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Release Notes
What's new in NotchLive
May 2026
A maintenance release focused on lower idle energy use, cleaner sibling-app switching, and notch hover behavior that works consistently on notched and external displays.
Energy Use
- Replaced continuous global mouse-move polling with event-driven hover tracking around the notch area.
- Click monitors now run only while the NotchLive UI is open.
- Reduced background work when NotchLive is idle, including when captions or notes are not active.
Notch Switcher
- Expanded the shared NotchPad / NotchLive hover area so the switcher is easier to reveal.
- Matched the hover trigger to the switcher panel footprint on both notched and non-notched screens.
- Improved switcher exit tracking without returning to global mouse tracking.
Interface Polish
- Updated switcher-only app icons so the NotchPad and NotchLive selector uses clean glyph artwork without app-icon borders.
May 2026
A new compact high-accuracy speech model, smoother model switching, natural-language Voice Notes with translation controls, non-English microphone caption fixes, and Team Pack license support.
Speech Models
- Added Large Turbo Compact, a high-quality speech model option with a smaller download than the full Large Turbo model.
- Updated the full Large Turbo model entry to reflect its larger download size and highest-quality positioning.
- Improved model switching so captions can keep running while another model is prepared when a usable model is already loaded.
- Fixed stale model loading states after quick model changes, cancellations, deletes, or re-downloads.
- Improved incomplete model download recovery by clearing broken model folders and verifying required model files before loading.
Voice Notes
- Added AI, Translate, and Raw views for Voice Notes.
- Voice Notes now transcribe in the spoken language instead of being forced into English.
- Added a source-language picker for Voice Notes, with Auto plus manual language choices.
- Added a translation target picker directly in the Notes controls.
- Notes can now be translated after dictation without leaving the notch.
- Changing the Notes translation target now refreshes the visible translation instead of leaving stale text.
- Copy, save, export, and NotchPad handoff now use the selected Notes view when appropriate.
- Non-English notes now avoid English-specific filler cleanup, so Turkish and other languages are preserved more naturally.
- Fixed the Notes translation language picker becoming unclickable after note text appeared on screen.
Microphone Captions
- Fixed microphone captions in Caption mode so non-English speech is transcribed in the spoken language instead of being translated to English.
- Improved Both mode microphone captions so the baby notch uses transcription behavior and follows the selected speech model.
- Recorded microphone transcript entries in Translate mode now keep source text and translated text with the selected target language.
- Notes dictation uses the same safer microphone transcription path, including the selected Notes source language when one is chosen.
Licensing
- Added support for NotchLive Team Pack license keys.
- Team Pack 5, Team Pack 10, and Team Pack 25 keys now unlock Pro through the normal license-key activation flow.
- Existing individual NotchLive Pro keys continue to activate and revalidate through the original Pro path.
- Valid Team Pack keys continue to revalidate as NotchLive Pro licenses.
- NotchPad and other wrong-product license keys still reject instead of unlocking NotchLive.
- Settings now shows the active plan label for individual and team-pack licenses.
- Improved license validation resilience for valid NotchLive keys when the license service omits plan details in a successful response.
Settings And Window Fixes
- Fixed a Notes-path Settings bug where the Settings window could become hard to close or interact with.
- Settings now stays clickable when opened from Notes.
- Fixed Settings model rows getting stuck in stale download, selected, loading, or ready states after model changes.
May 2026
A smoother first-run experience, stronger model reliability, automatic audio-device recovery, and a more polished macOS interface.
Smoother Setup
- Redesigned onboarding so new users understand permissions, choose a speech model, watch it download and load, and start captions from a clearer final screen.
- Onboarding now resumes after macOS asks to restart NotchLive for Screen Recording permission.
- The first caption run now uses the model prepared during onboarding instead of getting stuck in a loading state.
- Added a shortcut summary for Show/Hide, Start/Stop, mode switching, and Copy Last.
Reliability
- Fixed cases where the notch could stay on Loading model... even though the model was already loaded.
- Model downloads and loading now detect incomplete files, check tokenizer availability, and time out with clearer errors instead of hanging.
- Connecting AirPods or changing the default microphone/output device now restarts capture automatically without relaunching or toggling sources.
- Settings model switches now reuse an already-loaded model when possible.
Interface Polish
- Refined settings, sessions, notes, and detail windows with a more native macOS 26-style glass treatment where it helps.
- Improved segmented controls, back buttons, export/delete actions, and other controls so the full button area is clickable.
- Cleaned up onboarding animations, permission cards, model rows, shortcut chips, and final setup messaging.
- Updated the app icon and release DMG icon so NotchLive looks right on pre-Tahoe macOS as well as newer macOS versions.
May 2026
A small bug fix release for the shared NotchPad / NotchLive selector and gentler scheduled update reminders.
Fixes
- The shared NotchPad / NotchLive selector now stays open while moving from the notch hover zone into the selector on notched Macs.
- Scheduled update checks now show the notch update button instead of interrupting with an automatic dialog in the background.
- Clicking the update button still opens the normal Sparkle update flow and release notes.
April 2026
On-demand AI dictation for saved sessions, better transcript exports, and clearer update reminders.
Features
- Saved sessions now have a Raw / AI switch so you can keep the original transcript or generate a cleaned dictation view when you need it.
- AI dictation is generated only on demand, runs through the existing local cleanup flow, and is saved with the session after generation.
- Session AI keeps speaker turns cleaner: microphone entries become You:, captured audio becomes Audio:, and system-only sessions stay plain.
- The notch now shows a visible update reminder when Sparkle finds an update, so updates are not buried in Settings.
Export
- Raw TXT export keeps timestamps and YOU labels.
- AI TXT export saves the generated AI dictation with an AI filename suffix.
- JSON export includes saved AI dictation data when it exists.
April 2026
Recording reliability, Both mode mic caption stability, and cleaner note feedback.
Fixes
- Recording stop, pause, and quit now finalize more safely so final session audio and ended timestamps are preserved.
- Saved sessions now persist translated captions more reliably.
- Stale caption lines clear more predictably after silence and when switching between widget and screen caption modes.
- Both mode microphone captions now show a loading state while the mic model is preparing and recover more reliably after audio source changes.
- Notes copy and save actions now show visible confirmation, and note cleanup preserves meaning and line breaks better.
April 2026
Voice Notes for Pro — dictate, clean up, save, export, and send notes to NotchPad.
Features
- Voice Notes — a focused dark notepad for Pro users that turns microphone input into speech-to-text notes.
- AI / Raw views — review the natural transcript or switch to an AI-cleaned note that reads more like something you wrote.
- Saved Notes library — keep dictated notes in NotchLive, copy them, export them, or delete them later.
- Send to NotchPad — hand finished notes to NotchPad when you want them in your permanent notebook.
- Sibling-app handoff polish — NotchLive now backs away before opening NotchPad so the two notch panels do not stack on top of each other.
April 2026
Baby NotchLive — compact mic captions panel in Both mode.
Features
- Baby NotchLive — when audio is set to "Both", a compact secondary panel now appears below the notch showing your microphone captions in real time. No more opening the companion window just to see what you're saying.
April 2026
Microphone permission fix.
Fixes
- Fixed microphone permission not working — the app now correctly requests microphone access
April 2026
License validation security hardening.
Fixes
- Enforce per-product license key validation (reject keys from other products)
- Immediately revoke Pro status for mismatched license keys on revalidation
March 2026
Bug fixes and security improvements.
Fixes
- Fixed Pro mode activation edge cases and improved license validation security
- Resolved intermittent crashes during extended captioning sessions
- General stability and performance improvements
March 2026
5 AI models, 20 translation languages, pause/resume, and redesigned Settings.
Features
- Pause and resume captioning from the widget control bar
- 5 AI models — added Medium and Large Turbo for best accuracy
- 20 translation languages — added Dutch, Hindi, Indonesian, Polish, Russian, Thai, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, Chinese (Traditional)
- New 2-column language picker with download status indicators
- Redesigned Settings with friendlier labels and model cards
- Hot-swap AI models while captioning is running
- Small model is now the default for better out-of-box accuracy
Fixes
- Better mic accuracy in Both mode
- Fixed model loading and download UI glitches
March 2026
License validation and Pro upsell fixes.
Fixes
- Improved license validation security
- Fixed license deactivation reliability
- Fixed Pro upsell banner not showing after license changes
March 2026
Pro upsell, non-blocking translation, and bug fixes.
Features
- Pro upsell banner with Upgrade and Activate Key buttons
- Auto-dismiss Pro upsell when license is activated
- Non-blocking translation — captions appear instantly
Fixes
- Session recording no longer cuts off when changing translation language
March 2026
Caption Display improvements.
Features
- Caption Display now auto-starts captioning when opened — no extra steps needed
- New window button in the notch control bar for quick access to Caption Display
- Dual-stream captions in Both mode: your mic (cyan, top) + system audio (white, bottom)
March 2026
Caption Display window for screen sharing.
Features
- Caption Display — floating, resizable window with large captions for screen sharing in Zoom, Meet, StreamYard, and more
- Toggle with ⌥ ⌘ F or from the menu bar
- Auto-hides notch widget when Caption Display opens, restores on close
February 2026
Both mode overhaul, mic improvements, and post-session transcription.
Improvements
- Fixed "Both" mode - system audio captioned cleanly, no mic interference
- Mic gain boost (3x) for normal speaking distance
- Post-session mic transcription with "YOU" tags in session detail
- Chronological interleaving of entries
- Widget drop shadow
- Processing indicator during mic transcription
February 2026
Caption quality and UI improvements.
Improvements
- Fuller caption lines - text fills the full width before breaking to a new line
- Reduced hallucinations with improved noise filtering
- Better text spacing and readability near the notch area
- Added Website & Support links in Settings
Fixes
- Fixed auto-update feed so future updates are detected automatically
- Fixed microphone not working in release builds
February 2026
Real-time AI captions and translation in your MacBook's notch.
Features
Captions
- Real-time speech-to-text powered by on-device Whisper AI
- Three model tiers: Light (~40 MB), Standard (~140 MB), Pro (~460 MB)
- Automatic language detection for 90+ languages
- Streaming transcription with partial updates - text appears within ~1.5s of speech
Translation
- Real-time translation to 11 languages via Apple Translation (macOS 15+)
- Debounced partial translation - see translations as you listen, not just after silence
- Supported targets: English, Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Italian, Turkish, Arabic
Audio Sources
- System audio capture via ScreenCaptureKit - works with any app (Zoom, Meet, Teams, YouTube, etc.)
- Microphone input for in-person conversations
- Switchable on the fly
Notch Widget
- Floats over the notch area with smooth expand/collapse animations
- Works on MacBooks with and without a notch
- Hover to reveal controls: mode switch, language picker, recording, settings
- Auto-dims after silence, instantly un-dims when speech resumes
Session Recording (Pro)
- Record transcription sessions with timestamps
- Searchable session history with rename, export, and delete
- Export as TXT or JSON
- Breathing red edge overlay indicates active recording
Privacy
- Fully on-device - audio never leaves your Mac
- No cloud audio processing, no required account, and no uploaded audio or transcripts
- Hardened runtime, code signed, and notarized by Apple
Keyboard Shortcuts
- ⌥ ⌘ C Toggle captioning
- ⌥ ⌘ T Cycle mode (Caption / Translate)
- ⌥ ⌘ K Copy last caption to clipboard
- ⌥ ⌘ H Toggle widget visibility
Other
- Menu bar app (no Dock icon)
- Guided onboarding for permissions and model download
- Automatic updates via Sparkle
- Free forever for captions. Pro $14.99 one-time for translation, sessions, and export.
System Requirements
macOS 14+ (translation requires macOS 15+)
Apple Silicon recommended, Intel supported