Ignore the haters I'm a big fan of the iPhone 16 Pro's Dynamic Island

Date:
Sat, 24 May 2025 16:00:00 +0000

Description:
The Dynamic Island is a great addition to the iPhone, even if its not a long-term solution.

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What do you think of the iPhones Dynamic Island ? Apples pill-shaped cutout seems to be rather contentious, but Im here to throw my hat into the ring firmly on the side of Team Island. Because unlike my colleague Lance Ulanoff
, I absolutely love the Dynamic Island.

As I wrote recently , Ive not been entirely convinced by Apples Action
button in the six months that Ive had my iPhone 16 Pro . But the Dynamic Island is a feature that I really cant help but admire for both its functionality and its aesthetics.

Yet start browsing social media and youll quickly get the feeling that it has received a lot of negative feedback since it arrived with the iPhone 14 Pro . Even the opinions that arent negative seem to be closer to an apathetic
shrug.

Perhaps part of that is driven by reviewers and enthusiasts who get new iPhones every year. For them, the novelty has probably worn off. But for someone like me who stepped up from an iPhone 12 Pro to an iPhone 16 Pro, the Dynamic Island has been brilliant. Whats the big deal? (Image credit: Apple)

Ultimately, my appreciation for the Dynamic Island comes down to a few factors.

For one thing, it lets me tweak timers and fiddle with podcast playback without having to open the apps themselves. Before, I was constantly
switching back and forth between apps when I only needed to make the
slightest adjustment. That quickly grew old, but with the Dynamic Island, there are far fewer breaks in my workflow.

As well as that, it handles AirDrop requests without needing to open another window. It gives extra controls, like adjusting my iPhones flashlight
strength and beam dimensions. There are even mini games from third-party developers, like Pixel Pals from the creator of Apollo (previously one of my favorite iOS apps before it was shut down).

Add to that the fact that the Dynamic Island is animated beautifully with smooth transitions and effects that just look sumptuous. That means that when I have to use it, I enjoy it.

All this is far better than the ugly notch on my old iPhone 12 Pro. That was purely functional and simply existed to hide the front-facing cameras and
Face ID sensor array. The Dynamic Island still does that job, but it actually makes your iPhones cutout useful. Instead of taking away from your phone, it adds to it.

Apple didnt just throw its hands up and admit it couldnt hide these cameras and sensors the company thought up a truly elegant solution, and Im really glad that it did. A beautiful halfway measure (Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)

Thats not to say that the Dynamic Island is a flawless masterpiece its absolutely not, and there are plenty of criticisms to be made of it.

The big one is that it can obscure things on your screen, including both movies and games. Thats obviously far from ideal, and because Apple hasnt yet managed to secrete the front-facing cameras and sensors under the display, theres no way around it.

And what about if you have more than one item in the Dynamic Island? In that case, the items can get shrunk down or simply not appear at all. Apples cutout can hold two apps at a time (one large and one small), and while you can swipe across to expand or minimize its contents, you cant have any more than that. Anything else simply isnt shown.

While I can understand these frustrations, theyre not enough to put me off
the Dynamic Island. For one thing, I dont watch movies on my phone very
often, so the obstruction isnt particularly noticeable day to day.

For another, I know that the Dynamic Island is necessary right now. Apple hasnt been able to hide things like the Face ID sensor array under the
display while it supposedly will soon , the feature is evidently not ready for prime time yet. (Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)

Some of the best Android phones have tiny cutouts, sure, but their facial recognition tech is either inferior to Apples or missing altogether. Id
rather have Face ID and a Dynamic Island than no facial recognition and a
less secure device.

In the future, it looks like Apple is going to eliminate the Dynamic Island
to provide a smoother, less obstructed display. Im sure this will look amazing, going on what Android manufacturers have managed so far at least.

When that happens, it will be fascinating to see what happens to the Dynamic Islands functionality. Im sure Apple will think up something intriguing, just as it did with the Dynamic Island itself.

Perhaps Tim Cook and friends will give us a device that works as an
all-screen phone most of the time, but that adds a Dynamic Island-like pill
to store active app features such as timers.

But as long as the Dynamic Island remains on my iPhone, Im super happy with it. Its a halfway measure, sure, but a functional and beautiful one nonetheless. You might also like I want the iPhone 17 to get rid of the Dynamic Island but not for the reason you think I just fixed the most frustrating Dynamic Island quirk with an obvious workaround After six months with my iPhone 16 Pro, Im still not convinced by the Action butt



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/phones/ignore-the-haters-im-a-big-fan-of-the-iphone- 16-pros-dynamic-island


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