Everybody is wrong about the Notch.

Abhishek Agarwal
Sep 7, 2018 · 3 min read

The Notch gives, and not takes away, useful space. Software can help make that apparent.

Why is the Notch such an infamous design decision from Apple? People wished for the notch to go away more than they wished for the top and bottom bezels to go away on the iPhone 7 or even the new, Galaxy.

The Notch makes it look like you’re taking away some screen from the user, a cut out from our perfect rounded rectangle. Design making a limitation of engineering apparent. BUT, the notch allows for more pixels to be used by the software. So why do people wish it away?

A year ago, I carried around a phone by LG: The V20. The space right beside the camera was used for a secondary always-on display. LG called it the Second Screen or as I like to call it: The TICKER display.

The LG V20 was not the most pretty phone, but had a wide-angle lens, directional audio recording, high fidelity audio output, and yet the one thing that delighted people most was: THE TICKER DISPLAY that seemed to liven up a part of the bezel.

People would just swipe across to switch between the various things on this little stripe of always-on screen. If smartphones are devices that are supposed to update us about everything we care about, an always-on display is obvious.

It’s native to Android now. A particular set of pixels on your OLED screen are always on to show you the time, important notifications, status information, etc.

More display is what people (& software) should focus on iPhone X, exactly like they did 10 years ago with the original iPhone.

What’s precisely wrong about Apple’s approach is how the software leverages those pixels. Apple could have just as easily blacked out the ‘ears’ by default to show only status information all of the time: A Live Bezel. And allow to delightfully customize to show what you care about.

This is precisely why LG’s new phones call the extra space around the notch as the second screen, although I feel it’s quite misleading.

Why nobody complains about the Samsung Galaxy’s bezels is symmetry. Most of the negative reaction to the notch is impulsive. The notch feels out of place, something that isn’t ideal. When you’re holding your phone sideways for consumption, you want your device to be symmetrical on either side. The wider display appreciated, not disturbed by a notch. The status info occupying the space of the previously dead, empty bezel allowing for a taller display.

That’s what people should focus on: More Display, exactly like they did 10 years ago with the original iPhone. I believe that’s how they should have marketed it in the first place. Blacked out by default. Symmetry makes sense to an observer. In my fantasy of speaking on the Apple keynote stage, I would’ve said :

“…your eyes are not tricking you. The top bezel is really showing you the time and all your status icons. That’s because it’s all pixels. We have extended the screen to replace that dead bezel.”

A symmetrical chin hiding the connector would’ve been more attractive.

Fun Fact: Having no chin costs a lot of money. Symmetry would have saved the consumers extra bucks that Apple charges to fold the display underneath itself, so that the connector (to the motherboard) goes under the display, instead of a chin bezel.

Apple’s iPhone X is a half-measure at giving people a truly bezeless display. Technology just didn’t catch up for iPhone’s 10 year anniversary. I just wish the Apple-verse and everyone else accepts it, and designs for it.

    Abhishek Agarwal

    Written by

    I write about Technology, Photography and other Stories.

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