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Developers are already making games around iPhone 14’s Dynamic Island
A week after Cupertino-based tech giant, Apple, unveiled its new iPhone 14 series of flagship smartphones, third-party app developers are already experimenting with ways to take advantage of a new iPhone feature: the new Dynamic Island.
One such developer is Kriss Smolka, the creator of apps like WaterMinder and HabitMinder, who took to Twitter to share a simple Dynamic Island game concept inspired by Pong today. It is called ‘Hit the Island’ and premise of the game is that the user has to simply bounce a ball between the paddle and the Dynamic Island to earn points.
“Who has an iPhone 14 Pro right now? Need to test this on device asap. Hit The Island – our game concept for iPhone 14 Pro, still laggy but it’s turning out nice,” Smolka wrote in a tweet.
Who has an iPhone 14 Pro right now? Need to test this on device asap!
— Kriss Smolka (@ksmolka) September 13, 2022
🏝️ Hit The Island – our game concept for iPhone 14 Pro, still laggy but it’s turning out nice 🙂 #iPhone14Pro #iOS16 pic.twitter.com/kWLU77gk6d
Christian Selig, the developer of Apollo app for Reddit, has added the fun option to keep a pixelated pet on the Dynamic Island when using the app.
“I found the best idea for the Dynamic Island on the iPhone 14 Pro. I added a cat that lives up there like a tamagotchi and just hangs out and does cute stuff as you browse Reddit in my app (Apollo),” Selig said.
According to Apple, the Dynamic Island enables new ways to interact with the iPhone, with a design that blurs the line between hardware and software, adapting in real time to show important alerts, notifications, and activities. The TrueDepth camera has been redesigned to take up less display space with the introduction of the Dynamic Island.
This is some extremely slick conceptual design – integrating hardware and software perfectly – that has been implemented shockingly well. Truly Apple-only stuff. I love this. pic.twitter.com/1NTeHleo1P
— Sebastiaan de With (@sdw) September 7, 2022
The Dynamic Island remains active without interfering with the content on the screen, allowing users to access controls with a simple tap-and-hold mechanic. For example, if you want to check the battery life of your AirPods or stop a voice recording, simply tap and hold to expand. Continuous activities, such as Maps directions or sports scores, can also be expanded to display more information.
It remains to be seen if Apple will allow this type of games and applications involving the Dynamic Island, but developers will undoubtedly make other apps with unique ideas around the feature. We will just have to wait and see when the iPhone 14 Pro hits the open market in the coming days.