Apple Dynamic Island is an animated interactive island that surrounds the front camera of the iPhone 14 Pro series. It’s a small capsule when nothing is happening, but it stretches smoothly across the screen for notifications, alerts, and ongoing activities like music, timers, and directions. It can even be extended with controls and additional information. And now you can get Dynamic Island on your Android phone.
Let’s just get that out of the way: notch is not an aesthetically pleasing design. The devices get more screen real estate but have a flaw around the front camera. But somehow Apple made it “cool”. Then all the Android manufacturers copied and replicated it, and the hole-punch design became more common on flagship devices. Samsung and other manufacturers have begun introducing under-display cameras, but the general consensus is that the technology has yet to pass before it becomes a practical solution.
Four years after Apple cursed us all with a notch, Apple has finally come up with a more elegant camera disguise method, in addition to forcing users to use black wallpapers. While Dynamic Island is only for the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max at the moment, we Android users, burdened with holes in our smartphone screens, can emulate Dynamic Island with a simple app.
Step 1: Install Dynamic Spot
The Android version of Dynamic Island is called dynamic Spot (yes, lowercase d) and is developed by Jawomo. It uses Android’s “draw on top of other apps”feature to place a popup in the notification bar above your selfie camera cutout. To get started, click on the link below and install it like any other app.
- Play Store Link: Dynamic Spot (Free)
Step 2: Choose Apps
Launch Dynamic Spot and you’ll see a setup process that you can follow. First, you will choose which applications you want to display in the popup. Click “Select Apps”to access the list of apps, enable the apps you want to enable, and then click the “Back”button.
You might be tempted to hit the ALL button to select all the apps on your device, but not all notifications are the same. For example, one thing that annoyed me was that the popup was displayed on top of Google Maps in navigation mode. I already have a map active, and when not, it defaults to picture-in-picture mode. Your mileage may vary.
Step 3: Share your notifications
Next on the setup screen are two special permissions that you must grant to the dynamic spot. First, you’ll give the app access to the device and the app’s notifications, which will allow the dynamic Spot to display your app’s activity in a popup window. Click Notification Access to get started.
The app will take you straight to “Device & App Notifications”, “Notification Access”or something similar in your Settings app, depending on your device model.
In the list, find Dynamic Spot and turn it on, which should bring up a dialog box warning you of the power the Dynamic Spot will gain from this action. If everything is fine with this, click “Allow”and you will be returned to the setup screen.
Step 4: Turn On Screen Drawing
The second permission is for the AccessibilityService API, which allows dynamic Spot to draw on top of other applications. Click Draw on Screen to continue. This time, you’ll get a dialog box explaining why the app is asking for this permission and telling you it won’t collect any data. Click “Next”to continue.
If you’re using a Google Pixel, find and select Dynamic Spot on the accessibility page, then click “Allow”after reading the pop-up warning. We’ve come this far, so why go back now?
On a Samsung Galaxy model, you may have to click Installed Apps on the accessibility page and then select a dynamic location from the list. Then tap the switch next to “Off”to turn it on, then tap “Allow”after reading the warning.
Other Android models will have a similar process.
Step 5: Customize the Popup Options
When everything is set, click “DONE!”to complete the setup. You can now go to “Popup Settings”and then to “Dimensions”to adjust the size and position of the tablet to suit your taste and preferences. You’ll also find several customizable interaction options that can be unlocked with a single in-app purchase.
Step 6: Enjoy Your New “Dynamic Island”
Now that everything is set up, you can play with your new toy. The best place to start is with your preferred music app, which should be YouTube Music. Press the play button and the tablet will appear. You can long press on the popup to expand it and interact with the music controls. You can also open the app itself with a single touch.
