iOS 16.1 Beta Makes Dynamic Island Easier to Access With Reachability Support

The first beta of iOS 16.1 seeded to developers and public testers earlier this week enables Reachability support for the Dynamic Island on the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, making the new pill-shaped area easier to access with one hand.

iPhone 14 Pro Reachability Feature
Twitter account Tech-Up shared a first look at how Dynamic Island works with Reachability on the iOS 16.1 beta, as spotted by 9to5Mac.

Reachability is an optional feature that lowers the top half of the screen so it's within easy reach of your fingers. The feature can be enabled in the Settings app under Accessibility → Touch → Reachability. To use the feature, simply swipe down on the bottom edge of the screen. To return to a regular view, tap the upper half of the screen.

On earlier versions of iOS 16, the Dynamic Island does not work with Reachability and remains at the top of the screen while other content is lowered.


Dynamic Island can display system alerts for incoming phone calls, AirPods connected, Face ID, Apple Pay, AirDrop, AirPlay, car keys in the Wallet app, unlocking the iPhone with an Apple Watch, charging and low battery indicators, ring/silent mode, NFC interactions, Focus mode changes, Shortcuts, Airplane Mode, Find My, and more. It will also work with Live Activities in third-party apps when iOS 16.1 is released later this year.

Related Forums: iOS 16, iPhone

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Top Rated Comments

Chrjy Avatar
33 months ago
Even more impressively, the entire camera and Face ID technology moves with it as well.....can't innovate, my ****!
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
eatrains Avatar
33 months ago
Reachability is a sign that phones are too big.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mystery hill Avatar
33 months ago
Now there’s both a dynamic and static island at the same time. The next update will add a third.

The more, the merrier.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CarAnalogy Avatar
33 months ago
This almost seems like one of those "oh yeah...whoops" moments after shipping.

I don't know how they missed this because reaching the top of the phone is a big enough problem that they made Reachability. This has been a concern for a long time and one of the first concerns people had with Dynamic Island.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mystery hill Avatar
33 months ago

I've always turned off Reachability. Dont like it
Yeah, but now when you turn it off, you lose a whole island.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dms_91 Avatar
33 months ago
it’s the dynamic tectonic shift of dynamic island ?
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)