Notch No More: How to Use the Dynamic Island on iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max

The notch on the top of the iPhone has been a familiar sight for several generations. But aside from housing the true-depth front camera, it’s wasted space eating into your screen. To make this space more useful, Apple turned the notch into an interactive feature called Dynamic Island for the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max.

Dynamic Island isn’t available on the iPhone 14 or iPhone 14 Plus, although the feature is reportedly available for all iPhone 15 models. Those with a Pro model don’t need to enable or configure anything for Dynamic Island to do its job; It turns on automatically when your phone is unlocked and doing a supported activity. Here’s how to use Dynamic Island and what it can do to enhance your iPhone experience.

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What can the dynamic island do?

The dynamic island can display notifications for Apple Pay transactions, low battery alerts, AirDrop transfers, and privacy indicators. It can also display various background tasks such as B. Apple Maps directions, incoming phone calls, music played, SharePlay sessions and screen recordings. The feature also works with many third-party apps to display relevant information.

In many cases, you can press the dynamic island to open the activity in a larger window. In other cases, you can tap the dynamic island to launch the activity in its full-screen app. You can also swipe to expand or shrink the window. Here are some examples of how this works.

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Apple Pay transaction

Shop with Apple Pay. After double-clicking the side button to confirm the transaction, the dynamic island will display a swirling green image to indicate Face ID authentication. After your face is authenticated and the purchase is completed, the image turns into a green smiley face.

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AirDrop transfer

When using AirDrop, the dynamic island serves as a visual status indicator. When items are shared with you, an AirDrop progress indicator appears on the dynamic island while the files are being transferred. A check mark appears when the transfer is complete.

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Privacy Indicators

Your iPhone displays a visual privacy indicator when an app or service accesses your camera or microphone. On the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max, these indicators appear in the Dynamic Island. Open an app that can access your camera and a green dot will appear on the display. Open an app that can access your microphone and an orange dot will appear. (Other iPhones will show these ads(Opens in a new window) on the right side of the screen.)

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Set a timer

You can use a timer via the dynamic island. First, open the Clock app and set a timer; the dynamic island displays the countdown in minutes. Press the display to expand the information so you can see the timer and also pause or stop it. Tap the dynamic island to open the clock app and timer in full screen.

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phone calls

When you are on a call and open the home screen, the dynamic island shows the duration of the call and a volume indicator. Press the display to view the duration and the caller’s name or number, change the audio source, and end the call. Tap the screen to open the Phone app in full screen.

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Apple Maps directions

When navigating with Apple Maps, you can return to the home screen to view turn-by-turn directions in the dynamic island. Press the screen to view the next turn with an option to end the route. Tap on the dynamic island and the Maps app will open in full screen.

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Play music or audio

Start a song, podcast episode, audiobook, or other piece of audio. On the home screen, the dynamic island shows you a small picture of the album art and a volume meter. Press the dynamic island to see a larger display with the album art, song name and artist, and a control to pause, play, go back, go forward, and change the audio output.

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screen capture

If you choose to record your screen activity, the dynamic island will show a record button indicating that the screen is being captured. Tap or press the dynamic island to reveal a timer and a button to stop recording. Press the stop button and the display will show that the shot has been saved to your photo library.

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Which third-party apps support Dynamic Island?

Several third-party apps can display information and updates on the lock screen and dynamic island. This includes Calzy(Opens in a new window)carrot weather(Opens in a new window)Volatile(Opens in a new window)Google Maps(Opens in a new window)pestle(Opens in a new window)Posture Pal(Opens in a new window)SmartGym(Opens in a new window)steps(Opens in a new window)Sticky timers and countdowns(Opens in a new window)and TV remote control(Opens in a new window). Most of these apps and many other supported programs work similarly to Apple’s built-in offerings.