Using Gestures Inside the Dynamic Island
Swiping toward the center of the Island does seem to “minimize” it, though that behavior seems to vary. When I tried it while on a phone call, it made the time and voice waveform disappear, but the phone icon—to indicate that there’s an active phone call—remained. Doing it with playing music caused the music widget to vanish entirely. Swiping back out from the center restored it.
Things get a little more complicated when two items are in the Dynamic Island.
I find myself constantly misusing the Dynamic Island. When music is playing and you tap the Dynamic Island, the iPhone zips you into the Music app. When a timer is running and you tap the Dynamic Island, the iPhone zips you into the Clock/Timer app. You have to long press the Dynamic Island to bring up the useful Now Playing button interface and the Timer interface for starting and stopping the timer.
As Nilay Patel stated in his great review on The Verge, this feels exactly opposite how Dynamic Island should react to a tap. A tap should bring up the Dynamic Island UI, not take you to the app. And a long press should take you to the app, not bring up the Dynamic Island UI.
Previously:
Update (2022-10-10): Craig Grannell:
I find the argument it works ‘incorrectly’ strange. Springboard is tap to launch and tap-hold for actions. Prior, we had Force Touch. For once, Dynamic Island is following conventions, not making up new ones (or, as some demand, doing the opposite).
Open for quick interaction - Long Press
Open for long interaction - Simple Tap
Doesn’t seem right to me.
Put it another way - is the dynamic island primarily the holder of the full app, or the holder of the expanded dynamic island?
Update (2022-10-17): John Gruber:
After installing the beta and playing with these gestures for a few days, I can’t say I’m a fan. I don’t see what these gestures add other than confusion — I think most people would experience these things only by accident, and consider them bugs, not features.
While I’m writing about the Dynamic Island: The more I use it, the more I agree with the common request that simply tapping an item in the Dynamic Island should open the expanded view, instead of jumping you into the app responsible for that item.
6 Comments RSS · Twitter
> You have to long press the Dynamic Island to bring up the useful Now Playing button interface
Yikes, I didn't even realize this existed until reading this post. I have to agree that this is exactly opposite from how it should be. On the other hand, it probably can't be changed now that everyone is developing their muscle memory.
Due to visual issues, I, too have user interface issues with my iPhones and iPads. One trick I learned recently, when typing, say, a Message to someone. If one makes a mistake, one can long-press-hold on the space bar and then your finger becomes a pointer denoting where to put the pointer in the printed material so as to correct it. Use it all the time now. Best, Patrick
I have to agree that this is exactly opposite from how it should be. On the other hand, it probably can't be changed now that everyone is developing their muscle memory.
Apple has inverted the directions for things like system-wide scrolling, iOS multitasking, and mobile Safari tabs before. Users' muscle memory has never been a concern.
Muscle memory? Dynamic Island has been out for how long? A month?
Why would a tap or a long press take you to a new app? I would expect only a tap to open the dynamic island UI with maybe a smaller button inside it like “Open Maps” to take you a new app.
Long press is like iOS right click IMO. Tap on the front facing camera and you navigate to a new app? What?
I have no strong opinions either way, but tap on Dynamic Island to switch to the app matches existing behavior on other devices, where you can tap on the status bar to switch to the corresponding app while a phone call, navigation, or recording is active in the background.
The status bar has text in it that tells you that if you tap here you’ll go back to the previous app. Is that the case with Dynamic Island? Even still I believe that tapping in the dynamic island should expand the dynamic island, and long pressing (right clicking) should provide the option to maybe switch to an app if the current context makes sense.
