Apple Executives Talk About iPhone 14 Pro's Dynamic Island in New Interview

[Tagbert]

To be fair Apple put it in only a few laptops also did a bad job supporting it in Mac os

Yes, the didn’t bring it to all models and they never really updated how apps used TouchBar. Hopefully the rumors that they are bringing DI to all the iPhone models next year are true.

There is also a lot more third-party software support in iOS so if those apps start using DI that will be a good sign, too.

 

[goonie4life9]

I like the DI but I dislike how much Apple has become “here’s a flashy new feature to distract you from our myriad bugs and half-baked features.”

 

[Eggtastic]

It's cool and will probably get more useful as time goes on. However, give us those extra pixels back already when the DI is not in use.

 

[bLackjackj]

Dye, who presented Dynamic Island during Apple's "Far Out" event last month, said Dynamic Island further blurs the line between where the hardware ends and the software begins on iPhone

To who? I can clearly see both the hardware and software attempting to cover the pill shaped Notch. It's also glaringly obvious with the empty real estate above it. There is no blurring of anything.

 

[Razorpit]

If it receives no attention from developers, I fear that will be the case. It has a lot of potential, like the touch bar did, but someone will need to make it more useful.

With there being a lot more iPhones that will be sold with the island than Macs with the touch bar, there’s still hope.

I 100% agree. I just hope it’s a total success for Apple and DOES NOT end up like Touch-Bar. 🙏

I think it will flourish over the next year. The problem with the Touch Bar was it was only on a select subset of hardware. That’s where Apple screwed up. In order for something like that to be successful it needs to be on every version of that product. And while I’m surprised it isn‘t available on the “regular” iPhone, I’m sure they’ll add it next year.

 

[v0lume4]

It great that they found some creative way to “hide” the punch holes with the Dynamic Island (even though it’s a feature that could be implemented any iPhone) because I saw the 14 Pro in-person for the first time today and those hole punches are HUGE.

 

[macduke]

Idk why all the top comments are crapping all over DI. It’s great but limited at the moment and will only get better with sports and other third party app integrations.

 

[GeoStructural]

It’s way too over-hyped. Not at all that useful especially since it’s way up on the top of the screen. I do like seeing the waveform of music I’m playing though.

It also hides map navigation while in the background. You need to literally press and hold to bring it back, which is a safety hazard while driving. This is also temporary since it hides again so you have to keep doing it.

 

[nStyle]

So that this experience feels so smooth and natural, we brushed up with meticulous care and skills from both sides of design and engineering. Our goal was to make them forget that there is static physical hardware and make them think that the whole thing is fluid-like dynamic software.

If that was the goal then the end result has the opposite effect. The island reminds you the dead space is there more often now. The old notch never did anything to let you know it existed and just sit permanently out of the way. Now that piece of dead space moves and has more dead space above it except it’s the pixels are lit up to remind you it’s there but it’s still just more useless space.

To be fair I don’t think it’s a big deal, and it’s fine overall, it’s just that the DI does nothing to make you forget that it’s there any more than the notch did, and if anything it’s more noticeable now.

 

[boyarka]

That's a lot of talk about gimmick island to skew the actual fact that for several phone generations now there has been almost zero real innovation - rather incremental upgrades some times even too hard to notice.
Especially considering that it's a temporary solution until all cameras/sensors move under the screen eventually.

 

[Tagbert]

That's a lot of talk about gimmick island to skew the actual fact that for several phone generations now there has been almost zero real innovation - rather incremental upgrades some times even too hard to notice.
Especially considering that it's a temporary solution until all cameras/sensors move under the screen eventually.

Which will free to have the dynamic island be even more flexible without being always tied to the cutouts.

 

[transpo1]

The Dynamic Island is garbage and unintelligent design. It is pure distraction and I’m embarrassed the designers are so inept.

The STATUS BAR NEEDS TO BE STATIC. IT NEEDS TO BE SUBTLE. IT NEEDS TO NOT DISTRACT.

So you want the notch back then?

 

[bLackjackj]

So you want the notch back then?

Yes! It still is a Notch, only pill shaped and more in your face. The gap above it is hideous and a waste of real estate.

 

[chucker23n1]

Especially considering that it's a temporary solution until all cameras/sensors move under the screen eventually.

Never, I hope. The camera getting worse isn’t something that excites me.

 

[szw-mapple fan]

I feel like people give it too much credit. I was blown away by the reveal like everyone but essentially, it’s just a different way to show notifications. The interactions with it are mostly optional. It’s a UI change, not UX!

UI is part of UX. Whether or not you interact with it does not dictate the distinction. If a new UI eliminates the need to perform an interaction, for example showing the timer on the island, it is still an UX improvement.

 

[ellis.markman]

I consistently see frame rate drops when closing out of an app, like Music, when it gets sucked into the dynamic island. That animation is not consistently smooth. Unreal they couldn’t get that right.

 

[Radeon85]

Until they find a way to hide the camera and all the sensors completely the DI is simply a band aid solution, a good one but that’s all it is.

 

[Steve686]

It’s way too over-hyped. Not at all that useful especially since it’s way up on the top of the screen. I do like seeing the waveform of music I’m playing though.

It seems it is more of a complement to the overall aesthetics of the phone that blurs where the dead zone actually rests at the top of the phone.

 

[votdfak]

So use reachability?

Reachability + DI looks like crap.

 

[cupcakes2000]

I mean, it’s useful. It does bring some cool features to apps, but let’s be honest, it’s there to cover up the notch.

And that's precisely how they framed it....

“Our goal was to make them forget that there is static physical hardware and make them think that the whole thing is fluid-like dynamic software.”

 

[acousticbiker]

> At Apple, it's very difficult to trace the source of ideas.

I dunno, it looks almost exactly like what Bret Victor (a former Apple employee) is describing in his Magic Ink book. And its name is almost exactly the same as the name of the consulting company he founded after he left Apple, Dynamic Land.

Hi Bret!

 

[ry-guy]

Seems like it will go the way of Force Touch (3D touch). They also touted that as a revolution but everyone forgot about it and by the time developers used it, it was over. Isn’t it just easier to say, we couldn’t fit all the sensors under screen, so until we do that this is the best? Rather than we just made a new, revolutionary update to iPhone. Seems disingenuous to market it that way but whatevs. 3 years and it will be full screen so maybe the island will still be there even with no cutout.

 

[darngooddesign]

It's cool and will probably get more useful as time goes on. However, give us those extra pixels back already when the DI is not in use.

Apple knows its users would never stop complaining about how the underscreen-camera image quality is worse and the array is not flawlessly hidden. #badcameragate #shimmergate #thehiddencamerasaredistractinggate

 

[jmh600cbr]

So far my experience with Di feels limited, not enough apps make use of it, and we’re back to the fragmented ecosystem that Apple loathed at one point.

The api isn’t open yet

 

[ct2k7]

The api isn’t open yet

Exactly.