Dynamic Island, Apple’s take on the notch, is one of the hallmarks of the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max. The moody black bar is now a little home for your music, timers, incoming calls, and other system notifications. And since iOS 16.1 was released in October, Dynamic Island is now open for developers to do whatever they want with it.
It will take a while to get all your favorite apps on the island, but I’ve already found my favorite use for them. Thanks to an app called Pixel Pals, I now have a little virtual cat that always hangs out on Dynamic Island while I’m using my iPhone. It adds zero functionality and offers no utility, and I love it.
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How Pixel Pals works
Watch My Little Man Catch His Ball Joe Maring/Digital Trends
Getting started with Pixel Pals is actually very easy. Open the app store on your iPhone, download the Pixel Pals app and off you go. When you open Pixel Pals, you’ll see a little cat (named Hugo) hanging out on top of your Dynamic Island. You can also change it to Rupert the dog, and you can pay for the premium version ($1.49 per month or $10 per year) to unlock another six creatures.
Touching your Pixel Pal shows his age, weight, and six hearts to fill as you develop your relationship with him, something you do by feeding him or playing together. I like to give Hugo a fish (because he deserves it), followed by a short game of beacon. Hugo usually takes a nap after a big day and I can’t blame him one bit.
Joe Maring/Digital Trends
These are the characteristics developer Christian Selig also added his Reddit client Apollo. Everything works just as well here, and it’s a clever way to use Dynamic Island without using the live activity API. But where Apollo keeps your virtual backgrounds exclusively for the app, Pixel Pals plays uses the API, allowing you to take Pixel Pals with you wherever you go on your iPhone.
In the Pixel Pals app, tap the switch next to it Always Show Pixel Pal. When you swipe up to go home, your Pixel Pal flies into Dynamic Island and continues to hang out with you on your home screen or any other app you’re using. You can change what your Pixel Pal does on the island, like running, sleeping, or just lounging like a villain. And if you pay for Pixel Pals Premium, you can have two Pixel Pals on Dynamic Island at the same time.
What is it like to live with a cat on my iPhone?
Joe Maring/Digital Trends
So what does all this really look like in everyday use? As charming as you would expect. Whether you’re browsing Twitter, looking at pictures on Reddit, or managing email in Outlook, your Pixel Pal stays on Dynamic Island at all times.
it does not seem does anything outside of animation you choose, but that’s fine by me. Just having a pixelated kitty come to me on my phone is both relaxing and calming in a way I never expected. I answer Microsoft Teams messaging throughout the day isn’t particularly exciting, but when I have Hugo around, it’s a much more enjoyable experience.
Joe Maring/Digital Trends
Joe Maring/Digital Trends
Like other apps that use Dynamic Island, you have several ways to interact with your Pixel Pal while it’s on the island. Tapping on your pet takes you back to the Pixel Pals app, while holding brings up a larger view of your Pixel Pal, its name, and shortcuts to feed and play with it. I wish you could interact with your Pixel Pal directly in Dynamic Island instead of these shortcuts always redirecting you to the app, but that’s a limitation of Apple’s API, not the app itself.
A few other flaws should be noted. Since Pixel Pals uses the Live Activities API, you’ll see a small widget for your pet on your lock screen whenever you Always Show Pixel Pal setting is enabled. Also, whenever your Pixel Pal hangs out on Dynamic Island, the island becomes a bit larger than normal. They are easy to adjust to and a small price to pay for such sweet company.
More of these Dynamic Island apps please
Joe Maring/Digital Trends
There is nothing more to say about Pixel Pals. It did not radically change my iPhone 14 Pro Max or add any additional functionality to it. But what Pixel Pals lacks in practicality, it makes up for in cuteness and whimsy. Dynamic Island is an unusual feature by design, and Pixel Pals fully embraces it in the best possible way.
Many of the examples we’ve seen for Live Activities/Dynamic Island have been very information-centric: trip data for an Uber ride, updates to your Starbucks order, live scores for a soccer game, and so on. These are objectively more useful implementations. of a dynamic island and things that are very happy because more and more developers/applications are supporting this feature.
But Pixel Pals also shows the fun side of Dynamic Island and I hope to see more in the future. Phones are supposed to be fun, and Pixel Pals with Dynamic Island is a great example of how that’s still possible in 2022.
editor’s recommendations
Categories: GAMING
Source: newstars.edu.vn