Media
Now Playing and Lyrics in the MacBook Notch
To control music from the Mac notch, hover the notch: album art, the scrubber, play, pause and skip are right there. Open Now Playing for time-synced lyrics from LRCLIB; tap a line and the song jumps to it. It works with Spotify and Apple Music, and on Macs without a notch Brim draws its own. Brim is $4.99, once.
The problem
Skipping a song shouldn’t mean finding the player. And lyrics usually live in another app’s window.
How it works in the notch
- 1
Hover the notch. The current track’s art and controls show on Home.
- 2
Scrub or skip. Drag the scrubber, pause or skip without leaving your window.
- 3
Open the lyrics. Now Playing shows time-synced lyrics. Tap a line to jump there.
- 4
See it closed. With live activities on, the art and a little equaliser sit beside the closed notch.
How to get lyrics without opening the player
Turn on Lyrics in Settings. Brim looks up the song’s title, artist and album on LRCLIB, a free lyrics library, and keeps the current line in time with playback.
When another app is the better choice
If music is the only job, a free notch app may be enough; see Brim vs The Boring Notch and Brim vs Atoll. If you love one app’s animation above all, see Brim vs Alcove.
Privacy notes
Lyrics are opt-in. When they’re on, only the song’s title, artist and album are sent to LRCLIB. Read the privacy policy.
Questions
- Which players work?
- Spotify and Apple Music.
- Does it work without a MacBook notch?
- Yes. Brim draws its own notch on Macs and displays without one.
- Where do lyrics come from?
- LRCLIB, a free, open lyrics library. Lyrics are off until you turn them on.
- Can I jump to a line?
- Yes. Tap a lyric line and playback jumps there.
- Is Now Playing a subscription?
- No. It’s part of the one-time $4.99 license.
- Why are lyrics missing for a song?
- LRCLIB doesn’t have synced lyrics for every track. Brim shows them whenever they exist.