Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
The floating dictation pill on macOS overlaps whatever I'm working in and pulls my eye away from it. Meanwhile, Macs with a physical notch have a dead strip of screen that no app content can use. There's also no way to see the transcript until dictation ends.
Describe the solution you'd like
Notch Popup on macOS (OpenWhispr Settings → General), which is optional and turned off by default. At the beginning of dictation, an expanding black island emerges from the notch: “REC” button on the left, and timer on the right. Left-clicking stops the dictation, and right-clicking opens up the Control Panel. Expanded mode gives you a live transcription below the notch: streamed partials if the model is capable, otherwise chunked previews; for batch/cloud dictation without live text, there's only the compact island.
Requirements: any failure (no notch, bad geometry, window creation) falls back to the existing pill; notch geometry measured per display rather than hardcoded; screen-saver window level and content protection so it draws above third-party notch apps and stays out of screen shares.
Describe alternatives you've considered
- Shrinking or relocating the pill — still covers content, still not a fixed location.
- A menu bar item — gets buried, no room for a live transcript.
- Depending on NotchNook/DynamicLake — adds a third-party runtime requirement.
- Making the notch the default — breaks non-notch Macs, external displays, and other platforms.
Additional context
macOS-only; other platforms keep the current pill. Geometry math is worth testing separately from the UI since multi-monitor setups are where it'll break.
Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
The floating dictation pill on macOS overlaps whatever I'm working in and pulls my eye away from it. Meanwhile, Macs with a physical notch have a dead strip of screen that no app content can use. There's also no way to see the transcript until dictation ends.
Describe the solution you'd like
Notch Popup on macOS (OpenWhispr Settings → General), which is optional and turned off by default. At the beginning of dictation, an expanding black island emerges from the notch: “REC” button on the left, and timer on the right. Left-clicking stops the dictation, and right-clicking opens up the Control Panel. Expanded mode gives you a live transcription below the notch: streamed partials if the model is capable, otherwise chunked previews; for batch/cloud dictation without live text, there's only the compact island.
Requirements: any failure (no notch, bad geometry, window creation) falls back to the existing pill; notch geometry measured per display rather than hardcoded; screen-saver window level and content protection so it draws above third-party notch apps and stays out of screen shares.
Describe alternatives you've considered
Additional context
macOS-only; other platforms keep the current pill. Geometry math is worth testing separately from the UI since multi-monitor setups are where it'll break.