Lonely and not-so-lonely islands
, which officially dropped on millions of iPhones this week, brought with it new gesture controls to Apple's innovative notch replacement., the Dynamic Island not only moved the True Depth Module down from the iPhone's top edge, but it also created a fungible island of functionality. From a technical perspective, the Dynamic Island is actually two Super Retina Display XDR screen cutouts, one pill-shaped and the other wider and more cylindrical.
Inside the Dynamic island are activity symbols to indicate if, for instance, your phone is locked, playing music, or delivering Map-based directions. It can appear to expand to offer more map details or conduct a Face ID scan. In other words, the Island, which also supports third-party apps, is designed to be many things to many people.
In iOS 16.1 it gets another trick. The Dynamic Island is already capable of displaying two running apps at once, but they generally sit as two distinct islands with home screen pixels separating them. Now, with a gesture, you can easily hide one activity. Apple confirmed that this feature, which first appeared inand started playing a song, then switched to Maps and set the navigation for home.
Another quick left swipe on the far left side of the Dynamic Island unhides the music app, which ends up back on its own tiny island on the right. Granted, it's a small change, but also an indication that Apple views the Dynamic Island, which already responds to taps, as a platform on which it can build a world of interaction.