Apple’s substitute for controversial notch is a playful Dynamic Island on iPhone 14 Pro
After a long-running (and unofficial) petition to Apple to kill the notch, we are finally here. The new iPhone 14 Pro models do not have the somewhat hideous notch but a smaller cutout — actually two — that looks nearly like the notch on the surface but turns into something magical the moment a notification […]
The post Apple’s substitute for controversial notch is a playful Dynamic Island on iPhone 14 Pro appeared first on BGR India.
After a long-running (and unofficial) petition to Apple to kill the notch, we are finally here. The new iPhone 14 Pro models do not have the somewhat hideous notch but a smaller cutout — actually two — that looks nearly like the notch on the surface but turns into something magical the moment a notification or a call arrives. Apple has given it a cheeky name – Dynamic Island. But it is more of a playful invention than a replacement for the notch.
The Dynamic Island (I am trying hard to resist making comparisons with the likes of Love Island) is something that Android phones should have thought of years ago. In some ways, it does seem inspired by various cool ideas for the selfie camera and what its ideal placement should be that does not look ugly and does the job. But Apple did not leave Dynamic Island just at being the replacement. It added what could only be called magic tricks at this time to the entire setup. And it is perhaps the fanciest thing about the new iPhone 14 Pro.
Dynamic Island
The cutout itself is very similar to the notch but less bothering. Android phones have had the punch-holes for quite some time. Remember the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus? It had a pill-shaped cutout on the display and inside it were two camera sensors. Apple’s version of the cutout has a single camera, but the design is the same. Even at the time of the Galaxy S10 Plus, people did not care about the presence of two selfie cameras as much as they were looking for different ways to make that design look more fun. And that is what Apple has emulated with Dynamic Island.
It is something that did not happen with the notch, and perhaps that lack of a fun element is what threw Apple at the mercy of customers who severely criticised it for that design. Not that everyone is loving the idea of Dynamic Island, but minor trolling aside, people have nice things to say about Apple for at least trying something like Dynamic Island. And even though it is just another cutout on the iPhone display, the fact that Apple was able to turn it into something people would love toying with and useful at the same time is sheer brilliance.
New tricks
But what are these tricks, you may ask? Apple’s new Dynamic Island is where some background apps will reside. Software integration is at the helm of these tricks. When you have to authenticate a payment using Face ID, a face appears around Dynamic Island winking at you as soon as it recognises you. The music player shrinks into a very long capsule around Dynamic Island. So does the timer and the voice recorder, and the popup of when AirPods are connected to the iPhone. You can tap the animation to bring a short widget of the app and interact with it.
I love the implementation and maybe no one else could have done it better than Apple. Sure, we may begin to see the knockoffs on Android phones sooner or later, but the fact that the notch replacement could be fun gives a peek at the future of the iPhone.
The post Apple’s substitute for controversial notch is a playful Dynamic Island on iPhone 14 Pro appeared first on BGR India.