By 2022, iPhones were the only smartphones on the market that had such an impressive notch in the screen for the front camera and Face ID sensors. Even fringe reduction in the iPhone 13 series did not fundamentally change the situation. It was the good old bangs we’ve been used to since the days of the iPhone X. But time doesn’t stand still, and neither does technology. Fortunately, Apple understands this and decided to gradually abandon the usual cutout. Since it was thanks to him that the iPhone in the hands of users could always be recognized unmistakably, the Cupertino company needed something equally recognizable.
And so it appeared Dynamic Island. It combines a point for the front camera, familiar to Android smartphones, and a separate cutout for Face ID sensors. At the same time, if Android manufacturers are trying in every possible way to make their front cameras invisible, Apple has gone the other way. By combining two cutouts into a single area and adding various effects to it, he became as visible as possible. Immediately after the presentation, such a decision was called a revolution. But is it really so? Let’s figure it out.
iPhone 14 Pro – notch
Thanks to Dynamic Island, the iPhone interface has undergone a major change for the first time since the release of the iPhone X, which abandoned home buttons. At that time, the transition to a frameless design quite seriously changed the principle of user interaction with a smartphone. Gestures appeared, there was more usable area on the front panel, and Face ID came to replace Touch ID. All these innovations were really serious. Users buying iPhone with Face IDafter the classical with home buttonactually received a completely new device.
In general terms, it was a familiar iPhone, but most of the usual actions have become different. Can the same be said about Dynamic Island in iPhone 14 Pro? It seems to me that no. However, in a recent interview with Japanese magazine Axis, Craig Federighi, who oversees iOS development, and Alan Dai, who presented Dynamic Island on September 7, said that this feature fundamentally changes the way you work with the iPhone.
But is it? Yes, the island is really interactive. Part of the interface elements, for example, Face ID unlock indicator, moved there. This is really convenient, especially considering that in iOS 16 the lock, in principle, has become smaller and disappears from the screen immediately after unlocking. But just because of his disappearance, there was no point in transferring him to Dynamic Island. The indicators of the working microphone and camera also went there. Just this move has become one of the most useful. But how often do you turn on your camera and microphone to seriously care about where the yellow and green dots are? Chances are you never paid attention to them before.
Plus, Dynamic Island can change shape depending on the running application. If you have set a timer, the island will display a stop button and a countdown. Do you think it’s convenient? It seems to me that no. If I wanted the timer to be constantly on my screen, I would not minimize the application. Yes, you can swipe it and the island will stop displaying the time, but you will have to do this every time after launch.
Why you need Dynamic Island
In the same interview, Federighi and Dai said that Dynamic Island is the result of many years of work, and the result is “in the spirit of Apple”. It seems to me that they forgot that “in the spirit of Apple” there have always been innovations, and not a banal transfer of notifications higher to the screen, a decrease in the useful area of the display due to the shift of the notch down and, in fact, the use of two applications on one screen. Since a separate processor is responsible for managing Dynamic Island, we can safely call it a separate application that adapts to current scenarios.
As a user of Apple technology for eleven years, I would like to see something from my favorite company in the style of under-screen cameras that will produce a picture that is not inferior to conventional solutions. Or at least sensor integration Face ID under the screen. After all, they do not need to show the image to the user, and the quality that is now is enough to create a model of the user’s head. That would be an innovation, it would be really cool and would make many go for a smartphone.
But in recent years, the Cupertino company has been turning into a money-making machine with a minimum of something really cool. The only application that has been great for Dynamic Island is Live Activities widgets. I love sports and it would be interesting to watch the score online while continuing to use my smartphone. And the equalizers, timers, headphone charge percentage and charging notification look somehow very weak to consider this a cool innovation. It is possible that third-party developers will be able to use the island somehow more interesting than Apple, but this is very hard to believe.
The most interesting thing is that most of those who have already purchased an iPhone 14 Pro or iPhone 14 Pro Max say that it is interesting to play with Dynamic Island for about one day. Then it does not cause absolutely no interest, and more and more often you want to limit the activity of some applications on it. Tell us in the comments what you think about Dynamic Island. Is this really a revolution in the world of notifications, or is it just that many do not have an idea of \u200b\u200bbeautiful.
