How to track multiple coins in your Mac menu bar
CoinNotch shows several coins in your menu bar two ways. Cycle mode rotates your whole watchlist through a single chip, keeping the footprint tiny. Side-by-side mode shows several coins at once if you have the bar space. You can reorder coins by dragging, so your most important asset leads, and the setup persists across restarts. This guide covers both modes, how to choose between them, and how to fit a longer watchlist without crowding out your other menu-bar icons.
Almost nobody watches just one coin. People pin Bitcoin because it sets the tone for the market, then add Ethereum, then the two or three other assets they hold. The question is how to keep all of them in view without turning your menu bar into a cramped strip of competing numbers. CoinNotch solves this with two display modes, and which one suits you comes down to how much menu-bar space you are willing to spend.
Cycle mode: a whole watchlist in one chip
In cycle mode the bar shows one coin at a time and rotates through your list on an interval you set, the way an airport departure board rotates through flights. The footprint stays tiny, a single price chip, while every coin you track still passes through your peripheral vision. Set the rotation to a few seconds and your entire watchlist cycles past without you doing anything at all.
This is the mode most people settle on once they pin more than two coins, because it scales to a long watchlist without taking more space. Ten coins occupy exactly as much room as one. The trade-off is that you see any given coin only when it comes around in the rotation, so it suits passive watching rather than the moment you want to compare two prices at the same instant. For keeping a broad eye on the market while you work, it is hard to beat.
You can tune the rotation speed to taste. A faster cycle surfaces every coin more often but flickers more, a slower one is calmer but means a longer wait to see a specific asset. Most people land on an interval of a few seconds, fast enough to feel current, slow enough to read each coin comfortably.
Side-by-side mode: everything at once
If you have the bar space and want everything visible simultaneously, side-by-side mode lays your coins out as a row of compact chips, all live at the same time. Bitcoin, Ethereum, and your other holdings sit next to each other, each updating independently. This is the mode for people who want to compare moves across coins at a glance, since you can see at the same instant whether everything is moving together or one asset is diverging from the rest.
The cost is real estate. On a 13-inch MacBook with a busy menu bar, a row of coins runs out of room fast, especially if you also run other menu-bar utilities. This mode suits larger external displays or a sparse menu bar where you have cleared space for it. If you find your coins crowding out the clock or system icons, that is the sign to switch back to cycle mode or trim the watchlist.
| Cycle mode | Side-by-side | |
|---|---|---|
| Space used | One chip | One chip per coin |
| Coins visible | One at a time | All at once |
| Best for | Long watchlists | Comparing 2-4 coins |
| Fits small screens | Yes | Tight |
Ordering your watchlist
The order of your coins matters in both modes. In cycle mode it sets the rotation sequence, and in side-by-side mode it sets left-to-right position. Reordering is drag and drop inside the picker, so the asset you care about most can lead the rotation or sit leftmost in the row. Many people put Bitcoin first as the market bellwether, then their largest holding, then the rest.
The order persists across restarts along with the rest of your setup, so you arrange it once and it stays. If your priorities change, a quick drag reorders the list again. This small touch matters more than it sounds, because the coin in the lead position is the one your eye lands on first, and putting the right asset there makes the whole bar more useful.
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Download for MacWhy watching several coins together helps
Tracking multiple coins is more than convenience, it gives you context that a single price cannot. Bitcoin sets the tone for the whole market, so when it moves sharply, most coins follow. With Bitcoin and one or two others in your bar, you can read at a glance whether a move on your altcoin is its own story or just the broad market turning. If your altcoin is up four percent and Bitcoin is flat, something specific is happening. If both are up four percent, you are watching the tide, not the coin.
Higher-beta assets like the newer Layer-1s tend to amplify Bitcoin's moves in both directions, while a sentiment-driven coin can diverge entirely on its own catalyst. Seeing them side by side, or cycling past each other, teaches you these relationships over time. For setting up the individual coins, each has a dedicated page, from Bitcoin and Ethereum to Solana and beyond.