What Did I Miss
A spoken recap of the notifications you missed, right from your menu bar.
Your missed notifications, summarized and read aloud.
Step back to your Mac and let the bell icon in your menu bar catch you up. What Did I Miss gathers every notification you received while you were away, condenses them into a short recap, and reads it aloud — so you can keep doing whatever you were doing.Version 1.8.0
Replay any recap, see every notification behind it.
Past summaries are listed in the main window with the time they were generated and the notification count. Hit Play to hear the audio again — no re-synthesis cost — or open the details sheet to see every notification that was included, with icons, titles, and delivery times.
Summaries run on-device with Apple Intelligence.
Related notifications are grouped and distilled into two to four spoken-style sentences. Your notifications never leave your Mac — only the short summary text ever touches the network.A free built-in voice, or any ElevenLabs voice.
Out of the box, summaries are read by the macOS voice you choose — free, offline, no account needed. For a more natural sound, add your own ElevenLabs API key and pick from every voice on your account — pre-made, cloned, or from the Voice Library. Choose Turbo v2.5 for balanced quality, Multilingual v2 for other languages, or Flash v2.5 for the lowest latency.Private by construction.
Notifications are read locally from macOS, summarized locally by Apple Intelligence, and never uploaded anywhere. With the built-in voice, nothing leaves your Mac at all. If you use ElevenLabs, only the short summary text is sent to it to be spoken — and your API key lives in the macOS Keychain.Frequently Asked Questions
What is What Did I Miss?
What Did I Miss is a macOS menu bar app that rounds up the notifications you've received while you were away, summarizes them with Apple Intelligence, and reads the summary aloud using an ElevenLabs voice. It's designed for moments when you step back to your Mac and want a quick spoken recap instead of scrolling through Notification Center.
Is this an official Apple or ElevenLabs app?
No. This is an independent third-party app. It is not created, endorsed, or maintained by Apple, ElevenLabs, or any of the apps that deliver the notifications it summarizes.
What does it cost?
The app is free. Summaries are generated on-device by Apple Intelligence at no cost, and the built-in macOS voice is free too. If you want a more natural voice, you can optionally connect your own ElevenLabs API key — ElevenLabs has a free tier that is usually enough for everyday use.
Do I need an ElevenLabs account?
No. Without an API key, summaries are read aloud by the built-in macOS voice, which is free and works offline. ElevenLabs is optional and only changes how the summary sounds.
What are the system requirements?
A Mac that supports Apple Intelligence, with Apple Intelligence turned on in System Settings — the summary is generated on-device and can't be produced without it. An internet connection is only needed if you use an ElevenLabs voice or want to check for updates.
Why does the app need Full Disk Access?
macOS stores delivered notifications in a protected SQLite database inside the Darwin user directory. Reading that file requires Full Disk Access. Without it, the app has no way to see which notifications you received.
How do I get an ElevenLabs API key?
Sign in at elevenlabs.io, click your avatar, choose API Keys, and create a new key. Either leave it with full access, or enable both Text to Speech and Voices — without the Voices permission, the voice list in the app stays empty. Paste the key into Settings → Voice → API key. The ? button next to the field walks you through the same steps.
Where do my notifications go?
Nowhere. Notifications are read locally from macOS and summarized on-device by Apple Intelligence — they are never uploaded. If you use ElevenLabs, only the short summary text is sent to ElevenLabs to be spoken. With the built-in macOS voice, nothing leaves your Mac at all.
Where is my ElevenLabs API key stored?
Your API key is stored in the macOS Keychain. It never leaves your Mac except when the app sends a request to ElevenLabs on your behalf.
Can I replay a past summary?
Yes. Open the main window, find the summary in the list, and click Play. Click Stop to interrupt. ElevenLabs audio is saved with each summary, so replaying it doesn't use more of your ElevenLabs characters.
Can I see a summary without hearing it read aloud?
Yes. Open Settings → Voice and turn off "Speak out notifications". The recap still appears on screen, just without any audio — handy in quiet places or meetings. Turn it back on for the spoken version. It's on by default and acts as the master switch for all summary audio.
Can the app stay silent automatically during a Focus, like Work?
Yes, in two ways. For a blanket rule, open Settings → Voice and turn on "Silence during any Focus" — while any macOS Focus or Do Not Disturb is active, summaries appear on screen without audio. For different behavior per Focus — say silent during Work but spoken during Personal — add What Did I Miss as a Focus Filter: System Settings → Focus → pick a Focus → Focus Filters → Add Filter → What Did I Miss, then set "Read summaries aloud" for that Focus. The in-app "Speak out notifications" toggle stays the master switch: when it's off, summaries are always silent.
Does the app keep running in the background?
Yes. What Did I Miss lives in the menu bar and stays out of the Dock until you open one of its windows.
Can I trigger a summary from Shortcuts, Spotlight, or Siri?
Yes. What Did I Miss registers an App Shortcut, so you can run it from the Shortcuts app, invoke it by asking Siri, or type a phrase like "What did I miss" or "Catch me up" in Spotlight. Running the shortcut generates the summary and plays it aloud, just like clicking the menu bar item.
What if Apple Intelligence isn't available on my Mac?
Apple Intelligence is required because the summary is generated on-device. If it's not available (hardware not supported, disabled in System Settings, or still downloading), the summary will fail. Enable it in System Settings → Apple Intelligence & Siri and try again.
Do you collect analytics?
The app sends a small number of anonymous usage events (for example "summary requested") and crash reports to help improve it. No notification content, summaries, API keys, or personal data are ever included. You can turn this off in Settings → General → Anonymous analytics.
Ready for a spoken recap?
Version 1.8.0