A Dynamic Island–style panel for the Mac notch: what's playing, synced lyrics, a file shelf, clipboard history and translation. Click the notch to open it.
Requires macOS 15 or later, on Apple silicon or Intel. On a display without a notch, Isla draws one.
"Dynamic Island" is Apple's term and is used here only to describe the idea. Isla is an independent project and is not affiliated with Apple.
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Download
Isla-<version>.dmgfrom the latest release. -
Open it and drag Isla to Applications.
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The build is not notarized, so remove the download quarantine once:
xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Isla.app
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Open Isla from Applications.
Isla has no Dock icon, menu bar item or window: it lives in the notch. Click the notch to open it. Settings in the panel has Launch at Login, About and Quit.
To update, repeat the steps with the new release. Settings → Check for Updates says whether there is one.
- Music. The current track from any Now Playing source, with controls, artwork and a scrubber. Music and Spotify also get shuffle, repeat and, with a connected Spotify account, Liked Songs.
- Lyrics. Time-synced lyrics from LRC files you import or keep in a folder, and optionally from LRCLIB. Click a line to jump to it.
- Lock screen. While the Mac is locked, a player card with lyrics, volume and audio output.
- Shelf. Drop files onto the notch to keep them at hand and drag them out again, Quick Look them, or AirDrop them. Screenshots and screen recordings appear here too.
- Charging and headphones. Plugging in shows the battery level on the island for a moment; AirPods and other Bluetooth headphones show their name when they connect.
- Clipboard. The last 40 items copied while Isla runs. Click one to copy it again. It can be turned off in Settings.
- Translate. Sixteen languages, translated on the Mac by Apple's Translation framework or Apple Intelligence (macOS 26 or later). Uzbek and Kazakh need Translate Online.
- Shortcuts. ⌃⌥⌘I opens Isla, ⌃⌥⌘L opens the lyrics, ⌃⌥⌘T translates the clipboard. Each can be changed or cleared in Settings. Shortcuts, Spotlight and Siri can read the current track and lyric.
Nothing leaves the Mac unless you turn it on in Settings. Each of these is off by default:
| Setting | What is sent | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Look Up Lyrics Online | Track title, artist, album and length | LRCLIB |
| Translate Online | The text and its two languages, only for languages the Mac cannot translate itself | MyMemory |
| Connect Spotify Account | Spotify sign-in, to read and change Liked Songs | Spotify |
| Check for Updates Automatically | A request for the latest version, naming Isla's version | GitHub |
Spotify tokens are stored in a file readable only by your user account in
~/Library/Application Support/Isla. Signed builds use the Keychain instead.
macOS asks before Isla controls Music or Spotify through Apple Events, the
fallback used when Now Playing is unavailable.
- The Music tab says only Music and Spotify can be seen. macOS refused Isla's
Now Playing reader, usually because the download quarantine is still on the
app. Run the
xattrcommand from Install, then Settings → Music → Try Again. - A shortcut does nothing. Another app may own it. Settings → Keyboard Shortcuts says so and lets you pick another.
- Anything else. Settings → Copy Diagnostics, then Report a Problem… and paste it into the form. The report lists versions, settings and Isla's own log, and nothing you played, copied or translated.
Needs Xcode 26 or later.
git clone https://github.com/ctimothe/isla-mac.git
cd isla-mac
bash Scripts/bundle.sh release # builds and ad-hoc signs the app
bash Scripts/install.sh # installs it to /Applications and opens it./scripts/check runs the unit tests and every release check, the same way CI
does. There is no Xcode project: SwiftPM builds the binary and
Scripts/bundle.sh assembles the app. docs/runbook.md
covers signing, releases and troubleshooting.
Isla reads Now Playing through a small helper library loaded into
/usr/bin/perl, because macOS 15.4 closed the MediaRemote read path to
ordinary apps. The App Store does not allow this, so Isla is distributed here.
Quit Isla from Settings, then delete /Applications/Isla.app and
~/Library/Application Support/Isla. If you turned on screenshot saving, also
delete ~/Pictures/Isla.
MIT, see LICENSE. Isla began from Cyclop 0.6.5, also MIT; its notice is in THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md.