uNotch Inside the product A uAgency case study
Useful things.
A smaller footprint.
A meeting link, a focus timer, a file you need next. uNotch gives these small tasks a shared home at the top of the Mac.
The product problem
A quick task should
have a small home.
Checking what comes next is a small action. So is joining a call or setting a timer. Giving each action its own full-size window adds another place to look and another thing to manage.
uNotch brings these tools into a compact panel. The design question becomes what to show in a small space, how to move between tools, and what the app needs permission to read.
Three decisions in the product
Interaction · Space · TrustBring the next
action closer.
With calendar access enabled, the panel shows today's and tomorrow's events. Recognised meeting links get a Join action, so the event and the way into it sit together.
uNotch looks for a meeting link in the event's URL, location and notes. It recognises supported meeting services by their actual domains, rather than treating every URL in an event as a call.
The detail: a calendar entry becomes something you can act on.
Work with the
shape of the Mac.
The closed panel occupies a small area at the top of the display and expands when opened. On a MacBook with a notch, the content leaves room for the physical camera cutout. On displays without one, the panel sits as a pill below the menu bar.
Calendar, Pomodoro, timers and file tools are pages in the same panel. Swiping between them keeps the interaction in one place while letting each tool have its own space.
The detail: the same product works with and without a hardware notch.
Make access
deliberate.
Calendar events are read on-device after permission. The app's local tools do not need a uNotch account or a separate service that copies your calendar.
Weather is an explicit exception. The optional Premium feature needs a chosen city: searches go to Apple's MapKit, and the chosen city goes to WeatherKit. Forecasts are requested only while the app is displaying weather.
The detail: explain the optional connection where people decide to use it. Read the privacy policy.
The result
A small part of
the everyday Mac.
uNotch is available on the Mac App Store. It brings meetings, focus tools and files into a swipeable panel that adapts to the display, with local calendar access and clearly disclosed optional weather requests.
Those choices describe the product as a whole: a compact home for small tasks, with the details treated as part of the work.