Windows Notch Overlay v0.2.0

Changelog

This file summarizes notable user-facing changes made after the previous GitHub release.

0.2.0 - 2026-07-30

Added

• Added in-notch Pomodoro, short notes, RAM cleaner, notification center, calendar, weather, and battery detail tools.
• Added an inline video stage with configurable URL, dimensions, and open/close keyboard shortcuts.
• Added collapsed-notch content options for clock/date or Pomodoro, download/upload speed, ping, and best-effort headphone battery information.
• Added the option to open Settings inside the notch or in a separate window, plus settings search and compact/advanced settings modes.
• Added microphone and camera device selection with device-list refresh support.
• Added Angular and Slab notch styles, Floating variants, a transparent compact strip, and a custom theme editor with live preview.
• Added Spotify-first, active Windows session, or any-session media-source selection and three alarm sound profiles.

Changed

• Improved the Windows media helper so it controls the selected media session directly and falls back to global media keys when necessary.
• Made Bluetooth control more reliable by prioritizing the Windows Radio API and retaining a carefully filtered PnP fallback.
• Made brightness control more reliable by validating WMI writes and falling back to DDC/CI for supported external monitors.
• Standardized brightness values to the 50% format and improved reporting for displays that expose read-only brightness values.
• Reduced unnecessary settings application and menu rendering work, and relaxed media/control polling intervals.
• Moved the audio-mixer refresh action into the tool header and redesigned the About page and settings interface.

Fixed

• Removed the preload clock fallback that caused visible switching between the clock and an active Pomodoro timer.
• Fixed the initial network-speed sample and now display download/upload values separately with correct units.
• Ensured inline video always opens in the main notch instead of a detached Settings window.
• Stabilized collapsed-notch sizing and clock/date placement when optional content indicators are enabled.
• Updated Electron Builder and related transitive dependencies to secure versions, resolving the active Dependabot alerts.
• Removed the duplicate Advanced CodeQL workflow that conflicted with GitHub's default CodeQL setup.
• Added GitHub Actions source checks for JavaScript syntax, JSON validity, and package/lockfile version consistency.

Experimental / Disabled

• GitHub notification token validation, secure storage, and provider infrastructure are present, but the external-app UI and background polling remain disabled behind feature flags.
• Headphone battery reporting depends on Windows and device support and may remain unavailable on unsupported hardware.

Windows Notch Overlay v0.1.1

Update Notes

This release is a large feature and stability update on top of v0.1.0. It expands the notch into a more complete control center, adds deeper Windows integrations, and fixes several risky system-control behaviors from earlier builds.

New features

• Added long-press drag-and-drop reordering for quick action tiles, including movement across quick menu pages.
• Added a richer in-app Settings home with language, theme, appearance, startup, quick menu, privacy, system, update, external app, and About controls.
• Added Turkish and English localization files loaded from src/renderer/i18n/*.json, so more languages can be added later without redesigning the settings UI.
• Added theme presets: default/night, graphite, contrast, light, forest, ruby, plus a custom theme mode.
• Added custom theme color controls with live preview for panel, surface, text, active state, and connected state colors.
• Added notch appearance previews and selectable styles for attached, floating, pill, and compact layouts.
• Added Windows startup control from inside the app.
• Added a themed About page with app version and project summary.
• Added a Windows notification helper and notification ticker in the notch; new Windows toast text can replace the expanded clock/date area and scroll from right to left.
• Added DDC/CI brightness support for external monitors, alongside the existing Windows brightness path where available.
• Added an in-notch brightness slider with clear unsupported-display messaging.
• Added an in-app per-application audio mixer using Windows Core Audio sessions, including volume sliders, mute buttons, and peak indicators.
• Added direct Night light toggling from the quick action without opening Windows Quick Settings.
• Added a Focus Assist tool view with clearer status and action messaging.
• Added GitHub update checking from inside the app, with manual and optional automatic checks.
• Added built-in external service launcher infrastructure for services such as YouTube, YouTube Music, Discord, and GitHub; the visible shortcut entry is hidden for this release.
• Added notification helper packaging to the Windows build so the WinRT notification reader is included with the portable app.

Improvements

• Improved quick menu ordering persistence through appearance.menuOrder in the user settings file.
• Improved settings scroll behavior, including proper scrollable quick-menu and external-app settings lists.
• Improved compact and pill visual states, spacing, scrollbars, and overall settings panel layout.
• Improved Spotify/media behavior so the media scene stays tied to actual playback instead of taking over only because Spotify is open.
• Improved brightness handling by disabling the software dimmer fallback that could open an unwanted dark overlay window.
• Improved README documentation for notification helper, localization, external services, brightness, Bluetooth behavior, and user-defined quick menu ordering.
• Improved build scripts so media and notification helpers are built together before packaging.

Fixes and safety changes

• Fixed Bluetooth toggling so it only targets real Bluetooth radio/adapter devices and does not touch network or internet adapters.
• Fixed microphone behavior so the app no longer turns microphone privacy to Deny, no longer mutes capture endpoints as a normal toggle, and no longer disables microphone devices.
• Added a microphone repair-only path that keeps access allowed, unmutes capture endpoints, and avoids changing the user's selected input device unless it needs to avoid virtual capture devices.
• Added safeguards for old builds that could leave microphone endpoints muted or disabled.
• Fixed pnputil handling so “failed to enable/disable device” output is treated as an error even when Windows exits with code 0.
• Fixed quick-action and settings UI behavior around pointer handling, scroll containment, and compact list overflow.

Release asset

• Portable Windows build: Windows.Notch.Overlay.0.1.1.exe

Windows Notch Overlay v0.1.0

Initial public release of Windows Notch Overlay.

Highlights:

• Electron-based dynamic notch overlay for Windows
• Hover control center with quick action tiles
• Spotify-aware media view with SMTC metadata helper
• Alarm and search views inside the notch
• System telemetry, screenshot capture, and Windows quick actions
• Community files, issue templates, PR template, security policy, and attribution notes
• Project license corrected to Apache License 2.0

Attribution:
This project is inspired by DynamicWin by Florian Butz, but it is an independent implementation with a different stack, design, architecture, and feature set.