Several Android phone manufacturers followed Apple’s lead when it came to Dynamic Island, which allowed the iPhone 14 Pro to show live updates surrounding the camera cutout. Fluid Cloud, a comparable feature offered by OnePlus last year, failed to achieve widespread popularity. However, the company decided to try it again. When OnePlus’ flagship phones received OxygenOS 15, the business upgraded its version of Dynamic Island. Compared to the iPhone version, this one is easier to use and has a different name.
How OnePlus Live Alerts Enhance Your Smartphone Experience?
Fluid Cloud, a feature similar to Dynamic Island for Android, had an ambiguous moniker that did not clarify its purpose. In OxygenOS 15, OnePlus rebranded it as Live Alerts to better communicate its function. On top of that, it has a completely new appearance. The old Fluid Cloud was on the left side of the status bar, while the new Live Alerts are pills that surround the front camera.
Additionally, OnePlus phones now display live updates from multiple additional sources, in addition to this new avatar. Not only do features like screen recording and low battery status function on OnePlus phones, but music playing, timers, food delivery, and more now also have their own bubbles. Notifications may be quickly and easily monitored with updates at a glance, eliminating the need to open the app or swipe down the notification shade.
These additions demonstrate how OnePlus has improved Live Alerts across the years, surpassing the Dynamic Island on the iPhone in numerous ways.
Stacked Alerts
You can view many alerts at once using this feature. If your iPhone is running numerous apps that use bubbles to display live activity, you can only enlarge one of them at a time. The iPhone’s interface in Dynamic Island does not support numerous cards. Press and hold the second service’s bubble to get updates from that service. When you have to switch between active sessions often, this is annoying.
In response to this issue, OnePlus implemented a simple patch that eliminates warnings while multitasking. If you have a OnePlus 12 or 12R, you can get a list of all active alerts by tapping the live alert bubble. You can see all of the cards at once instead of just one, and then go back to your previous activity.
For example, you may monitor the progress of a football game without losing track of the timer for your meal because of these stacked alerts. Additionally, you won’t need to go anyplace else to manage your music. Access further information by tapping the card to launch the corresponding apps.
Adjustable Tap Settings
This option is still not available on iPhones. To launch the app, simply tap on a bubble in Dynamic Island that is currently active. Long-pressing the bubble card makes it bigger. In an ideal world, you’d be able to open the app with a long press if you need more alternatives, and this behavior is less natural and illogical. As Apple does not allow customization, you will be limited to using the preset gestures on your iPhone.
One way OnePlus is addressing this issue is by allowing users more control over how it is implemented. To change whether the app launches with a single tap or extends the bubble into a card, go to the Live Alerts section in Settings. You may open the app by long-pressing the bubble after you expand the card.
This one-tap gesture reduces friction, making navigation smoother. The cards are especially useful, such as when controlling the music player. Unlike the iPhone, the OnePlus phone also offers the option to switch back to the long press gesture if preferred.
Improving OnePlus Live Alerts for Better Efficiency
Due to the two features mentioned earlier, OnePlus’ approach appears to be more practical than the iPhone’s. With no Face ID sensors and a small hole-punch camera, the pill design is more space-efficient. Even when expanded, it displays key information like battery life and cellular coverage clearly in the status bar while taking up less room overall. However, there is still room for improvement.
For example, Spotify works with the music playback bubble, but YouTube Music does not. Since Dynamic Island supports all major music streaming apps, it stands out in this area. OnePlus seems to be facing challenges with app compatibility compared to the iPhone.
Live alerts enhance system operations like timers, audio playback, and gaming sessions, but only a few third-party apps, such as Swiggy and Zomato, are compatible so far. In contrast, the iPhone version of Uber and Google Maps offers full compatibility. The fragmentation issue in Android means that for this additional notification method to become the standard, it will require more than just OnePlus’ efforts.
