In its latest Android Developers Blog, Google announces some rules and regulations regarding notch support in Android P.
In the lead up to the launch of its Pixel 3 smartphone line-up (which allegedly includes a notch-sporting Pixel 3 XL), Google has posted a Developers Blog entry detailing its rules for display cutouts and how they will be supported on its upcoming Android P operating system.
According to Android System UI product manager Megan Potoski, Google’s rules for cutouts were drawn up in an effort to ensure that developers’ apps would be cutout-ready, asking them to consider such things as how their « content is displayed relative to the cutout. »
The good news for those developing for Android P is that by default, « the status bar will be resized to be at least as tall as the cutout and your content will display in the window below. » Google states that « the app’s window is allowed to extend into the cutout area if the cutout is fully contained within a system bar. »
For developers, this means that all app windows « will be letterboxed so that none of your content is displayed in the cutout area, » regardless of whether they’re in landscape or fullscreen mode.
In terms of hardware, Google has declared that « devices must ensure that their cutouts do not negatively affect apps, » stating that « devices may only have up to one cutout on each short edge of the device. »
This will ensure that we « won’t see multiple cutouts on a single edge, or more than two cutouts on a device, » and that we « won’t see a cutout on the left or right long edge of the device. »
Another rule set by Google states that « In portrait orientation, with no special flags set, the status bar must extend to at least the height of the cutout. »
Aside from these stipulations, Google has stated that hardware manufacturers « can place cutouts wherever they want » on their devices.
We’re sure most people would agree that multiple notches sounds horrible, so we’re quietly glad that Google is limiting the number that Android P will officially support.
