When the iPhone 14 Professional launched Dynamic Island to show reside updates across the digicam cutout, a number of Android cellphone makers adopted go well with with their alternate options. OnePlus additionally launched one thing comparable referred to as Fluid Cloud final yr, however the function by no means gained mainstream attraction. That did not cease the corporate from giving it one other go. With the arrival of OxygenOS 15 for OnePlus’ flagship telephones, the corporate spruced up its Dynamic Island clone. It has a brand new title and is extra intuitive than the iPhone model.
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What are OnePlus’ Reside Alerts?
It is like Dynamic Island however for Android
Fluid Cloud was a obscure title that did not trace on the function’s objective. OnePlus renamed it Reside Alerts in OxygenOS 15, making its objective clearer. Moreover, it comes with a serious visible change. Fluid Cloud used to sit down within the left nook of the standing bar, whereas the brand new Reside Alerts seem as capsules across the entrance digicam (proven beneath).
Examples of what Reside Alerts can show.
Alongside this new avatar, OnePlus telephones now present reside updates from a number of new sources. Whereas issues like display recording and low battery standing work, OnePlus telephones now present bubbles for music playback, timers, meals supply, and extra. Updates in a glanceable view make alerts simpler to maintain monitor of with out opening the app or swiping down the notification shade.
These options present that OnePlus has been refining Reside Alerts through the years and has efficiently outdone the iPhone’s Dynamic Island in two important methods.
Customizable faucet habits
iPhones nonetheless haven’t got the choice
Tapping an energetic Dynamic Island bubble opens the app by default. Lengthy urgent the bubble card expands it. This habits is much less intuitive and the other of what ought to ideally be: a single faucet to develop the bubble and a protracted press to open the app in the event you want extra choices. Apple would not allow you to customise it, so you will use the default gestures on the iPhone.
Reside Alert’s settings menu in OxygenOS 15.
OnePlus is tackling this drawback by making its implementation extra customizable. The Reside Alerts menu in Settings allows you to select whether or not a single faucet opens the app or expands the bubble right into a card. When you develop the bubble card, lengthy press the bubble to open the app.
This single faucet gesture reduces friction. I discover it useful as a result of I ceaselessly entry the playing cards, reminiscent of when controlling music playback. When you desire the lengthy press gesture, you may change again in your OnePlus cellphone, in contrast to the iPhone.
Stacked alerts
It allows you to see a number of alerts in a single view
If a number of apps in your iPhone show reside actions in bubbles, you may develop solely one by one. The iPhone can’t present a number of playing cards in Dynamic Island’s interface. To get updates from the second service, change to its bubble and develop it with a protracted press. This turns into cumbersome when ceaselessly switching between energetic classes.
First and second: Reside Alerts in OxygenOS 15 displaying a number of playing cards. Third: Dynamic Island on iPhone displaying a single card.
Recognizing this limitation, OnePlus launched a easy repair to make multitasking with alerts seamless. Tapping the reside alert bubble in your OnePlus 12 or 12R expands it to a listing of playing cards with all energetic alerts. As an alternative of seeing one card, you may peek in any respect of them in a single go and return to what you had been doing.
For example, with these stacked alerts, you may control soccer match scores with out lacking your cooking timer. You may as well management your music with out going wherever else. Faucet the cardboard to open the respective apps for extra particulars.
How can OnePlus make Reside Alerts extra helpful?
There’s nonetheless some room for enchancment
I discover OnePlus’s implementation infinitely extra helpful than the iPhone due to the 2 options mentioned above. The tablet form is extra space environment friendly since OnePlus telephones have a small hole-punch digicam and no Face ID sensors. It takes much less area within the standing bar and would not cover very important particulars like mobile reception and battery standing, even in its expanded state. Nevertheless, that does not imply OnePlus has no room to enhance.
For starters, I discovered that the music playback bubble would not work for YouTube Music however works properly for Spotify. Dynamic Island scores higher right here because it helps all mainstream music streaming apps. This raises considerations that OnePlus could battle to match the iPhone’s app compatibility, which seems to be the case.
Reside Alerts assist system features like timers, music playback, and gaming classes. The one third-party apps supported are two Indian meals supply apps: Swiggy and Zomato. Uber and Google Maps usually are not supported however work properly on the iPhone. Fragmentation is a hurdle for Android. It should take greater than OnePlus’ efforts to make this secondary type of notification a norm.
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Google could also be onto one thing
Google seems to be creating its Dynamic Island various, as hinted within the Android 16 Developer Preview 1. Early screenshots counsel broader app compatibility, together with Uber, utilizing the Wealthy Ongoing Notification API. If applied properly, this might elevate Android’s notification sport and produce it on par with the iPhone. This Android-level integration from Google can even encourage extra third-party app builders to get on board, which is all the time welcome. Nevertheless, whether or not it delivers on its promise is one thing solely time will inform.