The Best Implementation of ‘Dynamic Island’ Comes to Android
With an app called DynamicSpot
Apple recently introduced the iPhone 14 Pro series, and with it a new pill-shaped notch for the Pro models. The Cupertino giant also introduced the new Dynamic Island feature in iOS, exclusive to the iPhone 14 Pro models. Encompassing the pill-shaped camera notch, Dynamic Island is a new way to display information on things like music, navigation, notifications and calls. Unfortunately for Android users, there isn’t a comparable feature on this side of the camp.
But that hasn’t stopped companies and individual developers from making something similar to Apple’s Dynamic Island. A while back, an MIUI theme developer was able to get ‘Dynamic Island’ styled notifications on the lockscreen. Although, the final experience left a lot to be desired.
Finally, it seems someone has a winner in their hands. The recently released DynamicSpot app is probably the smoothest implementation of a ‘Dynamic Island’ styled notification system on Android.
As you can see from the pictures above, the DynamicSpot app is very versatile, and supports a huge range on apps. Obviously, some apps will have compatibility issues, but DynamicSpot nails the basics, like music, navigation, and messages.
iPhone’s Dynamic Island is not customizable, but dynamicSpot is! You can change interaction settings, select when to show or hide the popup or which apps should appear.
As dynamicSpot uses Android’s notification system it is compatible with almost all apps, like messaging notification, timer apps and even music apps!
– Developer, Jawomo
The app uses the AccessibilityService API to display the floating popup for multitasking. DynamicSpot also uses the Android Notifications API to pull information from other apps to display on the expanded popup.
One downside however is that the app needs full accessibility controls to work. But the developer assures that dynamicSport doesn’t collect any data from the user, nor does it share anything with third parties.
There’s also a pro version, for just $4.99, which unlocks new features, like display on the lockscreen or single tap to open the app. The free version is also well rounded and lets users change a host of things like size and position of the popup. As of now, the app is still in early access, but you can download it from the Playstore here.
