Which characters can I use?

Letters, numbers and common punctuation. Accented letters are flattened to plain ones, and emoji aren't part of the dot font, so they come out as spaces.

Can I have several signs with different messages?

Yes. Drag out a widget for each, right-click it, choose Edit Widget and type a message just for that one.

Does the message scroll?

No. Desktop widgets only redraw about once a minute, so a scrolling sign would stutter. Sign wraps the text and keeps it still and readable instead.

Does it update on its own?

Only when you change it. Sign shows exactly what you typed until you type something else.

Flapdot

Download Buy $6

Your words, in lights.

A motto, a reminder, this week's goal. Type anything and Sign sets it in dots, sized to fill the widget perfectly.

Buy Flapdot $6 See pricing

$6 once, every widget included. 7-day refund.

Your own message, on a dot display.

Get every widget and theme · $6

Fits itself

Short words get big dots; longer messages wrap neatly.

Every size

From a small square to an extra-large banner.

Every theme

Match your wallpaper, from Matcha to Midnight.

Your words, on the desktop

This week's goal. The one thing you keep forgetting. A name, a joke, a word you're trying to live up to. Type it once and Sign sets it in dot-matrix letters across your desktop, where a sticky note would go if sticky notes stayed put.

It sizes itself

Sign tries every line width and keeps the one that makes the dots biggest, so a single word fills the whole board and a longer line wraps into neat, even rows. You never pick a font size; there isn't one to pick.

Four sizes, eight themes

From a small square tucked beside your other widgets to an extra-large banner across the top of the desktop. Pick a theme that suits the message: Phosphor green for something urgent, Paper for something quiet.

How to add it

Download Flapdot and drag it into your Applications folder.
Open the app and type the message you want on the board.
Right-click your desktop on an empty spot, and choose Edit Widgets.
Search for Flapdot pick Sign and drag the size you want onto the desktop.

Sizes

Sign comes in Small, Medium, Large and Extra Large. macOS lets you drop the same widget on the desktop more than once, so you can keep a small one beside your notes and a large one where you'll see it from the sofa.

Small164 × 164
Medium344 × 164
Large344 × 344
Extra Large724 × 344

Themes

All eight themes work with Sign: Midnight, Obsidian, Paper, Matcha, Lemon, Sky, Amber, Phosphor. Four of them glow the way a real dot display does; the rest are flat and quiet. Set one for the whole app, or give this widget its own.

What you need

macOS14 Sonoma or later
MacApple silicon or Intel
Price$6 once, all six widgets
AccountNot needed

Sign questions.

There's no hard limit, but shorter reads better. Longer messages wrap onto more lines and the dots shrink to fit, so a few words at a large size look best.

Something else? hello@flapdot.com

More widgets.

World BoardThe time in all your cities, like an airport board.ClockOne city's time, big and bold.DayToday's date, and how much of the day is left.ProgressHow much of the day, week, month or year has gone.CountdownDays, hours and minutes until something big.

See all six Flapdot widgets