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Google Debuts 'Android P' With Support for iPhone X-Style Notches

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Google today announced a new Android update, Android P, which introduces support for display notches built into Android devices that mimic the design of the iPhone X.

According to Google, Android P offers support for "the latest edge-to-edge screens with display cutout for camera and speaker," with a new "DisplayCutout" class for outlining the size and shape of a notch on an Android device.

androidpnotch.jpg

Several new Android devices feature an edge-to-edge display with an included notch much like the iPhone X. The Leagoo S9, for example, is a $150 iPhone X clone that features slim side bezels and a front notch, with a design that looks very similar to the iPhone X.

Leagoo-S9-MWC-2-800x569.jpg
Leagoo S9​

The recently announced Asus ZenFone 5 also adopts a design that uses a notch, and when it was unveiled, Asus bragged that its notch is 26 percent smaller than the notch on the iPhone X.

asuszenfone5-800x483.jpg
Asus ZenFone 5​

Other clone devices have surfaced from Chinese vendors, such as the Boway "Notch Series," and with official Android support for notch-style designs, we'll likely see more Android smartphones that aim to emulate the iPhone X. Even more well-known Android smartphone vendors are embracing the notch, with LG's upcoming G7 said to include a notched design.

lgg7renders-800x524.jpg
Renders of the upcoming LG G7 via Techno Buffalo​

Apple implemented a notched design in the iPhone X in an effort to maximize the available display area. The notch houses the TrueDepth camera system, which includes several components necessary for Face ID. Android companies copying Apple's design aren't using the notch in the same way, with currently available models offering fingerprint scanners rather than facial recognition.

In addition to notch support, Android P includes several other notable new features, such as indoor positioning APIs, enhanced notifications, multi-camera support, HEIF image support, design tweaks and changes, restricted access to the mic, camera, and other hardware, and more.

Android P is available for developers starting today, with a public release to come in the future following beta testing. Google is warning that Android P is in the early stages of development and should not be installed on a primary device.

Article Link: Google Debuts 'Android P' With Support for iPhone X-Style Notches
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2018/03/07/android-p-iphone-x-style-notches/
This is ridiculous. First Android mocks the notch, and now embraces it. Pathetic.

Reminds me of the signs at a WWDC 12 years ago, "Redmond, start your photocopiers" and Steve Jobs quote "The only problem with Microsoft is they just have no taste."

140530_redmond_photocopiers.jpg
 
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"26% smaller than Fruit Phone X*"

I find that Asus announcement photo funny, the childish "Fruit Phone X" aspect notwithstanding, but I feel like it needs the below:

*"with 100% less 3D facial mapping technology that necessitated the wide notch in the first place that we are bragging about being smaller than sine we aren't including anywhere near the same level of technology in that are of the screen"
 
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rek89 said:
"26% smaller than Fruit Phone X*"

I find that Asus announcement photo funny, the childish "Fruit Phone X" aspect notwithstanding, but I feel like it needs the below:

*"with 100% less 3D facial mapping technology that necessitated the wide notch in the first place that we are bragging about being smaller than sine we aren't including anywhere near the same level of technology in that are of the screen"
Click to expand...

You beat me to it.
 
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wolfshades said:
Why would a company like Google deliberately *add* a notch to its OS display? That's just ridiculous. If I'm jumping ship from Apple, I'm for sure not going to want a phone with that notch.
Click to expand...

It's a developer option. The idea is to simulate the notch when testing your apps, so that users of Android phones which DO have a physical notch will see it function correctly.

It's not intended for the average Joe with a Galaxy S7 to create their own notch effect.
 
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wolfshades said:
Why would a company like Google deliberately *add* a notch to its OS display?
Click to expand...
They don't add a notch, but support for a notch (for those phone manufacturers that want one), i.e. creating an optional safe zone in the UI where the notch is.
That's just ridiculous. If I'm jumping ship from Apple, I'm for sure not going to want a phone with that notch.
Click to expand...
Hopefully the age of The Notch won't last long. I think the notch will go down in history as the mullet or the bell bottoms of the mobile phone world. ;)
 
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iMacx said:
Am I the only one who thinks that Asus notch looks ridiculous?
Click to expand...

It seems silly considering they've got a bottom bezel too which is the same height as the notch... The idea of the notch was to make use of as much of the front as possible until all those sensors can be hidden under it. They seem to have missed the point by then having a bottom bezel too.

Still even if you don't like the design, it's a function over form, it always the status bar to go further up and for the camera modules etc to become part of the static status bar without having to lose all of it to a bezel and then another few percent of screen size to a static status bar under the bezel.
 
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wolfshades said:
Why would a company like Google deliberately *add* a notch to its OS display? That's just ridiculous. If I'm jumping ship from Apple, I'm for sure not going to want a phone with that notch.
Click to expand...
They're probably doing it to accommodate the phones - as mentioned in the article - that have notches and to cover future models that may go in that direction. It does not mean that a notch is mandatory. As it stands, only marginal players have adopted a notched screen. LG's rumored G7 notwithstanding. They're simply providing an option. OEM's can choose to take it or not.

If you're jumping ship from Apple, there are plenty of -in fact the majority- Android phones that are "notchless". <= That's not a real word.
 
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That LG G7 looks better physically..

.yukky.:p..... even the X looks better than that.
 
So if the Notch is so hideously evil and all things wrong in the history of mankind, why are every other phone manufacturers wanna copy that what is the ugliest thing ever created by man even to the point they are willing to create a software to choose how big or how small you want your notch? o_O

#EmbraceTheNotch #Notchyouraveragephone
 
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Will.O.Bie said:
So if the Notch is so hideously evil and all things wrong in the history of mankind, why are every other phone manufacturers wanna copy that what is the ugliest thing ever created by man? o_O
Click to expand...

One size doesn't fit all.. Just because it look hideous on Google may not mean its looks hideous on Apple by all
 
wolfshades said:
Why would a company like Google deliberately *add* a notch to its OS display? That's just ridiculous. If I'm jumping ship from Apple, I'm for sure not going to want a phone with that notch.
Click to expand...

It supports the notch. That means all the phones that do have one will be supported. How doesn’t that make sense? It doesn’t mean every single Android phone will now have a notch (although there are many clones creeping in), it’s just that there will now be support with their software for those that do.
 
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