The latest iPhone models have something called the Dynamic Island at the top of their screens. It's designed to enclose the front-facing camera and Face ID sensors while adding useful software features around them, forming a pill-shaped "island." The Dynamic Island is in its third year of life, and there are plenty of neat and clever uses for it, but not everyone will find it useful. Some might find it distracting, and want to disable it. Here's everything you need to know about disabling the Dynamic Island, including what Apple will and won't let you do.

iPhone models that support the Dynamic Island

The Dynamic Island launched as a pro-exclusive feature with the iPhone 14 Pro series, but since debuted on all new iPhone models starting with the iPhone 15 series. Here's the full list of models that support it:

• iPhone 16 Pro Max
• iPhone 16 Pro
• iPhone 16 Plus
• iPhone 16
• iPhone 15 Pro Max
• iPhone 15 Pro
• iPhone 15 Plus
• iPhone 15
• iPhone 14 Pro Max
• iPhone 14 Pro

What is the Dynamic Island?

With the iPhone 14 Pro, Apple retired the notch in favor of a pill-shaped cutout that houses the TrueDepth camera system and other sensors. The company didn't stop there; instead, it integrated software features into the display area that surrounds the cutout to make use of the empty space. As a result, Live Activities from first- and third-party apps automatically appear on the Dynamic Island, making timely information visible at all times.

The Dynamic Island is also interactive, allowing you to tap and hold to reveal added context and controls. So, you can control your music playback, check the ETA of the rideshare you booked, and more. But what if you don't want to see any of that?

How to disable the Dynamic Island on iOS

Unfortunately, as of iOS 18, there's no way to disable the Dynamic Island completely. However, you can temporarily hide the activity displayed by swiping on it horizontally. This will disable the Dynamic Island for as long as the Live Activity session lasts. Instead, it will just show the generic, pill-shaped cutout. Next time a Live Activity is initiated, it will appear on the Dynamic Island again. To bring back a Live Activity you've hidden during the same session, simply swipe horizontally on the Dynamic Island again.

However, some system-level activities can't be dismissed. For example, when another device is connected to your iPhone's hotspot, the Dynamic Island will always show an indicator. If you swipe horizontally on the Dynamic Island, and it continues displaying the activity, then you simply can't hide this particular one.

The bottom line

There's no permanent solution for now

At the moment, there's no toggle to disable the Dynamic Island permanently. Instead, you must manually hide the activity it's hosting whenever it's initiated. While the company could address this in a future software update, it likely won't anytime soon. After all, the Dynamic Island has become part of modern iPhones' identity and one of the selling points that Apple tends to highlight.