How to get a Dynamic Island for Windows
A practical guide to Perch, the notch-style productivity dashboard for Windows.
Perch is a notch-style productivity app for Windows 10 and 11. A small pill at the top of your screen opens on hover into fourteen tools, including a Pomodoro timer, tasks with reminders, notes, media controls, clipboard history and screen time. Your personal productivity data is stored on your PC. Perch is a one-time purchase, with updates included.
Can Windows have a Dynamic Island?
Windows does not need a physical notch to use Perch. Perch adds a software pill at the top of the screen. Hover over it to open your dashboard and move away to close it. It is an independent Windows app inspired by the Dynamic Island interaction; it is not an Apple product.
How to install and open Perch
- Check that your PC runs Windows 10 (22H2) or Windows 11, 64-bit.
- Buy a Perch licence, then download the Windows installer.
- Run the installer and activate Perch with the key in your purchase email. Activation requires internet.
- Hover over the top-center pill or open Perch from the tray. The default global shortcut is Ctrl+Alt+Space; you can change it in Settings.
- Press Ctrl+K inside Perch to find tools, start a timer, add a task or do quick math.
What can you do with Perch?
The Home dashboard gives you a day-at-a-glance view. Its fourteen tools cover planning, listening, utilities and review:
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
| Focus | Run Pomodoro sessions, a countdown timer or a stopwatch; see the countdown in the pill. |
| Tasks | Add tasks and natural-language reminders, including recurring schedules. |
| Notes | Write daily notes that save as you type. |
| Calendar | Browse days with your notes, tasks and focus history. |
| Media | Control playback from Spotify, browsers and other supported Windows media apps. |
| Sounds | Play ambient rain, wind and noise while you work. |
| Clipboard | Search your clipboard history without leaving the dashboard. |
| Shelf | Keep files handy, save screenshots and transfer files to or from a phone on your Wi-Fi. |
| Links | Save links with titles, tags and search. |
| Quick tools | Use a calculator, unit converter, web search and emoji picker. |
| Insights | Review focus sessions, streaks and task trends. |
| Screen time | Review app usage and set category limits. |
| GitHub | See contribution activity, streaks and pull requests. |
| System | Check CPU, memory, network and battery statistics. |
A simple focus workflow
Open Tasks and write your next action. Switch to Focus and start a 25-minute session. Close the panel to keep the countdown visible in the pill. Use Media to pause or skip music, then review your sessions in Insights at the end of the day.
Does it cover other apps?
The closed pill occupies a small area at the top of the screen; the surrounding area lets clicks pass through. Perch hides during fullscreen games, videos and presentations. You can tuck the pill behind a small handle, disable tools and choose from ten dark and light themes.
Is Perch local, and can it work offline?
Tasks, notes, clipboard history and screen time are stored on your PC. The desktop app has no analytics or telemetry. Licence checks, updates, weather, saved-link previews and optional GitHub activity use the internet. After a successful licence validation, Perch supports up to 14 days offline before it needs another check.
Phone transfer uses a temporary local web server and QR code. Your phone and PC need to be on the same local network; files do not pass through an internet upload service. See the privacy policy for details, including website services.
How much does it cost?
The regular price is $5.99 USD once. A $2.99 launch offer applies to the first 100 buyers while available; check the current price. There is no subscription. Updates are included, and a licence covers up to 3 PCs. The refund window is 14 days.
Keep up with changes
Read the changelog for release details, or use the installation guide to get started. For help, email omipatel7113@gmail.com.