iPhone 15 Pro Max So.... the dynamic island is basically pointless...

[MacDevil7334]

Agree it can be useful, but does it actually need a big cutout to present a notification at the top of the screen? I feel that functionality could exist regardless.

No, the size of the cutout is for the Face ID system and front facing camera. The Dynamic Island is Apple trying to do something useful with that lost space. And it’s not just a notification, it’s persistent information. Apple could probably do this on phones that have the smaller notch from the iPhone 13 and it would look ok-ish. But I don’t think it would be workable on OG notch phones (X-12). There just simply isn’t enough space on either side of the notch.

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

View attachment 2302864Yeah it is, but it’s also nice to have. Personally, I set up my always on display to only activate if it’s charging. Sooooo while driving long distance, especially if I know the route already and just want ETA/traffic info, I’ll use my display like this, Dynamic Island still shows once maps goes into always on mode that way music info is still glancable. Just wish other apps worked with Dynamic Island like this even after you press the lock button

The best thing about this is, the music is easily scrubbable by just sliding your finger on the scrub bar. It's actually easier vs the UI on the actually app, whether it's Apple Music, Spotify, or etc.

 

[JimmyG]

A permanent hole in the display just for a camera, the epitome of daftness on Apple's part. Top and bottom bezels with a home button, please, and the return of a rectangular display. For the eye-candy crowd, Apple can certainly put the nifty animations in the top bezel while allowing all of it to be turned off completely!

I'm both rooting-for and encouraging all devs to ignore implementing any contributions to this mess so that it dies a swift death. My 2¢.

 

[boswald]

I think it’s a nice little way to touch up the notch and the extra functionality is a fun little gimmick. It has some practical uses for me, but I could live without it if I had to.

 

[mjschabow]

Being able to follow my Fantasy Football team on Yahoo without constantly opening the app on Sundays has made my wife much happier. That's a use case right there!

 

[ThomasJL]

It's just polishing the turd that is the huge faceID camera cutout

That's the best description I've read so far regarding Dynamic Island.

 

[mectojic]

Serious question, instead of Dynamic Island, why didn't they have "Dynamic Coastline" and keep it as a notch? Could've had the same functionality, while occupying less space...

 

[XboxEvolved]

Spoiled people are gonna be spoiled

 

[Barbareren]

Also, it diminishes the speaker output. Apparently fitting the speaker in the dynamic island space leads to a quieter volume than what was achievable on previous phones. (At least on the non-pro models.)

That doesn’t seem very plausible at all. My 15 Plus has great sound output, for such a relatively small device. Compared to my previous iPhones the sound output is not only louder, but the quality is also vastly improved. And links to this claim of yours?

 

[one more]

Serious question, instead of Dynamic Island, why didn't they have "Dynamic Coastline" and keep it as a notch? Could've had the same functionality, while occupying less space...

I had the same question and came up with these theories:

a) having DI all the way at the top (like the notch) would deprive it of already limited horizontal space, as the screen curves at the top, so there would be even less space for time, signal, WiFi, battery, etc. As it is, we already lose the signal bars when we play a music track, etc.

b) Apple could also want to differentiate it more, not to be confused with a notched iPhone models?

 

[CS65]

Reading this, I am probably not using it to its full capability, mine just has a silenced bell and a lock come up on it, I probably need to investigate further, it doesn't seem to ever change size.

 

[one more]

That doesn’t seem very plausible at all. My 15 Plus has great sound output, for such a relatively small device. Compared to my previous iPhones the sound output is not only louder, but the quality is also vastly improved. And links to this claim of yours?

Same here, the sound of my regular iPhone 15 is way better than any other iPhone I used before.

 

[Al Rukh]

If you have an apple watch, ALL of the functions of the dynamic island are completely irrelevant. I've had my 15 Pro since launch (I upgraded from an 8) and I've never actually seen the dynamic island 'do' anything. I'm not sure what it's actually supposed to do, especially if you've got a watch.

The island gives you an approximate duration of when food or your ride is arriving at your destination in real time. Watches only give important alerts but not real time information. However if that’s something useful to you or not, that’s up to you to decide. I wouldn’t go so far to say it’s irrelevant.

 

[one more]

Reading this, I am probably not using it to its full capability, mine just has a silenced bell and a lock come up on it, I probably need to investigate further, it doesn't seem to ever change size.

Try playing some sort of a sound (music, podcast, audiobook, etc.) and set off a timer at the same time. You will see two separate clickable animations side by side.

 

[Barbareren]

The island gives you an approximate duration of when food or your ride is arriving at your destination in real time. Watches only give important alerts but not real time information. However if that’s something useful to you or not, that’s up to you to decide. I wouldn’t go so far to say it’s irrelevant.

Exactly. I use an Apple Watch and there are definitely things/info/updates from various apps that you don’t see on the watch. I don’t see the island as a major thing, but I definitely find it very useful at times.

 

[coso]

It's useful when I use my HomePod. Other than that it's always black

 

[Al Rukh]

Exactly. I use an Apple Watch and there are definitely things/info/updates from various apps that you don’t see on the watch. I don’t see the island as a major thing, but I definitely find it very useful at times.

That’s correct. I think there’s a level of unreasonable expectations some people have from the island. To me, I compare it against the very thing it replaced - the notch. It’s an improvement over the non-functional (but needed) notch in every aspect.

 

[fromsixtozero]

“the dynamic island is basically pointless...”

r/technicallythetruth

 

[Total Respray]

That doesn’t seem very plausible at all. My 15 Plus has great sound output, for such a relatively small device. Compared to my previous iPhones the sound output is not only louder, but the quality is also vastly improved. And links to this claim of yours?

Apple iPhone 15 vs. Apple iPhone 14

We compare this year's vanilla iPhone 15 to last year's model Even if the iPhone Pro models sell more, plenty of people still buy the vanilla iPhone...

www.gsmarena.com

Quote: Loudness is an interesting aspect. Like with charging, the older iPhone 14 manages to squeeze out a small, noticeable lead in the speaker loudness department over the iPhone 15.

 

[CraigJDuffy]

Before the Apollo App got shut down it was fun having the pixel pal on there.

Pixel pals exists as a standalone app.

 

[sviato]

In actual use, I think the value of the Dynamic Island is somewhere between Apple’s “it’s revolutionary” marketing hype and the “it’s pointless” take espoused by some in this thread. There are some instances where it is genuinely a really useful innovation. I was at the airport yesterday getting ready to fly home from a work trip and using Flighty. In the Dynamic Island at all times was my gate and how long I had until my flight left. Really helpful. And a long press showed me all my flight details. That is a great use of the Dynamic Island.

View attachment 2302975View attachment 2302974

Uber’s implementation is similarly useful. Another Dynamic Island feature I really find valuable is the real time waveform shown when on a phone call. It’s really useful to get a visual indication when each person is speaking. I don’t know why this isn’t also shown on the main call screen.

Useful but less revolutionary are things like music controls. It’s nice to see the album cover and waveform for what’s playing. But iOS already offers SO MANY other ways to quickly control music (control center, Notification Center/Lock Screen, Home Screen widgets), that having something in the status bar doesn’t add a huge quality of life boost. Same is true for timers.

Ultimately, the Dynamic Island is a bit like the Touch Bar in that it relies on third party developers to make it genuinely useful. Apple is avoiding the mistakes of the Touch Bar by getting the Dynamic Island on as many devices as possible, as quickly as possible. But I was disappointed Apple didn’t make more 1st party use of the Dynamic Island in iOS 17. Will the Dynamic Island catch on long term? Time will tell I guess.Your two screenshots are just software placement at the top of the screen, it doesn’t actually have anything to do with the island notch itself, there’s no reason an older notch couldn’t have the same software stuff around/below it.

In actual use, I think the value of the Dynamic Island is somewhere between Apple’s “it’s revolutionary” marketing hype and the “it’s pointless” take espoused by some in this thread. There are some instances where it is genuinely a really useful innovation. I was at the airport yesterday getting ready to fly home from a work trip and using Flighty. In the Dynamic Island at all times was my gate and how long I had until my flight left. Really helpful. And a long press showed me all my flight details. That is a great use of the Dynamic Island.

View attachment 2302975View attachment 2302974

Uber’s implementation is similarly useful. Another Dynamic Island feature I really find valuable is the real time waveform shown when on a phone call. It’s really useful to get a visual indication when each person is speaking. I don’t know why this isn’t also shown on the main call screen.

Useful but less revolutionary are things like music controls. It’s nice to see the album cover and waveform for what’s playing. But iOS already offers SO MANY other ways to quickly control music (control center, Notification Center/Lock Screen, Home Screen widgets), that having something in the status bar doesn’t add a huge quality of life boost. Same is true for timers.

Ultimately, the Dynamic Island is a bit like the Touch Bar in that it relies on third party developers to make it genuinely useful. Apple is avoiding the mistakes of the Touch Bar by getting the Dynamic Island on as many devices as possible, as quickly as possible. But I was disappointed Apple didn’t make more 1st party use of the Dynamic Island in iOS 17. Will the Dynamic Island catch on long term? Time will tell I guess.

Your two screenshots are just UI placements though, they dont require the island notch and could be done around/below the old style notch. Apple restricted software features around hardware that doesnt drive the software - these are artificial restrictions to keep the features to newer/Pro iphones. Personally I don’t like how the island notch UI takes up more screen real estate (goes down further on the screen) than the 12 Pro old notch.

 

[subjonas]

I had the same question and came up with these theories:

a) having DI all the way at the top (like the notch) would deprive it of already limited horizontal space, as the screen curves at the top, so there would be even less space for time, signal, WiFi, battery, etc. As it is, we already lose the signal bars when we play a music track, etc.

b) Apple could also want to differentiate it more, not to be confused with a notched iPhone models?

I think you’re right. These are just the issues we run into when we get rid of bezels—less space for icons (due to round corners due to not wanting the phone to stab your hand), notches, islands…
As someone who likes bezels, let me ask everyone—is it worth it?? Is it worth it???! I know the answer for most is yes 😤

 

[BMox81]

Coming from a 13 Pro I think it’s bloody great. Especially for live scores and music.

 

[smorrissey]

His main purpose has always been "hiding" the notch.

 

[MICHAELSD]

It’s just Apple having fun while reducing the footprint of the notch.

Dynamic Island will be long-forgotten once they switch to an all-display design.