Boring Notch Not Opening? 'Apple Could Not Verify' & Sleep Fixes

If Boring Notch is not opening, the cause is almost always one of three things: macOS Gatekeeper blocking an unnotarized build ("Apple could not verify"), a missing Accessibility or Now Playing permission, or a release that broke after a macOS update. Each has a two-minute fix, and they are all below in the order you should try them.

This guide also covers the follow-up problems people hit once the app does launch: Spotify not showing, battery drain and high CPU usage, and how to uninstall Boring Notch cleanly if you decide to move on.

Fix 1: "Apple could not verify Boring Notch is free of malware"

Boring Notch is open source and built by volunteers. Many builds, especially ones you download from GitHub Releases or compile yourself, are not notarized with Apple, so macOS Sequoia and Tahoe refuse to open them with a message like "Boring Notch could not be opened" or "Apple could not verify this app". Nothing is wrong with your Mac; Gatekeeper simply has no signature to check. Three ways around it, from gentlest to most forceful:

1. Right-click > Open. In Finder, go to Applications, right-click (or Control-click) Boring Notch and choose Open. On older macOS versions this shows an Open button in the dialog. On Sequoia and Tahoe it may not, so continue to step 2.
2. System Settings > Privacy & Security > Open Anyway. Try to launch the app once so it gets blocked, then open System Settings, go to Privacy & Security, scroll to the Security section and click Open Anyway next to the Boring Notch message. Authenticate with Touch ID or your password and launch again.
3. Remove the quarantine flag in Terminal. If the button never appears, open Terminal and run:

   xattr -d com.apple.quarantine /Applications/boringNotch.app

   Adjust the path if the app name differs. This strips the "downloaded from the internet" attribute so Gatekeeper stops asking. Only do this for software you trust; you are turning off a safety check.

Fix 2: Boring Notch opens but nothing shows on the notch

If the icon appears in the menu bar but the notch never expands, permissions are the usual culprit.

• Accessibility. System Settings > Privacy & Security > Accessibility. Make sure Boring Notch is listed and switched on. If it is on but still not working, toggle it off and on, then quit and relaunch the app. After an update, macOS sometimes keeps the old toggle while silently revoking the permission; removing the entry with the minus button and re-adding it fixes that.
• Screen Recording (only if the build asks for it). Some forks use it for visualizers or the shelf. Same panel, same toggle.
• Display scaling and multiple monitors. If the MacBook is in clamshell mode or the main display is set to an external monitor, there is no notch to draw on. Open the lid or set the built-in display as the main display in System Settings > Displays > Arrange.
• Check you are on the latest release. macOS updates regularly change private APIs that notch apps rely on. Download the newest build from GitHub rather than relaunching the one you installed months ago.
• Login Items. If it works until you restart, add it under System Settings > General > Login Items & Extensions. A stale entry pointing at an old copy in Downloads is a common cause of a blank notch after reboot; remove it and re-add the Applications copy.

Fix 3: Boring Notch not showing Spotify or Apple Music

Boring Notch gets its track data from the macOS Now Playing feed, the same one that drives the Control Center widget. If the island is empty while music plays:

1. Open Control Center and confirm macOS itself shows the track. If it does not, the problem is Spotify, not Boring Notch; quit and relaunch Spotify.
2. Check for a Now Playing or media-access permission prompt under System Settings > Privacy & Security. On recent macOS versions, apps must be explicitly allowed to read this information.
3. Press pause and play once. Some players do not publish metadata until the state changes.
4. Update Boring Notch. Media handling changed in several macOS releases and older builds simply cannot see the feed.

Fix 4: Boring Notch battery drain and CPU usage

Open Activity Monitor, click the Energy tab, and look at Boring Notch's Energy Impact. A notch app that is idle should sit near the bottom of the list. If it is near the top, or you see CPU usage of several percent while nothing is happening, these settings usually help:

• Turn off the audio visualizer and any always-on animation while the island is closed.
• Disable modules you do not use (shelf, calendar, battery) so the app polls fewer sources.
• Check whether a specific fork is known for the issue; the main repository's issue tracker usually has a thread.
• Reinstall the latest build. Leaks are often fixed in point releases.

We explain what normal looks like in Notch app battery drain explained: a well-written native app should be invisible in the Energy tab, so persistent drain is a bug, not an unavoidable cost. Korinotch's free Usage mini app puts CPU, memory and network in your menu bar so you can watch this without opening Activity Monitor.

How to uninstall (delete) Boring Notch completely

1. Quit Boring Notch from its menu-bar icon.
2. Remove it from Login Items.
3. Drag the app from Applications to the Trash.
4. Delete leftovers: the app's folder in ~/Library/Application Support and its preferences file in ~/Library/Preferences (the name starts with the developer's bundle identifier).
5. Revoke its Accessibility entry so the list stays tidy.

Korinotch's free App Cleaner mini app finds those leftover files for you and removes them with the app.

If you would rather not troubleshoot

Every fix above works, but the underlying issue is structural: Boring Notch is a volunteer project, so it breaks when macOS changes and is repaired when someone has time. If you want the same Dynamic Island experience without the GitHub issues tab, Korinotch is a maintained, notarized alternative. It opens without Gatekeeper warnings, asks for exactly the permissions it needs with an explanation of why, and adds notifications, weather, calendar reminders, a file tray, Keep Awake and keyboard lock on top of media. It is free for 14 days with no credit card, then $11.50 lifetime or $1.50 a month. Our BoringNotch alternatives post has a full feature-by-feature comparison.

FAQ

Boring Notch is not downloading or the download will not open. What now?

Download the DMG from the GitHub releases page rather than a mirror, then follow Fix 1: the "Apple could not verify" dialog is Gatekeeper, not a broken download. If the DMG itself will not mount, re-download it; a partial download is the usual cause.

Is Boring Notch safe? Most Reddit threads ask this.

It is open source, so the code is public, but the builds are not notarized by Apple, which is exactly why macOS shows the warning. "Not verified" means "not checked by Apple", not "malware". If that matters to you, pick a notarized app.

Why does macOS say Boring Notch could not be opened?

The build is not notarized, so Gatekeeper blocks it. Use right-click > Open, the Open Anyway button in Privacy & Security, or remove the quarantine flag with xattr.

Why is Boring Notch not showing Spotify?

Usually a missing media permission, a paused player, or an outdated build. Confirm Control Center sees the track, grant the permission, then update.

Does Boring Notch drain battery?

Some builds do, mostly because of idle animation or polling. Turn off visualizers, disable unused modules and update. If the Energy Impact stays high, consider a native, maintained app.

How do I uninstall Boring Notch?

Quit it, remove the login item, trash the app, and delete its Application Support and Preferences files, or let App Cleaner do it in one pass.