TECH

Android 16 will have iPhone's Dynamic Island

Android 16 could bring a new feature that would change how users deal with notifications on their phones. Called “Rich Ongoing Notifications”, this new feature will allow developers to create persistent and more detailed notifications in the Android status bar.

According to Mishaal Rahman, from Android Authority, who analyzed the beta code of Android 15, the new feature will allow more interactive notifications with customizable information directly in the Android status bar. “Rich Ongoing Notifications” were found in the latest version of Android 15 QPR1 Beta 3.

The feature would allow adding a pill-shaped icon, with custom text and background color – which would allow notifications to stand out visually. Examples shared by Rahman suggest that, with this functionality, the user will be able, for example, to follow the estimated arrival time of their Uber in real time, without having to open the app.

The concept is similar to iOS’s Live Activities feature, which displays dynamic information, such as timers and delivery status, both on the lock screen and in the top notification area. On the one hand, Apple had already introduced something similar on the iPhone 14 Pro, known as Dynamic Island – that little black space, near the front camera, that seems to grow and shrink. On the other hand, Android has had similar functionality since Android 12, which introduced the ability to show the duration of an ongoing call through a “chip” in the status bar. 

With Android 16, Google seems to want to go a step further, offering an API that will allow the creation of more versatile and information-rich “chips”. “I would love to have something like this on my Pixel 6,” wrote Wes Davis, editor of The Verge. “[iOS] Live Activities has been a great way to remember a parking meter I paid for through my city’s parking app or to quickly check when a delivery is coming,” said Davis. “Having something similar on Android would be one less barrier for me to return to the platform in the future.”

mundophone