It was Apple’s Dynamic Island feature that stole the show when the iPhone 14 Pro was first released. The Dynamic Island surrounds the front-facing camera in a pill shape, a unique way to hide a front-facing camera. With just a tap, the Dynamic Island expands to show music controls or navigation details.
Two manufacturers are considering bringing similar technology to Android devices. Realme and Xiaomi have both been testing out the idea and have offered it as a suggestion to their customer bases.
A forum thread was recently posted by Realme on their website, challenging users to design how the possible Realme island might look and work.
Starting with a design contest, the theme began with a question: “Can you imagine what if Realme UI added a software trick to turn the camera cutout into a multifunctional feature? The UI around the camera hole could morph into different shapes and sizes to display incoming phone calls, alerts, notifications, and more.” Submitted designs were posted on their website before the winners were announced.
On the other hand, Xiaomi’s president Lu Weibing had Weibo asked if users needed a smart island. One of the users commented that they were, “Looking forward to the K60 universe, with the blessing of Smart Island.”
Although these posts are not confirmations of newly added functionality, Android developers are clearly paying attention. A Twitter user has uploaded footage of a Xiaomi MIUI theme that has been designed in the style of a dynamic island. Seeing this coming from Xiaomi is a positive sign. The dynamic island could be a popular feature for Android sooner than we ever thought possible.