Notifications are one of the key functions of any operating system, especially applied to mobile phones, on which dozens of applications are installed. So, the notification area is always subject to changes to improve them even if the operating system is as mature and stable as Android. In the latest versions Google has simplified them, it has minimized those that appear when we play videos and blocked old ones, but be careful because they arrive big changes for Android 16.
Apple launched its Dynamic Island with the iPhone 14 Pro and two weeks later we started seeing them in the Android ecosystem. On the one hand, with themes and APKs with the integration of this island and then also manufacturers like Xiaomi and its Civi 2 or the realme C55. Well now things are getting serious because we’re talking about Android 16 and something as important as notifications
Early rumors suggested that Android 16’s notifications would take inspiration from HyperOS, but now we have more details: the idea goes through offer continuous and rich notifications and the secret is to use a dynamic island.
If it’s not a dynamic island, it looks a lot like one
Rich continuous notifications appeared in the l atest version of Android 15 QPR1 Beta 3, a new API that allows displaying more than just an icon in the status bar. Thus, this will allow Apps create bubbles with their own text and background color in the status bar
It is important to keep in mind that what was seen is a solution during testing. Google is working on this API, so there are still many details to know and it is not yet available for applications to implement it, so we cannot see how it will work. However, Android journalist Mishaal Rahman was able to imitate them for Android Authority, so we can get an idea of what these rich continuous notifications look like.
As we can see from these lines, this is what a Google Watch notification would look like with an alarm at 10 o’clock while you are watching a video, one from Uber while you are on a video call and another that simulates a notification. from a United Airlines app announcing nine-minute boarding times overlaid on Google Maps. It is not a lasting dynamic island as such like that of the iPhone, but it is visually it acts like this little pill of information.
While it is true that there is an air and that Google has probably taken inspiration in one way or another from Apple’s modus operandi for its notifications, it is important to point out that Google has already added a API in Android 12 that allowed phone apps to display current call duration with a pill in the status bar a year before Cupertino launches its dynamic islands.
Nevertheless, with Android 16 they go up a level by authorizing all applications. Either way, we’re several months away from the official launch of Android 16, so there’s still time for changes, modifications, and evolutions, as well as for this feature to disappear. It’s time to wait.
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