementation while emphasizing that the architecture, design decisions, testing, and final review of every shipped line of code remain their responsibility.
Looking ahead, the roadmap includes a Focus Mode that expands a single ticker across the entire strip for improved concentration during earnings or other important events, smarter percentage-based alerts that trigger over rolling time windows, support for additional market data providers and broker integrations, a future Mac App Store release, and the launch of TickerNotch for iOS, which brings the same concept to the iPhone.
Main Features
Live Tickers Weather Slots Social Counters System Metrics News, one side or both Menu bar pins Candlestick charts One search box No account required Privacy-focused design Optional anonymous usage statistics (can be disabled)User Experience
I’ve been using TickerNotch throughout my workday for the past couple of weeks, and it has become one of those utilities that quietly does its job without demanding attention. Despite displaying a constant stream of information, the interface never felt cluttered or distracting. Instead, it strikes a nice balance between keeping important market data, computer specs, and news visible and staying out of the way while I’m writing, editing, or working on other projects.
One of the first things that stood out to me was just how clean the interface is. Everything is easy to read, and I really like that I can decide exactly what information is displayed. Whether it’s stocks, cryptocurrency, weather, news, or other data, it’s simple to tailor the ticker to match my workflow. Even better, any changes I made in the settings were reflected immediately in the ticker, so I could experiment with different layouts without waiting for the app to refresh or restarting it.
Getting started was equally straightforward. Installation only took a few moments, and once the app was up and running, the hardest part was deciding what information I wanted to include in the ticker. The settings are well organized, making it easy to customize the experience without feeling overwhelmed.
Since I spend much of my day working on an external monitor, I was especially happy to see support for the simulated notch on displays without a physical notch. After enabling the feature, TickerNotch worked well on my LG UltraGear monitor, allowing me to keep using the app even when my MacBook Pro was connected to an external display. I also experimented with different display resolutions and found that the simulated notch scaled properly every time, which was reassuring since display scaling can sometimes create unexpected issues.
Over the course of my testing, TickerNotch proved to be reliable. I left it running all day, every day, for a couple of weeks and never experienced a crash or found myself needing to restart the application. It also had no noticeable impact on my Mac’s performance. CPU and memory usage remained low enough that I often forgot the app was running in the background until I glanced up at the ticker for an update.
Overall, I think TickerNotch succeeds because it focuses on doing one job well. It makes excellent use of screen space that would otherwise go unused and provides a convenient way to keep market information and news within view without interrupting my workflow. For anyone who spends long hours at their Mac, especially those who regularly follow the financial markets, it’s a thoughtful utility that quickly becomes part of your daily routine.
I also want to note that this is a fairly new app and the developer has been very responsive to feedback. We suggested a few things that would make the app more useful and he rolled out those features quickly. If you decide to give it a try, and think of something that would make it better, don’t hesitate to reach out as he’s very responsive and open to suggestions.
Conclusion
TickerNotch is one of those utilities that solves a problem you may not have realized you had until you start using it. By transforming the unused space around your MacBook’s notch, or creating a simulated notch on external displays, it keeps market data, news, and other information readily available without cluttering your desktop or interrupting your workflow.
While the app is clearly geared toward investors and traders, anyone who wants glanceable information available throughout the day may find it useful. Combined with a generous free tier and reasonably priced Pro options, TickerNotch delivers an experience that feels polished and genuinely useful. If you spend most of your day working on a Mac and regularly monitor the financial markets, TickerNotch is an easy recommendation.
For more information, visit bitvibelabs.com/tickernotch
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