What you need to know
- Apple’s iPhone 14 Pro launched with the unique Dynamic Island feature.
- Developers have attempted to replicate the experience on Android phones.
- Realme is reportedly launching a new phone that will sport a similar feature.
Apple’s Dynamic Island took the world by storm when the company launched it with the iPhone 14 Pro series last year. Android developers have attempted to replicate the experience, but Realme may be the first Android OEM to launch its own official version.
According to leaker OnLeaks (in association with Smartprix), Realme’s version of Apple’s Dynamic Island will be called Mini Capsule. From the looks of it, notifications will expand outward from a circular hole-punch for the selfie camera instead of a pill-shaped cutout like on the iPhone 14 Pro.
A video posted on Smartprix shows the feature in action, informing the user when the phone is on low battery, charging, and when the battery is full.
So far, it’s unclear just what types of features (beyond battery indicators) we can expect from Mini Capsule when it launches or whether it will be as robust as Apple’s Dynamic Island.
Some third-party clones have appeared on Android, such as the fairly well-received DynamicSpot. One Xiaomi theme developer also had a version in the works for MIUI. Realme also displayed interest in developing the feature (opens in new tab) for its phones with the help of its community, making the launch of this feature not too surprising.
As for Realme’s Mini Capsule, it seems the feature may be announced soon. Realme’s Madhav Sheth apparently tweeted about the feature on Wednesday but then promptly deleted it.
Before that, he previously teased that the company had a big announcement slated for today regarding an upcoming C-series smartphone, which likely refers to the Mini Capsule feature.
The people have spoken! We are working on a very cool feature for our upcoming C-series smartphone. Stay tuned for the big announcement tomorrow. https://t.co/43LEhJurcwFebruary 21, 2023
The feature was seemingly teased on a Realme community post (opens in new tab), so it seems there’s only a matter of time before the phone and feature are fully announced.
In a poll we conducted, Dynamic Island got a mixed response from readers, many of which did not seem interested in bringing the feature to Android, while others seemed keen on having an Android version. Our Nick Sutrich was also impressed with the feature, saying Android should have had a feature like this years ago.
