Apple executives talk about the origins of the Dynamic Island in interview
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Apple executives talk about the origins of the Dynamic Island in interview
There's no question that the Dynamic Island is one of the most interesting new features of the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max.
And I think there are two reasons for this. The first is that it's a feature that no one saw coming. It never turned up in any rumours and I heard numerous gasps of surprise in the Steve Jobs Theater when it was announced.
The second is that it's genuinely a very creative way of using the space around the camera cut-out. Furthermore, the way Apple has fine tuned it to work looks as if the cut-out is physically expanding and shrinking.
Naturally, Apple's most hardcore users want to know more about the Dynamic Island. So in a recent interview with Japanese magazine Axis, Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of software engineering, and Alan Dye, Apple's vice president of human interface design talked more about the Dynamic Island and how it came to be.
Federighi said:
It's probably the first major operation change in five years since the iPhone X came out. Five years ago, we lost the home button with iPhone X. This has fundamentally reviewed various iPhone operation methods, such as how to unlock the lock screen, return to the Home Screen, and how to switch apps. This new feature has also changed the appearance of the iPhone, and it made me think again about how to run multiple apps, notifications, and how to manage the ongoing behaviour in the background. It was a very exciting challenge for us to consolidate what is happening on our iPhone into this small interactive place.
Dye, on the origins of the Dynamic Island:
At Apple, it's very difficult to trace the source of ideas. Because our work is based on a huge discussion with different groups of people. However, one of those discussions was that if the sensor area on the screen could be made smaller, what could be done with the surplus space. It's not an argument that has come out in the past year or so, but it's one of the topics that has been discussed for many years.
Hit the links below to find out more. I hope you can read Japanese, otherwise turn on the translation feature in your browser.
