The iPhone 14 Pro comes with a bunch of new unique features, such as a new 48MP sensor, Always on Display, and the new Dynamic Island. Dynamic Island is Apple’s attempt to blur the lines between hardware and software by covering the notch on the front display with a software overlay. This overlay can be used to show activities ongoing on your iPhone in real-time. If you have recently received your new device and want to take full advantage of the new Dynamic Island, here is how to use it on your iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max.

Dynamic Island springs to life whenever you have an ongoing activity in the background that you want to monitor in real time. These activities include things like incoming notifications, live activities, media playing in the background, and more. Depending on its nature, each supported activity will appear in Dynamic Island, and you can then use special gestures to interact with it.

Apple is using existing APIs and software kits to show ongoing activities in Dynamic Island. In addition, Dynamic Island has its own set of new animations designed to take advantage of the new ProMotion Displays with refresh rates up to 120Hz. Animations appear much smoother compared to older devices, and new physics for Dynamic Island make it feel alive when you interact with it.

You can use Dynamic Island on your iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max by launching a supported background Activity. Depending on the Activity, you can then use gestures to interact and manage the ongoing Activity directly from Dynamic Island without having to switch to the dedicated app, Notification Center, or Control Center. Let’s take a quick look at a few examples and how you can manage and interact with commonly used Activities in Dynamic Island.