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

Popular Stories

iOS 18

Here Are Apple's Full iOS 18.5 Release Notes

Tuesday May 6, 2025 2:17 pm PDT by
Apple today seeded the release candidate version of iOS 18.5 to developers and public beta testers, giving us a look at the final version of the update that will be provided to the public next week. With the release candidate, Apple provided release notes, so we have a more complete look at the new features that are included in the update, including those that weren't found during the beta...
siri glow

iPhone Users Now Able to Submit Claims in $95 Million Siri Spying Lawsuit

Wednesday May 7, 2025 11:40 am PDT by
If you owned a Siri-compatible device and had an accidental Siri activation between September 17, 2014 and December 31, 2024, you could be eligible for a payment from Apple as part of a class action lawsuit settlement. Apple in January agreed to pay $95 million to settle a class action lawsuit involving Siri spying accusations, and a website to distribute the funds has now been set up and...
Nineth iOS 19 Feature

iOS 19 Beta is a Month Away With These New Features for Your iPhone

Thursday May 8, 2025 7:37 am PDT by
The first iOS 19 beta is just one month away, and there are already many new features and changes that are expected with it. Apple should seed the first iOS 19 beta to developers immediately following the WWDC 2025 keynote, which is scheduled for Monday, June 9. Following beta testing, the update should be released to the general public in September. Below, we recap the key iOS 19 rumors...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature Homescreen

Apple's Foldable iPhone Display Tech May Set New Industry Standard

Thursday May 8, 2025 3:29 am PDT by
Apple's upcoming foldable iPhone will feature a new type of display panel developed by Samsung that has never been used in a foldable product, claims a source with links to Apple's supply chain. According to the account yeux1122 on the Korean Naver blog, the foldable iPhone will use a custom display process for which Apple will hold branding trademark rights, and that meets Apple's stringent ...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17: What's New With the Cameras

Friday May 2, 2025 3:52 pm PDT by
We've still got months to go before the new iPhone 17 models come out, but a combination of dummy models and leaks have given us some insight into what we can expect in terms of camera changes. Apple is adding new camera features, and changing the design of the camera bump for some models. You might be skeptical of dummy models, but over the years, they've proven to be a highly accurate...
maxresdefault

Video Review: Two Months With the M4 MacBook Air

Wednesday May 7, 2025 12:42 pm PDT by
It's been nearly two months since the M4 MacBook Air launched, so we thought we'd take another look at the machine now that it's been out long enough to do some serious testing with it. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Introduced in March, the MacBook Air is equipped with Apple's latest and greatest M4 chip, so it's more than capable of handling day-to-day tasks...
airpods pro purple

Apple's Camera Equipped AirPods and Apple Watch Could Launch as Soon as 2027

Thursday May 8, 2025 10:14 am PDT by
Apple is working on versions of the AirPods and Apple Watch that incorporate a camera, and the devices could be ready to launch sometime around 2027, reports Bloomberg. Apple has developed a chip codenamed "Nevis" that will be used for its camera-equipped Apple Watch, while a chip codenamed "Glennie" will be incorporated into the AirPods. Apple is aiming to have the chips ready "by around...

Top Rated Comments

Chrjy Avatar
35 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
35 months ago
Reachability is a sign that phones are too big.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mystery hill Avatar
35 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
35 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
35 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
35 months ago
it’s the dynamic tectonic shift of dynamic island ?
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)