Dynamic Island

At the top edge of many phone screens sits a small black cutout. Inside it are the front camera and sensors, which recognize the user’s face, for example. On older models, this was a fixed notch that simply took up space. Starting with the iPhone 14 Pro, Apple turned this cutout into an area that can change. It’s called Dynamic Island. The black area grows, shrinks, and displays information instead of just being a hole.

A disruptive factor becomes a display area

A screen is the single most valuable surface on a phone. For years, any notch in it was considered a necessary evil. Manufacturers tried to hide it or make it as small as possible. Apple took the opposite approach and turned it into a control element.

The practical benefit is that you have to switch between apps less often. If a song is playing, you see the title permanently at the top edge. Tapping it opens the Music app, while a long press opens larger control buttons. The information stays visible while you do something else.

For the industry, Dynamic Island was also a signal. It showed that hardware limitations can be turned into a selling point through clever software. Other manufacturers have copied similar displays around their camera holes. Because of this, the element was discussed extensively in product presentations and reviews.

Black pixels as a trick

The screen consists of individual points of light, the pixels. With the technology used, called OLED, each pixel lights up on its own. A black pixel is simply a pixel that’s switched off. As a result, a black area blends seamlessly, visually, with the actual hole in the display.

That’s exactly what Dynamic Island exploits. The software switches additional pixels around the cutout to black, drawing a larger shape. If you add text or an icon, it looks like a moving island. Technically, though, it’s just a normal part of the screen, not a separate component.

For the illusion to work, the animations have to run very smoothly. If the shape’s growth lags even slightly, the trick becomes obvious. Apple regulates which apps are allowed to display something there through fixed guidelines. Developers register an ongoing activity, such as a delivery or a game score, and only supply the data for it. The appearance stays uniform so the island doesn’t turn into an advertising space.

Timers, navigation, and delivery status

In everyday use, you mainly encounter Dynamic Island with things that keep running in the background. A kitchen timer counts down there visibly. Navigation shows the next turn arrow while you’re reading in another app. An ongoing phone call or a voice recording also appears as a small icon.

Later, more cases were added: the score of a soccer match, the status of a food delivery, the battery’s charge level. Behind most of these is the “Live Activity” feature, meaning a display that continuously updates. Dynamic Island is the compact form of this; the same information also appears larger on the lock screen.

The term shows up in tech news when new iPhone generations or competing models are covered. A common misconception is that Dynamic Island is a separate small additional screen. It isn’t. It’s software that cleverly uses black pixels. Aside from the word “dynamic” in its name, it also has nothing to do with artificial intelligence.