iPhone 15: What Dynamic Island Does and How to Use It

[rileyes]

It works like this: it puts buttons and such as far away from your thumb as possible. But it sure looks neato.

This. I guess sorry to all the Jony Ive haters out there, but it looks like Apple still favors form over function without your favorite scapegoat there to take the blame.

“Dynamic Island” is a brazen marketing ploy to try to hide a defect that the most valuable company in the world, most valuable company that has ever existed, can’t solve.

Tim Cook has got to go. You don’t put an operations guy at the helm of a so-called innovative company. People think he’s a good steward because he’s good at maximizing profit, but they discount the innovative and inspirational attrition that he brings. It takes an intangible toll that will eventually be felt on the bottom line when it’s already too late.

 

[StevoTheMacDude]

Am I missing something here? Isn’t the pill shaped area dead space, void of pixels? And if that’s correct, isn’t expanding the graphics around the dead space just a very clever gimmick? It seems like no matter what the dynamic island is displaying, there will always be a dead black pill space in the middle? Is that not correct?

 

[TheDailyApple]

Am I missing something here? Isn’t the pill shaped area dead space, void of pixels? And if that’s correct, isn’t expanding the graphics around the dead space just a very clever gimmick? It seems like no matter what the dynamic island is displaying, there will always be a dead black pill space in the middle? Is that not correct?

That is precisely what it is, and it’s bloody brilliant. Considering the hiccups, I agree with speculation that it was a last minute idea after the hardware had been finalized, however the person who thought of it should still get a raise. I’m happy to keep using my mini on which I can reach everything one-handedly; however, one has to appreciate the design genius who managed to turn the hole punch flaw into a feature.

Once the dead space is gone thanks to under screen Face ID, it’ll hopefully became a fully functioning dynamic menu bar capable of holding 5 icons or so at a time.

 

[svish]

Dynamic island is great. Looking to see more apps supporting the dynamic island.

 

[_Spinn_]

The dynamic island is a really cool feature.

 

[fakestrawberryflavor]

What I don’t like is when I am using safari like now, listening to music on Spotify that’s playing in the dynamic island, if I click the dynamic island to bring spotify to the front full screen, and then swipe Spotify up back into the dynamic island, ios returns me to the Home Screen instead of my safari screen. This is a super fail. Please fix. Quite unusable.

 

[Corbets1979]

Tim Cook has got to go. You don’t put an operations guy at the helm of a so-called innovative company. People think he’s a good steward because he’s good at maximizing profit, but they discount the innovative and inspirational attrition that he brings. It takes an intangible toll that will eventually be felt on the bottom line when it’s already too late.

Says the guy who has, presumably, run a lot of trillion-dollar “innovative” companies?

Everyone’s got an opinion, but personally, I’m not convinced anyone could have done better than what Cook has done. Jobs was the right guy at the right time - but would he have been able to continue to drive innovation, or would he have just driven all the developers out of the ecosystem and relegating the iPhone to a fairly niche market share? The latter is at least as easily imaginable as the former, given Macintosh history.

 

[Pixelryan]

Am I missing something here? Isn’t the pill shaped area dead space, void of pixels? And if that’s correct, isn’t expanding the graphics around the dead space just a very clever gimmick? It seems like no matter what the dynamic island is displaying, there will always be a dead black pill space in the middle? Is that not correct?

Don't forget in Landscape mode they use actual screen real estate to draw black pixels to replicate the dead space, in addition to the actual physical black pill still there on the side.

 

[Nozuka]

This. I guess sorry to all the Jony Ive haters out there, but it looks like Apple still favors form over function without your favorite scapegoat there to take the blame.

“Dynamic Island” is a brazen marketing ploy to try to hide a defect that the most valuable company in the world, most valuable company that has ever existed, can’t solve.

Tim Cook has got to go. You don’t put an operations guy at the helm of a so-called innovative company. People think he’s a good steward because he’s good at maximizing profit, but they discount the innovative and inspirational attrition that he brings. It takes an intangible toll that will eventually be felt on the bottom line when it’s already too late.

So first you make fun of people blaming Jony Ive for everything they didn't like and then you blame Tim Cook... okay...

 

[iAdamator]

Correct me if I am wrong, but I don’t think it shows the time remaining for a song. Or if it does, I don’t know how to get to display that information.

 

[Shoju]

Let us make something permanently stay in the island, like apple music player or podcast, for quick access to an app. Or some permanent info in there, day & date maybe. Anything really.

For some notifications that would actually really make sense. I.e. why isn’t the charging status displayed permanently on the always-on display when the iPhone is connected to a charger? I still have to tap on the display and wake it up when I want to see the battery status..

 

[Kissmo1980]

Dynamic island is a cool concept, but honestly, besides Music, it's not like there's a ton of Apps that will do things to get you constantly using it.

I guess we need to wait and see if anyone actually comes up with something more interesting.

If this is for Live activities only, then it will not be such a big part of the OS.
It could however be developed in the future as an interactive notification area.
Just an example: a message comes (Facebook, iMessage, Slack or whatever) and the Dynamic island animates the notification and you can quickly interact form it.

As it is right now, it feels (to me at least) it's still in embryonic stage. But it sure looks good!

At the final judgement, humanity will be trialed for:
- wars we raged, and people we murdered
- planet we destroyed
- time we wasted
- songs we silenced
- families abandoned
- notches and weird namings we selected for technology

 

[KnoeSS]

Tap for widget, long press for app would be better.

this!

 

[sputnikBA]

So much potential. Terrible initial implementation.
Most notifications dont need to expand to a fat dynamic notification. Ex: Shortcuts.
Fat dynamic notifications block time.
When you receive a phone call, sometimes you want to glance at the time, but its blocked.
Tap status bar to scroll back to the top is now a wonky mess.
Island now makes notification center and control center access even smaller and more difficult.
Face id doesnt need to be a popped out square, just give us a small animation inside dynamic island.

Island cuts in to youtube videos in portrait and landscape.
The status bar is just too big now.
If it going to be big and fat, let us add other stuff to status bar and customize.

Tap for widget, long press for app would be better.

Let us make something permanently stay in the island, like apple music player or podcast, for quick access to an app. Or some permanent info in there, day & date maybe. Anything really.

I get it’s early its implementation, but lets not eait 4 years until it’s fixed like everything else apple does.

We want day 1 full baked products, not half.

Don’t want you to feel like I’m being dismissive to you, but if you (and anyone else) feels that strongly about any of this then hit them up at http://www.apple.com/feedback

 

[CoMoMacUser]

That is what girlfriends and wives are for.

They already do that. Why shouldn't a $1,100 phone, too?

 

[rileyes]

Am I missing something here? Isn’t the pill shaped area dead space, void of pixels? And if that’s correct, isn’t expanding the graphics around the dead space just a very clever gimmick? It seems like no matter what the dynamic island is displaying, there will always be a dead black pill space in the middle? Is that not correct?

Exactly.

Says the guy who has, presumably, run a lot of trillion-dollar “innovative” companies?

It's a logical fallacy and just a lazy argument to claim that you can't have valid criticism against how someone does their job if you haven't also had the same job before. Weak.

 

[rileyes]

So first you make fun of people blaming Jony Ive for everything they didn't like and then you blame Tim Cook... okay...

Tim Cook is in charge. He was in charge when Jony Ive was apparently making all those bad decisions, and he's in charge today, when Apple is pushing a gimmick as a major feature and continues to slow drip mediocre features each year while they wait to see if Samsung and others prove them out in the market first. So, I'm not sure what point you're trying to make with your reply to my comment. But maybe you could stick to the actual substance of what I was saying?

 

[wgaller]

I think this new feature is very interesting and eventually be an integral part of how we interact with our phones. See something new every day. Listening to my music this morning - I see this. Kind of amazing that the album cover is rendered in such detail.

 

[Mr_penguin]

my aunt has been upgrading her iphone EVERY YEAR to the PRO MODEL!

 

[siddavis]

That is precisely what it is, and it’s bloody brilliant. Considering the hiccups, I agree with speculation that it was a last minute idea after the hardware had been finalized, however the person who thought of it should still get a raise. I’m happy to keep using my mini on which I can reach everything one-handedly; however, one has to appreciate the design genius who managed to turn the hole punch flaw into a feature.

Once the dead space is gone thanks to under screen Face ID, it’ll hopefully became a fully functioning dynamic menu bar capable of holding 5 icons or so at a time.

I think it is interesting that you mention one-handed reach, but also think DI is a brilliant feature. I do concede that it masks the hardware blob in the middle of a screen and yes, the animations and such are brilliant at doing that. BUT, it puts quick and immediate functions as far away from one-handed reach as possible. In this regard it is the opposite of brilliant. So in my opinion, it is some nice window dressing that has been executed nicely.

 

[siddavis]

I think this new feature is very interesting and eventually be an integral part of how we interact with our phones. See something new every day. Listening to my music this morning - I see this. Kind of amazing that the album cover is rendered in such detail.

View attachment 2073008

Interesting. Apple not afraid to display micro album art, but no way they could put battery percentage on the minis.

 

[imnotthewalrus]

I always want to be able to see the time, but now it seems to be victim of this new feature?

Dynamic Island never "blocks" the time unless you tap on it for an expanded view.

 

[TheDailyApple]

I think it is interesting that you mention one-handed reach, but also think DI is a brilliant feature. I do concede that it masks the hardware blob in the middle of a screen and yes, the animations and such are brilliant at doing that. BUT, it puts quick and immediate functions as far away from one-handed reach as possible. In this regard it is the opposite of brilliant. So in my opinion, it is some nice window dressing that has been executed nicely.

I agree. It's brilliant in design and marketing, but not necessarily functionality; which is why I won't upgrade from my mini despite how cheap it'd be with carrier trade-in.

To clarify, I personally don't view the DI as a pro vs a con (I see it as neutral), but I am praising the guy who managed to turn the 14's biggest design flaw into a pro for most people. If I was a designer I'd love to have that on my resume.

 

[Rich2Putt]

I'm unable to have DI show sports scores as they happen. Any suggestions?

 

[Corbets1979]

Exactly.

It's a logical fallacy and just a lazy argument to claim that you can't have valid criticism against how someone does their job if you haven't also had the same job before. Weak.

Nah. I didn’t say you couldn‘t have an opinion - matter of fact, the *very next sentence* after your quoted statement says that everyone has one. I put it there as a short handed attempted to contextualize your expertise. We can all have an opinion, but when it comes to medical advice I’ll weigh a doctor’s opinion significantly more heavily than a plumber’s, thank you very much. Same principle applies.

I also thereafter proceeded to articulate a plausible scenario which I feel contradicts your rigid view that An Innovator, Someone Other Than Cook would have done better. But I notice you skipped that part too.