Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

Google: No More Than Two Notches Per Android Phone

posted by chromas on Wednesday August 01 2018, @07:20AM   Printer-friendly
from the common-sense-notchctl dept.

takyon writes:

Google bans Android phones from having three or more notches

Google is building official notch support into Android P, but it's laying down some ground rules first: two notches is the limit. In a blog post for developers yesterday, Android UI product manager Megan Potoski wrote that Google is working with device partners "to mandate a few requirements" for app compatibility purposes. Among those are limits on notches.

The mandate says that Android P phones can't have "more than two cutouts on a device." Only one notch is allowed per side, and notches are only allowed on the top and bottom edges — not the left and right.

At this point, we haven't even seen phones with two notches, so the ban on tri- or quad-notch phones and left- and right-side notches is all theoretical. But the switch over to notched phones felt like it happened overnight (well, in the span of a few months), so putting some restrictions in place before things devolve should be helpful for making sure that apps continue to run properly on these strange new screens.

But I want a notch on my notch.

Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Google: No More Than Two Notches Per Android Phone | Log In/Create an Account | Top | 34 comments | Search Discussion
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by b0ru on Wednesday August 01 2018, @07:45AM (12 children)

    by b0ru (6054) on Wednesday August 01 2018, @07:45AM (#715552)

    Perhaps I'm just getting old, but WTF is a 'notch'; neither TFA or the summary explain it. Is it just another google buzzword?

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +3  
       Insightful=3, Total=3
    Extra 'Insightful' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  
    Total Score:   5  

  • (Score: 2) by pkrasimirov on Wednesday August 01 2018, @07:55AM

    by pkrasimirov (3358) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday August 01 2018, @07:55AM (#715553)

    I guess that would be the current name for drilling cutting holes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notching [wikipedia.org]

  • (Score: 5, Informative) by coolgopher on Wednesday August 01 2018, @07:57AM (7 children)

    by coolgopher (1157) on Wednesday August 01 2018, @07:57AM (#715554)

    I know this suggestion goes against the spirit here a bit, but if you follow any of the links in TFS, you'll get a visual. Effectively it's where the screen goes all the way out to the edge, but some feature (e.g. camera) has been "notched into" the screen. So you have a non-rectangular viewing area. Because obviously.

    • (Score: 4, Funny) by PiMuNu on Wednesday August 01 2018, @08:28AM (5 children)

      by PiMuNu (3823) on Wednesday August 01 2018, @08:28AM (#715561)

      TFA has a photo of a phone, with no explanation for what feature TFA is referring to. Notch is the lead dev on Minecraft right?

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 01 2018, @08:32AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 01 2018, @08:32AM (#715562)

        I'm guessing its the receding hairline.

      • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 01 2018, @08:38AM (2 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 01 2018, @08:38AM (#715564)

        Notch sold Minecraft to Microsoft and is now on some beach enjoying margaritas.

        • (Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Wednesday August 01 2018, @10:57AM (1 child)

          by PiMuNu (3823) on Wednesday August 01 2018, @10:57AM (#715588)

          So Google has up to two notches but Microsoft has none?

      • (Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Wednesday August 01 2018, @04:24PM

        by tangomargarine (667) on Wednesday August 01 2018, @04:24PM (#715767)

        The explanation is there; you just have to follow the link in the first line of the "official notch support" article to a different article that explains it.

        So 2 links deep.

        --
        "Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 02 2018, @03:15PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 02 2018, @03:15PM (#716274)

      That is just crap on the iPhone
      why bother? For what? A couple of pixels at the top?

  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 01 2018, @11:08AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 01 2018, @11:08AM (#715591)

    Perhaps I'm just getting old, but WTF is a 'notch'

    Oh FFS. It's the thing you carve into your headboard after you get laid.

    The article is saying "an Android phone can only get laid one more time than a typical nerd."

  • (Score: 2) by richtopia on Wednesday August 01 2018, @03:41PM

    by richtopia (3160) on Wednesday August 01 2018, @03:41PM (#715737) Homepage Journal

    The notch is the phone protruding into the screen. The pictured device in the article has one notch at the top.

    Google's limitation is one notch per edge, and top and bottom only. As the article states, phones with two notches do not exist yet.

    I'm curious notches will turn into a requirement in the future, similar to soft buttons or the 16:9 screen. Even when it is not a hard requirement, app developers struggle handling different screen formats and LED manufacturers will only want to supply the most in-demand market.