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

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.


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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by tangomargarine on Wednesday August 01 2018, @04:19PM (3 children)

    by tangomargarine (667) on Wednesday August 01 2018, @04:19PM (#715761)

    You’re all aware of the smartphone notch takeover. [theverge.com]

    No, I wasn't. Well I guess smartphone manufacturers have to do *something* to keep things interesting, since they've already kind of maxed out the size and resolution of the things...

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 01 2018, @04:39PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 01 2018, @04:39PM (#715781)

    I thought the "next big thing" was going to be screwing with the screen ratio until the cellphones are 1 inch wide and 12 inches long. Kinda shaped like a ruler. Designers who (over) design their products to the point of unsuitability, unreliability, and undesirability should be shot, or at least made to use their own product. That'd teach 'em!

    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by bob_super on Wednesday August 01 2018, @06:00PM

      by bob_super (1357) on Wednesday August 01 2018, @06:00PM (#715825)

      Next-gen phones will have a 360 degrees curved screen going all around. They'll be 8 to 10 inches tall, and about 2 inches diameter, because that's a shape known to be aspirational, guaranteeing great sales.
      Don't you think for a second that designers haven't considered it.

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by stretch611 on Wednesday August 01 2018, @09:50PM

    by stretch611 (6199) on Wednesday August 01 2018, @09:50PM (#715926)

    That article seems to imply that the reason why it is a bad idea is that they are copying apple and that blindly makes them all non-innovative knock-offs. I think it is a bad idea because notches are stupid.

    Its one thing for apple to do this... then all a dev needs to know is that the screen is missing for the tiny area at the top and its dimensions are documented. On android with all the different models and manufacturers, it will be a pain in the ass to determine. And, ofc, google will allow them to have two notches. So developers are screwed, even non-developer graphic artists are screwed too.

    Personally, as a user, I think that notches are useless. Any screen in that corner outside the notch will be useless. Golly gee... I can fit a clock up there maybe... but how big an area is it... and what do I do with the other corner? and the bottom corners if there is a 2nd notch... or the middle if there are two notches on the top.

    Maybe instead of being like apple, (and newsflash... many android users probably aren't interested in apple or they would own an apple already,) maybe just leave the top 1/4" without a screen... or move everything off the front face of the phone and have a real edge to edge screen... The front facing camera, if used at all, can pop out from the side the rare times it is used. Microphones and speakers can be put into the bezel on the edge. Be innovative... If you are following someone else, you will never be a leader and all you see constantly is their ass.

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