On the newly released iPhone 14 Pro series, a new approach has been added regarding how to utilize the front-facing camera punch-hole space known as the Dynamic Island.
Apple's official Dynamic Island introduction page
https://support.apple.com/ko-kr/guide/iphone/iph28f50d10d/ios
Official Dynamic Island Introduction Video
However, the Dynamic Island is becoming a real headache for mobile game developers like me. This is because we have to completely redo the game or app UI layout, which was originally based on the notch.
And that feature seems to be provided in API form from the ActivityKit, but it appears to still be provided as a beta version.
https://developer.apple.com/documentation/activitykit
Of course, it is no surprise that it is still difficult to find information on how to respond in the Unity engine. It seems other developers are also inquiring on the Unity forum...
Recalling the time when the notch first appeared, developers ultimately had to figure it out on their own to provide automatic layout or handle the layout themselves. For reference, Unity still does not support notch resolutions for iOS.
So, to get a sense of just how much of a difference there is, I created a test app called Soonsoon ToolBox (working title) that allows you to briefly check the notch space, Dynamic Island space, and corner curve space on the iPhone.
Introducing Soonsoon ToolBox Alpha: A Dynamic Island Solution for Developers
( To use this, you need to install the official Apple app, Test Flight.
https://testflight.apple.com/join/OW82ixby
By utilizing Soonsoon ToolBox to check the top and bottom sections, you can see that approximately 1.5% of vertical space is lost.
When actually placing UI elements, you need to account for margins and vertical rotation, so you typically give the same amount of space to the top and bottom. In the case of the iPhone 13 Pro, you can easily place UI elements by treating the total space as approximately 10.5% of the letterbox, but for the iPhone 14 Pro, you need to treat 14.1% as the letterbox, resulting in nearly 3.6% more wasted space.
Of course, it would be best to handle this as a responsive app and arrange it neatly, but... for small development teams like me who maintain a single build across various devices and even Android, it seems difficult to respond easily.
Since using the Dynamic Island for app development is currently only available in beta, it hasn't spread widely yet. While Apple isn't rejecting apps for not supporting it, I suspect that once they officially support it and release guidelines requiring apps to properly support the iPhone 14 Pro, things will change soon..
Many app and game developers will likely cry out. (Including me)
Of course, once usage methods are shared and potential applications emerge, there will likely be many attempts to utilize them. However, since the elements for the top popup also need to be designed separately, I cautiously predict that few companies will likely respond.
Since Soonsoon ToolBox is in its alpha version, we will be making sporadic updates and improvements.
If you are using it, please leave a comment so I would appreciate it.