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The end of the Notch: iPhone 14 Pro’s “Dynamic Island”
Thoughts on Apple’s latest innovation
2017 — Apple announces the “Notch”
Remember when Apple announced the infamous “Notch” to their iPhone X in 2017? The Notch received mixed reviews and generated a lot of discussion online.
It forced app developers to make design compromises in order to cater for the unusable black space at the top of the phone screen. Even in landscape mode, users faced usability issues such as the scroll bar completely disappearing behind the Notch.
2022 — Apple announces “Dynamic Island”
Well, Apple recently announced the new iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max with an emphasis on a key design change, which they call “Dynamic Island”.
Appearing as a black pill shape around the camera’s front-facing camera, Dynamic Island leverages animation and the long-press gesture to bring users a fun and responsive experience. It houses a hybrid of notifications, such as battery life and AirDrop progress, and live widgets, such as media playback.
Working under constraints
This is a great example of a company turning their weaknesses into their strengths by listening to user feedback and pushing the boundaries. The design of the iPhone is constrained by the obtruding front-facing camera at the top of the screen. However, Dynamic Island is an improvement on the waste of space that was the Notch.
The camera is still neatly hidden within the pill shape and it also includes additional functionality that brings value to iPhone users. Instead of removing the Notch completely, Apple adapted its new design to embrace it while…
