Your Android notifications, on your Mac
Every buzz on the desk is a reason to pick up the phone, and every pick-up costs you your train of thought. The Relay shows your phone’s notifications as Mac notifications, on the screen you are already looking at.
Every ping.
One screen.
Every Android notification appears natively on your Mac. Read, dismiss, or act. The phone stays in your pocket.
Every ping.
One screen.
Every Android notification appears natively on your Mac. Read, dismiss, or act. The phone stays in your pocket.
iPhone owners get this free. Now you do too.
“wirelessly interact with your iPhone and its apps from your Mac, as well as receive notifications and Live Activities from your iPhone”Part of iPhone Mirroring. Needs an iPhone.
The phone’s notifications appear as Mac notifications.
Works with Android 8.0 or later and macOS 13 Ventura or later. Your data travels directly between your phone and your Mac over your local network.
Three steps. Then it just works.
- 1Install on both
Put The Relay on your Android phone and on your Mac. It needs Android 8.0 or later and macOS 13 Ventura or later.
- 2Scan to pair
Open it on both. Scan the QR code on your Mac with your phone. The two are now paired over your own Wi-Fi.
- 3Allow notification access
Android asks you to grant notification access to any app that reads notifications. Allow it once, and your phone’s alerts start arriving on the Mac.
What it will not do
- —Both devices need to be on the same local network, or in Bluetooth range. It does not work across the internet when your phone is somewhere else.
- —It shows notifications. It does not mirror or control the phone’s screen; scrcpy does that, free.
- —KDE Connect is a free, open-source way to get notifications on a Mac if you do not need the rest.
People ask
Can I get Android notifications on a Mac?
Yes. With The Relay installed on both devices, the phone’s notifications appear as Mac notifications.
Does it show notifications from every app?
It shows the phone’s notifications. Android lets you decide which apps are allowed to post notifications at all, and that still applies.
Why does it need notification access?
Android only lets an app read notifications after you grant it notification access in Settings. Every app that forwards notifications to a computer needs the same permission.
Do my notifications go through a server?
No. They travel directly between your phone and your Mac over your local network and are not uploaded to The Relay’s servers.
GUIDES ON THIS
Android Notifications on Mac: Every Way to Get Them
How to get Android notifications on a Mac: KDE Connect, AirDroid, web apps, and The Relay, plus the notification access permission every one of them needs.
WhatsApp Notifications on a Mac With an Android Phone
Two ways to get WhatsApp and other chat notifications on a Mac from an Android phone: the app's own Mac version, or notification mirroring. How to avoid getting both.
KDE Connect on Mac: Does It Work, and Is It for You?
KDE Connect has a stable macOS release and is free and open source. What KDE's pages say it does on a Mac, how to install it, its stated limits, and who should skip it.