Free.
No subscription, no trial, no card.
Unlimited.
No quota and no usage cap. Ask as much as you like.
No tokens.
No account and no API key to manage.
Stays here.
Your words never leave your Mac. It works offline.
Why it matters
The chatbot you pay for, versus the one you already own.
A typical cloud chatbot
What most of them ask of you.
- Account
- Sign-up required
- Cost
- Subscription or per token
- Limits
- Usage caps
- Internet
- Always online
- Your text
- Sent to a server
The AI in your Mac
Through Chat in Notch.
- Account
- None
- Cost
- Free
- Limits
- No usage caps
- Internet
- Not needed
- Your text
- Stays on your Mac
What it does
Small, quick, and always one hover away.
Opens from the notch
Hover over the notch and it unfolds into a chat. One button opens it as a regular window when you want more room.
Talk and listen
Dictate with the microphone. Replies are read aloud, then the mic reopens, so you can keep a spoken conversation going.
Show it pictures
Attach an image and the model reads it. Ask what is in it, then keep chatting about it.
Make images
Type /image and describe what you want. Pictures are made on your Mac with Image Playground.
Install
Installing takes seconds. One step is odd.
- Apple silicon
- macOS 27 or later
- Apple Intelligence turned on
- 1
Download
Get the latest release from GitHub Releases.
- 2
Move to Applications
Open the download and drag Chat in Notch into your Applications folder.
- 3
Allow it once
The app is unsigned. Open System Settings, go to Privacy and Security, scroll to Security and click Open Anyway.
- 4
Hover over the notch
That is it. The chat unfolds.
Prefer the Terminal? This does the same as Open Anyway:
xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine "/Applications/Chat in Notch.app"FAQ
Questions you might have.
Does it work on a Mac without a notch?
Yes. Chat in Notch draws a simulated notch at the top center of the screen. Hover there to open the chat.
Is it really offline?
Once Apple Intelligence is set up and its model is downloaded, chatting needs no internet connection. The first time you use a feature, macOS may download Apple's language or speech models. Your conversations are never sent anywhere.
Which Macs does it run on?
Macs with Apple silicon running macOS 27 or later, with Apple Intelligence turned on.
Why does macOS say the app is from an unidentified developer?
Chat in Notch is a free personal project and is not signed with a paid Apple Developer certificate. Open it once through System Settings, Privacy and Security, Open Anyway. The source code is public, so you can also build it yourself.
Are there any limits?
There is no quota, subscription or per-use cost. The on-device model does have a limited context window, so in very long conversations the app continues from a short summary of the recent messages.
Where are my conversations stored?
In a folder on your Mac (Library, Application Support, ChatInNotch). You can delete one conversation, or all of them, from the app whenever you like.