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Other My problem with the notch was the lack of status icons. Does the Dynamic Island make the problem even worse?

esh314

esh314

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 11, 2018
29
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I like being able to see the status icons in the status bar, such as Do Not Disturb / Focus Mode, Rotation Lock, Battery Percentage, battery level of paired bluetooth device, etc. The notch took up so much space that you couldn't see those at a glance--you had to swipe down to the Control Center to see them. I was hoping that the smaller pill notch in the iPhone 14 Pro would free up space to show status icons, but from screenshots it looks like Dynamic Island actually shows even fewer status icons in some situations?

Example 1: Can't see bars during phone call​

In the middle phone below, the cellular bars and wifi icons are hidden to make room for a waveform image when you're in a phone call. So if the call starts getting choppy you can't glance at your phone and see how many bars you have?

dynamic_island__evt4vjxhxlsi_medium_2x.jpg


Example 2: Can't see time when receiving incoming phone call​

Receiving a phone call makes the Dynamic Island grow so large that it even hides the time. Want to make a quick decision about whether you have enough time to take this call before your next meeting starts? Too bad, you can't see the time.

iPhone-14-Pro-Dynamic-Island-3.jpeg



The Dynamic Island looks cool and fun and useful in a lot of cases, but these two examples make me sad. It's not a good day for those of us who still have iPhone 8/SE style phones and wanted to upgrade when the notch was small enough to show status icons again.
 
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Apple could change any of this with software in the future. My guess would be removing the soundwave visualizer on calls, since this is purely aesthetic, whilst signal bars are informative and could go there. Who knows.

If seeing the time is paramount, you can add a clock widget to your home screen. Apple would rather you buy a watch and check the time there though ;)
My guess is you can silence the incoming call with a swipe up or something, but the call waiting icon may block the time, like it does on current iPhones. Myabe the call waiting icon will move into the island, revealing the clock.
 
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Great observations. With enough feedback hopefully the DI will be updated via software to address these concerns. Even better if Apple made the DI user customizable in Settings.
 
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mansplains said:
Apple could change any of this with software in the future. My guess would be removing the soundwave visualizer on calls, since this is purely aesthetic, whilst signal bars are informative and could go there. Who knows.

If seeing the time is paramount, you can add a clock widget to your home screen. Apple would rather you buy a watch and check the time there though ;)
My guess is you can silence the incoming call with a swipe up or something, but the call waiting icon may block the time, like it does on current iPhones. Myabe the call waiting icon will move into the island, revealing the clock.
Click to expand...

I hope they do change it but Apple has been on a trajectory for a while now of removing useful information in favor of visual flair, and making the experience worse for the sake of it (subjectively) looking better.
 
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Honestly, not a big deal to me. If I'm willing to take a phone call, I most likely also have my Apple Watch on.
As for a choppy, possible loss of signal phone call. I can't remember ever looking at my bars. I may look to see if a the call was dropped outright. But, don't ever remember looking at the bars 🤷‍♀️. Just not an issue for me.
 
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Eco2Eco said:
Honestly, not a big deal to me. If I'm willing to take a phone call, I most likely also have my Apple Watch on.
As for a choppy, possible loss of signal phone call. I can't remember ever looking at my bars. I may look to see if a the call was dropped outright. But, don't ever remember looking at the bars 🤷‍♀️. Just not an issue for me.
Click to expand...

Maybe but they’re hiding time and signal strength in favor of showing you a fake oscilloscope and the caller’s contact picture, which I don’t know about you but most of my contacts don’t have.

Doesn’t seem like a good tradeoff. Just like wasting a millimeter at the bottom of my Mac screen with the “floating” dock, or hiding the interaction and dismiss buttons on notifications.
 
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Eco2Eco said:
Honestly, not a big deal to me. If I'm willing to take a phone call, I most likely also have my Apple Watch on.
As for a choppy, possible loss of signal phone call. I can't remember ever looking at my bars. I may look to see if a the call was dropped outright. But, don't ever remember looking at the bars 🤷‍♀️. Just not an issue for me.
Click to expand...
What is the percentage of iphone users that use apple watches every day? Can't possibly be more than 10% can it?
 
This deserves a ton of upvotes. The dynamic island concept is clever but the ultimate functionality remains tbd. The more time I spend on the dynamic island, the more I think it’s mostly a visual gimmick. Hope to be proven wrong.
 
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Since Tim Cook's advice for people who wanted RCS is to buy an iPhone, Apple's solution for this is for you to buy an Apple Watch.
 
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