Dynamic Island debuted on the iPhone 14 Pro , replacing the static notch with an interactive pill-shaped element that displays app updates and notifications. While many appreciate its functionality, others find it distracting. If you want to get rid of it, read on to learn how to hide Dynamic Island on your iPhone.
Is it possible to completely remove Dynamic Island from the iPhone screen?
First, keep in mind that Dynamic Island is only available on certain iPhone models, including:
- iPhone 14 Pro
- iPhone 14 Pro Max
- iPhone 15
- iPhone 15 Plus
- iPhone 15 Pro
- iPhone 15 Pro Max
- iPhone 16
- iPhone 16 Plus
- iPhone 16 Pro
- iPhone 16 Pro Max
If you own an older iPhone model, that means you won't have access to Dynamic Island.
However, on templates that support Dynamic Island, there is no built-in option to completely disable this feature. However, you can use some workarounds to hide Dynamic Island from view.
Hide Dynamic Island on iPhone by swiping on it
If you want to, say, take a screenshot of your screen and don't want the Dynamic Island information to show up, try this trick. Swipe left or right across the Dynamic Island while it's on screen.
The Dynamic Island content will now be hidden. You can now take screenshots or just enjoy a less distracting experience on your phone. If you want to bring Dynamic Island back, just swipe horizontally on the notch again. Information from the app running in the background will now be visible again.
However, you won't be able to close all Dynamic Island activities. Some apps, like WhatsApp , won't let you swipe away information in Dynamic Island. For example, when you're on a call with someone, swiping on Dynamic Island will bring up a view that shows a phone icon as well as a yellow dot – indicating the microphone is in use. Some system apps also won't let you swipe away their notifications in Dynamic Island.
Turn off Live Actions for Dynamic Island
This won't turn off Dynamic Island, but it will prevent Live Actions from appearing at the top of your screen. Try using both methods in combination to minimize Dynamic Island's presence on your screen.
If you're not familiar with Live Actions, they're a tool for displaying time-sensitive widgets like the status of a Lyft rideshare request or an Uber Eats food delivery. Note that not all apps have Live Actions built in, so you'll have to check manually.
To verify if an app supports Live Actions, open the Settings app and swipe down to the bottom until you find Apps and tap on it (if you haven't updated to iOS 18, you'll see a list with all your apps at the bottom instead).
Choose an app you use often and know works with Dynamic Island. Tap it.
Find and tap the Live Activities option . If you don't see any, that particular app doesn't support this feature, so there's nothing more you need to do.
On the next screen, turn off the Allow Live Activities option . To be sure, turn off the More Frequent Updates option .
To be clear, turning off Live Activities for an app doesn't mean you've completely blocked all Dynamic Island activity related to that app. You'll still see app updates at the top of your screen, but time-sensitive alerts won't appear.
For example, after turning off Live Activities for WhatsApp, you may still see Dynamic Island displayed while participating in a voice call on the app.
At some point in the future, Apple may implement an option to disable Dynamic Island, but until then, you can use the suggestions to make the feature less annoying on your device.
If you want to further customize the look and feel of your iPhone, learn how to change lock screen shortcuts on iPhone . Also, learn how to refresh the look of your iPhone icons .