How to Implement Dynamic Island for iOS — and Live Notifications + Now Bar on Android

(Native iOS → Cross-platform (Flutter) → Android / Samsung Now

Short Summary

Native iOS: Use ActivityKit / Live Activities to support Dynamic Island. Apple Developer

Cross-platform (Flutter): Use the live_activities package to bridge native Live Activities on iOS and RemoteViews on Android.

Android (Samsung One UI / Now Bar): Add Samsung-specific notification extras and request Samsung whitelisting — One UI honors these only for approved apps.

1. Native iOS — Dynamic Island & Live Activities

What is Dynamic Island?

Dynamic Island is Apple’s pill-shaped, interactive area around the iPhone’s front cutout. It surfaces Live Activities — real-time content such as media playback, timers, rides, and small interactions. Live Activities let your app push ongoing, updatable content to the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island.

Requirements

Apple Developer Program: Paid/professional account required to add entitlements and distribute apps using Live Activities.

Entitlements: Enable Live Activities and Push Notifications.

App Group: Create an App Group to securely share state between your app and the Live Activity extension.

Provisioning Profiles: Include all entitlements.

High-Level Implementation

Add an Activity Extension using ActivityKit (iOS 16.1+).

Design your Live Activity UI using WidgetKit + SwiftUI (iOS 17+ adds interactivity).

Start, update, and end a Live Activity from your app or server using ActivityKit APIs.

Tips & Best Practices

Use App Groups for secure data sharing.

Use push tokens for server-driven updates (recommended for long-running activities).

Test on real devices; Dynamic Island is hardware-specific.

The iOS Simulator supports this feature on iOS 18+.

Include clear privacy statements if user data is displayed in the Island.

1. Cross-Platform (Flutter) — Achieving the Same UX

Why Use a Flutter Bridge?

Flutter developers want native performance and proper platform integration. The live_activities plugin provides bindings to iOS ActivityKit (Dynamic Island) and Android RemoteViews, enabling a similar live notification experience across platforms.

Flutter Setup

Configure your Flutter app for iOS native changes (App Group, entitlements, provisioning).

Add the live_activities package from pub.dev.

Important Notes for iOS via Flutter

Enable Live Activities entitlement, configure App Group, and use a proper provisioning profile signed by a Professional Apple Developer account.

The plugin calls native APIs, but entitlements and provisioning must be configured in Xcode.

Android Support via Plugin

Supports Android RemoteViews notifications.

Samsung Now Bar requires additional Samsung-specific metadata and whitelisting.

Test on real devices/emulators and include the required extras.

1. Android — Live Notification & Now Bar (Samsung One UI)

What is Samsung Now Bar / Live Notifications?

Samsung One UI 7 introduces Live Notifications and the Now Bar, interactive, persistent UI areas for ongoing activities (music, timers, rides). One UI reads special metadata and notification extras from your app’s ongoing notification. Only whitelisted apps are honored.

Manifest Meta-Data

Add this inside in AndroidManifest.xml:

android:name="com.samsung.android.support.ongoing_activity"
android:value="true" />

This signals One UI that your app supports ongoing activity extras, but Samsung must approve your app.

Notification Extras Example

val extras = bundleOf(
"android.ongoingActivityNoti.style" to 1,
"android.ongoingActivityNoti.primaryInfo" to "Track name or title",
"android.ongoingActivityNoti.secondaryInfo" to "Subtitle or artist",
"android.ongoingActivityNoti.secondaryInfoIcon" to Icon.createWithResource(context, R.drawable.ic_music),
"android.ongoingActivityNoti.chipBgColor" to context.getColor(R.color.chip_background),
"android.ongoingActivityNoti.chipIcon" to Icon.createWithResource(context, R.drawable.ic_chip),
"android.ongoingActivityNoti.chipExpandedText" to "AppName",
"android.ongoingActivityNoti.actionType" to 1,
"android.ongoingActivityNoti.actionPrimarySet" to 0,
"android.ongoingActivityNoti.nowbarPrimaryInfo" to "NowBar title",
"android.ongoingActivityNoti.nowbarSecondaryInfo" to "NowBar subtitle"
)

val notification = NotificationCompat.Builder(context, CHANNEL_ID)
.setContentTitle("Playing")
.setContentText("Song name")
.setSmallIcon(R.drawable.ic_notification)
.setOngoing(true)
.setExtras(extras)
.build()

NotificationManagerCompat.from(context).notify(ONGOING_ID, notification)

Important Android Notes

For call-like UIs, use Notification.CallStyle.forOngoingCall(...) for proper system semantics.

Android 16+ has platform Live Updates; Samsung’s One UI implementation may differ — always test on devices.

1. Samsung Whitelist: How to Enable Your App

Prepare a demo build with metadata and example notification extras. Include a signed APK.

Record a demo video/GIF showing the behavior on One UI 7.

Contact Samsung Developer Support via developer.samsung.com with your whitelist request:

Package name

Signed APK

Demo video

Notification extras payload

Privacy statement

Template Email

Subject: Request: Whitelist com.example.myapp for One UI Live Notifications / Now Bar

Hello Samsung Developer Support,

We request whitelisting for package com.example.myapp so that One UI honors Live Notification / Now Bar extras.

Attachments: signed APK, demo video, notification extras payload, privacy policy.

Use case: media playback requiring lock-screen quick controls and Now Bar metadata.

Please advise next steps or documentation for whitelisting.

Thanks,
— Your Name / Company

1. Developer Certificates, App Groups, and Why They Matter

Apple (iOS)

Paid Apple Developer Program: Required to distribute apps, enable Live Activities entitlements, and create provisioning profiles.

App Group: Secure container for sharing data between app and Live Activity extension — required for real-time updates.

Android

Signing key / Play Store: Use your release key to sign the APK for Samsung requests.

Samsung partner / whitelisting: May require business/partner information if feature is gated.

🚀 Final Thoughts

Dynamic Island and Samsung Now Bar represent a new era of context-aware, always-on user experiences:

Apple’s Live Activities are officially supported and straightforward to integrate.

Samsung’s Now Bar is in limited rollout but demonstrates the future of Android notification design.

Whether you’re building a music app, fitness tracker, or ride-sharing platform, these features keep users engaged without opening the app — enhancing usability, engagement, and real-time interactivity.

Stackobea Technologies
Original post : https://blog.stackobea.com/how-to-implement-dynamic-island-for-ios-and-live-notifications-now-bar-on-android