Other Dynamic island is brilliant!!

[sre.live]

Because it's the new Touch Bar! We've taught people for decades that dynamic user interfaces on this level are a bad idea. There are studies showing that dynamic user interfaces on this level are a bad idea. Microsoft Office is using dynamic UI and it's a terrible experience. Apple introduced dynamic user interfaces with the Touch Bar only to drop it a few years later. They didn't learn their lessen and now we have this. Don't get me wrong, it looks cool, it draws attention it's new so naturally people, especially Apple fanboys, are all over it. But it introduces more problems than it's fixing. The Touch Bar was useful in some cases, this seems more like a gimmick.

I just discussed it with my friend and a long time Apple pro user. We have exactly the same thoughts. I wouldn't be surprised that in 2-3 years Apple kills it like they did with touch bar, like they did with 3D Touch.

What is genuinely surprising to me is how tapping with your fingers into the selfie camera and FACE ID sensors is considered a good experience? Usually Apple is a lot more thoughtful about these fundamentals things.

At the very least, its nice to see their crack marketing team living up to its name with an outrageous slogan

 

[bluespark]

One thing I haven't yet seen discussed is how badly Apple must have burned its Chinese copycats (who already have what they thought were iPhone 14 Pro lookalikes in the market) by keeping the real feature quiet and letting the rumors take hold.

 

[GrumpyCoder]

What is genuinely surprising to me is how tapping with your fingers into the selfie camera and FACE ID sensors is considered a good experience? Usually Apple is a lot more thoughtful about these fundamentals things.

Indeed. But Apple changed a lot in the past few years. And I wouldn't be surprised if this was some employee's idea they integrated after the design was done and thought it looked cool. It does look cool, but history still shows us it's a bad idea. From here on we'll just have to wipe the camera before we use it. Face ID will be fine though.

One thing I haven't yet seen discussed is how badly Apple must have burned its Chinese copycats (who already have what they thought were iPhone 14 Pro lookalikes in the market) by keeping the real feature quiet and letting the rumors take hold.

It's a software feature. Give it to a team of 10 talented coders and they'll have that feature available before Apple ships the first unit. 🤷‍♂️

 

[Populus]

I just discussed it with my friend and a long time Apple pro user. We have exactly the same thoughts. I wouldn't be surprised that in 2-3 years Apple kills it like they did with touch bar, like they did with 3D Touch.

What is genuinely surprising to me is how tapping with your fingers into the selfie camera and FACE ID sensors is considered a good experience? Usually Apple is a lot more thoughtful about these fundamentals things.

At the very least, its nice to see their crack marketing team living up to its name with an outrageous slogan

According to Ross Young, one of the most accurate display analyst on the industry (I think it was him), the next generation of 2023 iPhones will all of them have the Dynamic Island, both the regular iPhone 15 and the 15 Pro. Then, by 2024, while the regular iPhone 16 remains with the Dynamic Island, the iPhone 16 Pro will only have a hole for the camera, because they will probably move the Face ID camera system under the display. Finally, in 2025 all iPhone models are expected to have just the camera cutout. So… yeah, the Dynamic Island will live for another 3 years at least.

One thing I haven't yet seen discussed is how badly Apple must have burned its Chinese copycats (who already have what they thought were iPhone 14 Pro lookalikes in the market) by keeping the real feature quiet and letting the rumors take hold.

Yeah, but this was greatly possible because it is purely a software feature. The leaks only pointed the shape and cut-offs of the display. The problem Apple has with the leaks are mostly on the hardware side, not so much on the software side.

 

[AppleSmurf]

I agree, but I like the OG notch better. Not sure how I feel about a notch with screen all around it.

 

[BugeyeSTI]

Pleasantly surprised by this feature. 14 Pro Max may be an excellent replacement for my X. I always buy my phones in December so I'll have plenty of time to see how the phone is received by the community and get to play around with both Pro models and decide if the upgrade is worth it. My X has been flawless for 5 years and I expect my next phone to do the same..

 

[vddobrev]

Pleasantly surprised by this feature. 14 Pro Max may be an excellent replacement for my X. I always buy my phones in December so I'll have plenty of time to see how the phone is received by the community and get to play around with both Pro models and decide if the upgrade is worth it. My X has been flawless for 5 years and I expect my next phone to do the same..

Same here, my X has served me well for 5 years, and now it went to my mother to use what is left of it... it is still in perfect shape cosmetically, and has 83% battery health. Unlike you, though, I got the 13 Pro because of the price of 14 Pro in Europe.

Edit: I have a strange feeling that 13 Pro will not last as long as the X... as the X was a 10 year anniversary model with impeccable build quality... we shall wait and see...

 

[BugeyeSTI]

Same here, my X has served me well for 5 years, and now it went to my mother to use what is left of it... it is still in perfect shape cosmetically, and has 83% battery health. Unlike you, though, I got the 13 Pro because of the price of 14 Pro in Europe.

Edit: I have a strange feeling that 13 Pro will not last as long as the X... as the X was a 10 year anniversary model with impeccable build quality... we shall wait and see...

I agree. I had Apple replace the battery last November in my X (service battery notification was showing) and I was having some odd performance issues with wonky battery readings. I was sold on getting the 13 Pro Max but supplies were scarce and after spending a couple of weeks with my X with a new battery all the issues disappeared. Surprisingly it worked remarkably well on iOS15 so I held off upgrading.. It's one of my favorite iPhones and will keep it as a backup when I do decide to upgrade..

 

[DavidChoux]

You haven't even used it yet

 

[zakarhino]

I'm gonna say it's not a brilliant, groundbreaking feature, it's simply a nice to have and I barely gave it any attention in the keynote. I think the people amazed by it didn't watch WWDC. This feature is basically just an additional way of seeing the iOS 16 Live Activities widgets (the Lyft status was shown off at WWDC for example).

Yes it's cool and I will use it but I can't believe people are saying it's the killer feature of the 14 Pro and that they've decided to buy one because this feature pushed them over the edge -- just bonkers!

 

[joscejrod]

Hi! I don’t know if someone has already discussed this topic in the thread but I’m worried about pill hiding some image when playing video in 18:9 mode. I watch tons of youtube videos and movies in my current iphone 11 pro max. The notch just start at the end of the image and is perfect. However in iphone 14 pro max the pill seems to be much more inside the screen so maybe half the pill is going to be visible. What do you think about? Any videos in internet covering this?

 

[RyanC1384]

Can We All Live On "Dynamic Island"â?

Last night I watched the launch of Apple's newest suite of products with a keen focus on the iPhone 14 Pro. My wife and I are in the market to upgrade our dusty old iPhone 11âs, so I went into the presentation convinced their renowned marketing team would have my wallet feeling a little lighter this

www.linkedin.com

 

[MayaUser]

Hi! I don’t know if someone has already discussed this topic in the thread but I’m worried about pill hiding some image when playing video in 18:9 mode. I watch tons of youtube videos and movies in my current iphone 11 pro max. The notch just start at the end of the image and is perfect. However in iphone 14 pro max the pill seems to be much more inside the screen so maybe half the pill is going to be visible. What do you think about? Any videos in internet covering this?

it will be visible of course, only if you watch 16:9 videos

 

[MICHAELSD]

I like that they essentially made the notch a design element as well.

Certainly much better than a boring hole-punch.

 

[MayaUser]

I like that they essentially made the notch a design element as well.

Certainly much better than a boring hole-punch.

No its not, but you are talking subjectively here as an Apple fan. you can make a design element from a hole-punch as well...and it doesnt takes away so many pixels / space when is not an design element. This was a great idea but lets not forget that ultimately we want no more cuts in our display or at least just a hole-punch if the tech allows it in the future

 

[MICHAELSD]

No its not, but you are talking subjectively here as an Apple fan. you can make a design element from a hole-punch as well...and it doesnt takes away so many pixels / space when is not an design element. This was a great idea but lets not forget that ultimately we want no more cuts in our display or at least just a hole-punch if the tech allows it in the future

Yes, it's potentially better than a boring hole-punch that isn't built into the UI... which we'll probably see Samsung attempt to replicate.

At this point a hole-punch on the iPhone would look too much like Apple following the competition rather than innovating as they have with the Dynamic Island, which is a name I'm still getting used to typing.

Although I am speaking as an Apple fanboy that would defend most of Apple's design decisions.

 

[MayaUser]

Yes, it's potentially better than a boring hole-punch that isn't built into the UI... which we'll probably see Samsung attempt to replicate.

At this point a hole-punch on the iPhone would look too much like Apple following the competition rather than innovating as they have with the Dynamic Island, which is a name I'm still getting used to typing.

Although I am speaking as an Apple fanboy that would defend most of Apple's design decisions.

If you are talking about samsung , yes..but if it were on Apple they probably still used the UI to make it part of it
And no, Apple will not following the competition if the cuts gets smaller and smaller...we are just getting back in time when we didnt had any cuts. Its just a tech revolution to hide the dot projector and flood iluminator into the display...thats not following the competition because the competition doesnt have 3d face ID. As an Apple fanboy you should know all of these

 

[Kierkegaarden]

Absolutely, positively, classic Apple at their best. It will be interesting to see how developers utilize this and how much flexibility there will be.

 

[MayaUser]

Absolutely, positively, classic Apple at their best. It will be interesting to see how developers utilize this and how much flexibility there will be.

yes, thats the big thing...3d party should take on this very quickly
This is a beautiful blend of software and hardware ...cannot even imagine this is coming from the same company (under Jony ive) that made the touchbar on the macbooks

 

[MICHAELSD]

If you are talking about samsung , yes..but if it were on Apple they probably still used the UI to make it part of it
And no, Apple will not following the competition if the cuts gets smaller and smaller...we are just getting back in time when we didnt had any cuts. Its just a tech revolution to hide the dot projector and flood iluminator into the display...thats not following the competition because the competition doesnt have 3d face ID. As an Apple fanboy you should know all of these

Again yes, the goal is to slowly realize an all-screen design.

However, my point is that the hole-punch is boring, done, tried-and-true but overly ubiquitous. It would serve Apple best to skip it even once they can put the FaceID sensors under the display and differentiate themselves as they have with the Dynamic Island.

 

[Pezimak]

Hmm it remains to be seen because that odd pill will be in every full screen video or photo. You won't miss it and I wonder if you'll get used to it like the notch. Dynamic island is an alright feature though that gives some good control over apps and features.

 

[Miha_v]

Because it's the new Touch Bar! We've taught people for decades that dynamic user interfaces on this level are a bad idea. There are studies showing that dynamic user interfaces on this level are a bad idea.

I thought Touch Bar was a bad (though interesting) idea from the start, and the fact they removed it didn't surpise me a bit. This dynamic island however is brilliant and the two solutions really aren't comparable.

Issue with the touch bar was, you had to look down on the keyboard to type on it (-), while physical keys were removed (-). Here, no existing functionality was removed, and you are already looking at the screen anyway, so no distraction. A bit ironic calling a dynamic user interface on a touchscreen device (that serves as a dynamic user interface) an issue

Dynamic island reminds me of the old Apple; transforming an obstacle into an asset with good design.

 

[Richu]

Because it's the new Touch Bar! We've taught people for decades that dynamic user interfaces on this level are a bad idea. There are studies showing that dynamic user interfaces on this level are a bad idea. Microsoft Office is using dynamic UI and it's a terrible experience. Apple introduced dynamic user interfaces with the Touch Bar only to drop it a few years later. They didn't learn their lessen and now we have this. Don't get me wrong, it looks cool, it draws attention it's new so naturally people, especially Apple fanboys, are all over it. But it introduces more problems than it's fixing. The Touch Bar was useful in some cases, this seems more like a gimmick.

There's this thread already which shows part of the problem: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...c-island-make-the-problem-even-worse.2357591/
So in order to see the clock, cell network, wifi and battery we now have to install widgets to the Home Screen instead of just getting that information from the status bar... epic design mistake.

I do wonder if it can be turned off though and fall back to the "normal" user interface. Apple could have integrated this with the regular notch, instead of an island we would have a expanded notch. Would have worked exactly the same way as the pill (not an island though). They didn't, but it helps to boost iPhone Pro sales. Many people don't upgrade their phones every year anymore, many don't care about more speed or better camera (well, more image processing really), so many buy the "cheap" iPhone instead of the Pro. So what's better to come up with something new, tell people it's the best thing ever and make sales that way for a more expensive product? In three year's they'll drop it and come up with something new anyway. 🤷‍♂️

It's something I have to play around with in the store, as I was set on the Pro Max and am now leaning more towards the Plus. If it can be turned off I might reconsider.

The Touch Bar was bad for entirely different reasons though:
- it took away physical keys. Which allows power users to use muscle memory for various workflows.
- it requires hand-eye-coordination, while looking at a completely different surface than your main screen - so it breaks your flow.

Contextual UI/input in itself doesn’t have to be an issue. E.g. controllers/keyboards often remap their functionality depending on the game/application. Etc etc

 

[Paninnguaq]

.....................................

 

[GrumpyCoder]

This dynamic island however is brilliant and the two solutions really aren't comparable.

But they really are comparable. And who says it's brilliant? Sure everyone is entitles to their opinion. I'm curious to see user XP studies once it's out.

Issue with the touch bar was, you had to look down on the keyboard to type on it (-), while physical keys were removed (-).

I never looked down on it and pretty much used it just like a simple keyboard. That is, after initially getting used to the layout. I have to say Touch Bar saved me countless hours making keynote presentations.

Here, no existing functionality was removed, and you are already looking at the screen anyway, so no distraction. A bit ironic calling a dynamic user interface on a touchscreen device (that serves as a dynamic user interface) an issue

Well, that's not really true. I already linked to another thread that shows that functionality was removed. You can't look at the clock anymore, nor cell, network and battery information. It's dynamically turned on/off depending on DI status. The solution so far is to install a widget to the Home Screen to navigate around this.

It's not really ironic, that's why I wrote "dynamic user interface on this level" and assumed people would know what I mean. If you look at DI as a component then the state of that component will influence the state of other components, which is a bad thing. Think of two apps, both have different user interfaces. If these are independent, both can be operated largely with muscle memory. However, if state of app A changes the UI/state of app B, then it breaks the user XP. Most studies show that users don't even read labels and information presented by applications, they're very aware of their workflow and know where to click. When moving around UI components, people get confused and they usually report a bad user XP. But that's precisely what DI is doing. This isn't really a storyboard segue.

Dynamic island reminds me of the old Apple; transforming an obstacle into an asset with good design.

Odd, for me it's the new Apple. We wouldn't have seen this years or decades ago. Sure, we didn't have this in the 80s or early 90s. But when I started working with Apple, developing software and hardware solutions in the late PPC / early Intel days and then iOS, this would have been a big no go. Apple was very strict back then for they requirements and told us exactly what we could or should do whenever we worked on larger projects that they used for press releases or benchmark/demos during a keynote. If me and my team would have integrated something like this into our software around ~15 years ago, we probably would have never won two design awards at WWDC. But times change as we see and new Apple isn't the old Apple anymore. 🤷‍♂️

- it took away physical keys. Which allows power users to use muscle memory for various workflows.

But muscle memory also works with touch interfaces, it's not limited to physical keys.

Contextual UI/input in itself doesn’t have to be an issue. E.g. controllers/keyboards often remap their functionality depending on the game/application. Etc etc

See what I wrote above. Changing the UI from app to app is one thing, changing the UI of one app from another app (or let's call it component) is another. Changing the UI within an app is also another thing. Have you ever used MS Office? I think that's a perfect example of a terrible user XP. It's constantly changing UI and the users starts to search around for things that were there a minute ago and then disappeared and can't be easily brought back as with a segue. The whole concept isn't really new, we've tried and experimented with this years and decades ago and it never worked for the intended purpose. We're still teaching people in SE and UI design today why it shouldn't be done. Now Apple has another purpose for it, that is telling people it's the best thing ever to make everyone rush out and buy a new decide and then drop it in the future for the next best thing. That worked very well for them in the past. Curious to see how many developers will actively support DI and we'll have a good idea at WWDC next year. I wouldn't be surprised if most just ignore it at which point the pill just becomes a static "notch".