On Monday, Apple introduced Human Interface Guidelines (HIG) for Live Activities in iOS 16.1. Those instructions indicate a special Live Activities feature exclusive to the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max. Thanks to Apple's Dynamic Island tool, those users can switch between two Live Activities, according to MacRumors, which first uncovered the details.
Live Activities were first announced with iOS 16 at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June. They've been designed to show real-time information such as sports scores or the status of a food delivery from the lock screen.
The feature hasn't gone live, although that will probably happen when the iOS 16.1 update is released later this year.
Exclusive to Dynamic Island
According to the recently released Human Interface Guidelines (HIG), Live Activities on Dynamic Island will take advance of a "minimal presentation," allowing you to follow multiple tasks or events.
The document states, "When multiple Live Activities are active, the system uses the circular minimal presentation to display two of them in the Dynamic Island. The system chooses one Live Activity to appear attached to the Dynamic Island while the other appears detached. As with a compact Live Activity, people can tap a minimal Live Activity to open the app and get more details about the event or task."
As part of the guidelines, Apple explains to developers that Live Activities shouldn't exceed eight hours. Additionally, Live Activities on Dynamic Island should be removed immediately after they are no longer active. On the Lock Screen, however, developers can keep Live Activities present for up to four hours if necessary. This gives "people time to view its final content update," according to Apple.
Finally, the HIG notes Live Activities on Dynamic Island automatically adapt to Light and Dark system models. They also dim on an always-on display.
The iOS 16.1 update is currently being reviewed in beta format by developers and Apple's public beta team members. It should be available to everyone before the end of the year.
Dynamic Island is one of the best new features of the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max. With one part hardware and another part software, Dynamic Island introduces a new way to interact with smartphone notifications. Unfortunately, it's unavailable on the iPhone 14 and upcoming iPhone 14 Plus.
