Notchy Alternative for Mac: Face Unlock Without the Notch App

Quick answer: If you only want face unlock and not a Dynamic Island app, try Glance or FaceUnlock, both open source. If you also want to lock individual apps, Hey Mac does lock screen plus app lock. On macOS 13, stay with Notchy; on an Intel Mac with macOS 14+, FaceUnlock (and Glance on 15+) also work.

Disclosure: This page is published by the developer of Hey Mac, which is one of the alternatives below. We didn't lab-test any app. Notchy facts come from its own website, FAQ and help center, checked on October 12, 2026.

What Notchy is, and why its Face Unlock is different

Notchy is a free, closed-source Dynamic Island app by indie developer Vishva Variya. Face Unlock arrived in version 1.0.166. It sits alongside music controls, clipboard history, a file shelf, an AI usage tracker, a terminal and much more. The homepage counts 74 features in total.

Face Unlock itself is well documented. Notchy's Face Unlock page says it enrolls your face from nine head poses, runs on-device with Apple's Vision framework, offers Light and Strict liveness modes, and types your Keychain-stored password once it sees a live face. Like every webcam unlocker, it isn't Face ID (see Face ID for Mac for why). So the reasons to switch are mostly about what comes with it, or what's missing.

Three reasons people look for a Notchy alternative

1. You want face unlock, not a notch app

Face Unlock lives under Settings > Lock Screen inside a much larger utility. If you only wanted to look at your Mac and get in, you're also installing a now-playing island, HUD replacements, window snapping and dozens of other features. Notchy's help center says only Accessibility is required up front, which helps. Still, some in-app ratings quoted on Notchy's own homepage complain that the island "keeps popping up" or opens on hover after it was switched off.

To be fair, the help center documents visibility options such as "Invisible Until Hover" and a way to stop hover-to-open. If the island is your only complaint, try those settings before switching.

2. You want open source

Notchy's FAQ is upfront about this: "If you specifically want open source, Notchy is not it." One of the in-app ratings on its homepage simply says "Do it opensource." For a tool that holds your Mac login password, being able to read the code matters to some people. Glance and Hey Mac are MIT-licensed, and FaceUnlock's app code is MIT, though its InsightFace/ArcFace face model is licensed for non-commercial use only.

3. You want to lock individual apps

Notchy's Face Unlock is for the macOS lock screen. Its feature list includes Camera Guard (alerts when an app opens your camera) and a keyboard cleaning lock, but nothing that puts Messages, Notes or Photos behind your face. If that's the real goal, you need a different tool. See how to lock apps on Mac for native options too.

Notchy vs the main alternatives

Details for Glance and FaceUnlock come from their READMEs, as summarized in our full comparison of face unlock apps.

The best Notchy alternatives, by what you need

Just face unlock, open source: Glance or FaceUnlock

Glance is the closest like-for-like swap: a lock-screen unlocker with a notch-style indicator but no extra utilities. It needs macOS 15 Sequoia or later. FaceUnlock is a lightweight menu bar app that runs on macOS 14 and became a universal binary in v1.1.0. It uses the default camera (built-in, external or Continuity Camera, per its README) but has no camera picker, and an open issue (#5) reports it not switching to a USB webcam in clamshell mode, so test it first on a Mac mini. Neither locks apps.

Face unlock plus app lock: Hey Mac

Hey Mac is the option if your reason for leaving is reason three. It unlocks the lock screen when you look at the Mac, and it also locks chosen apps behind a blur until you verify with your face, Touch ID or password. You set relock rules per app: every launch, after 5 to 15 minutes, or when you switch away. Recognition runs on-device through Core ML, and face data is stored only as an encrypted embedding in the Keychain.

Where Hey Mac falls short of Notchy, plainly:

• Narrower Mac support. Hey Mac needs Apple silicon (M1 or later) and macOS 14 Sonoma. Notchy runs on Intel and on macOS 13.
• External webcams. Notchy documents clamshell and desktop webcam support. Hey Mac hasn't published this yet.
• Install friction. Hey Mac isn't notarized yet, so first launch needs System Settings > Privacy & Security > Open Anyway.
• Credential storage. Notchy documents that your login password sits in the Keychain. Hey Mac hasn't published yet how it stores the credential it uses for lock-screen unlock (separate from the face embedding above).
• Maturity. Hey Mac v1.0.0 shipped on September 20, 2026.

Only want to lock apps: FaceGate

If the lock screen doesn't bother you and you just want private apps, FaceGate is an open-source app locker with face, Touch ID or password fallback. It doesn't unlock the macOS lock screen.

No camera at all: Apple Watch or Bluetooth proximity

If what you like about Notchy is hands-free unlocking, a camera isn't the only route. Apple's built-in Auto Unlock with Apple Watch unlocks your Mac when you're wearing your watch, with no third-party app. BLEUnlock is a free, MIT-licensed menu bar app that locks and unlocks by the proximity of an iPhone, Apple Watch or other Bluetooth LE device; its README lists macOS 10.13 or later.

Who should stay with Notchy

Stay with Notchy if any of these apply:

• You're on macOS 13 Ventura. None of the other face unlock apps above support it. On an Intel Mac with macOS 14+, FaceUnlock (and Glance on 15+) also work; Hey Mac is Apple silicon only.
• You use a Mac mini or a closed MacBook with an external webcam. Notchy documents this and re-picks the camera on every scan.
• You actually want the notch features. If you'd install a Dynamic Island app anyway, getting face unlock in the same free app is a good deal.

Remember that no webcam app matches iPhone Face ID. Apple's Face ID documentation describes depth mapping and infrared that a Mac camera doesn't have, and Notchy's own FAQ calls Face Unlock "a convenience, not a replacement" for it. The same applies to every alternative here, Hey Mac included.

Questions about switching from Notchy

Can I use Notchy's Face Unlock without the Dynamic Island?

Partly. Notchy's help center describes ways to hide the pill and stop it opening on hover, but Face Unlock still runs as part of the full app. If you want a separate, single-purpose tool, Glance or FaceUnlock fit better.

Is there an open-source version of Notchy?

No. Notchy's FAQ says it isn't open source and points to Boring Notch and Atoll as open-source notch apps. For open-source face unlock specifically, look at Glance, FaceUnlock (app code) or Hey Mac.

Can Notchy lock individual apps with my face?

Its published feature list doesn't include per-app locking. Hey Mac locks apps with your face; FaceGate does too, but without lock-screen unlock.

Should I run Notchy and another face unlock app together?

We wouldn't. Two apps typing your password at the lock screen could conflict. Turn off Notchy's Face Unlock first (it's set up under Settings > Lock Screen); its Face Unlock page says removing it deletes your face prints and saved password together.

For all seven apps side by side, see the full comparison linked above, or browse all face unlock alternatives.

About the author

Harshit Maurya is the developer of Hey Mac, an open-source face unlock and app lock app for macOS written in Swift and Core ML. Source code and build notes are on GitHub.

Sources

1. Notchy. FAQs (notchy.dev/faqs/), homepage (notchy.dev), Face Unlock page (notchy.dev/mac-face-unlock/), Help center (notchy.dev/help/). Accessed Oct 12, 2026.
2. Glance README (github.com/jonnyoo/glance) and FaceUnlock README and releases (github.com/HasBrain/FaceUnlock). Accessed Oct 12, 2026.
3. FaceGate README (github.com/dweep-desai/FaceGate-Mac). Accessed Oct 12, 2026.
4. Takeshi Sone. BLEUnlock on GitHub. Accessed Oct 12, 2026.
5. Apple Support. Unlock your Mac with your Apple Watch.
6. Apple Support. About Face ID advanced technology.
7. Hey Mac. heymacapp.com and GitHub: iharshitmaurya/HeyMac. Accessed Oct 12, 2026.