Android

Android may get the best part of iPhone’s Dynamic Island in the most obvious way

Ben Schoon | Oct 26 2024 - 11:45 am PT

Apple’s Dynamic Island is underused, but its integration with Live Activities on iOS is what really makes it great, and Google seems to be preparing to add something similar to Android in “Rich Ongoing Notifications” in a way that’s remarkably obvious in hindsight.

The Dynamic Island is a clever way to hind the camera cutout on Apple’s latest iPhones, but it also makes Live Activities from apps easier to keep track of. Live Activities can address a variety of needs, but are most useful for keeping track of an ongoing process such as waiting for a rideshare, navigation, or tracking a food delivery.

Android apps can share this same information through traditional notifications, but the functionality available on iPhone is certainly more convenient in terms of readily available information.

Now, Google seems to have found a solution.

As spotted by Android Authority in the latest Android 15 QPR1 beta, Google is working on a new “Rich Ongoing Notifications” API that would allow apps to present information regarding their activities in a more efficient way. It was inevitable that Android would offer functionality like this, but the “how” was unclear for some time.

This new API allows apps to create a notification that’s more than just a simple icon, but rather leverages the status chips that Android has supported for a while. These chips are used today for features such as ongoing phone calls, and will be used for Cast and screen recording when Android 15’s first QPR1 release goes stable later this year.

In hindsight, this makes complete sense.

Mockups of the feature in action using the API shows what it may end up looking like. Google is likely to release the feature in Android 16 seeing as this is a system-level feature that developers would need time to update their apps to support, but given the work has been found in QPR1, it could technically come sooner. In either case, though, it’s a potentially exciting new addition.