Dynamic Island is the highlight feature of the iPhone 14 Pro series, and it has now come to the standard iPhone 15 and 15 Plus. Apple’s new take on the iPhone notch turns the notorious notch into a utility feature. Sadly, it was exclusive to the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max, but it has now reached all models with the iPhone 15 series. While we have seen several jailbreak tweaks that bring Dynamic Island functionality to iPhones with a notch, it’s not feasible for everyone to jailbreak their devices.
However, iOS developer Matteo Zappia has come up with a new app that does not require jailbreaking your iPhones to get the Dynamic Island features. Dubbed DynamicCow, this app can bring the Dynamic Island pill to any iPhone that already sports a notch. And we will look at how to install the DynamicCow app in this guide.
You will need to install AltStore on your non-jailbroken iPhone to install the DynamicCow app and bring the Dynamic Island functionality to your notched iPhone. First, we explain how this app works and then move to the step-by-step installation process.
DynamicCow: How Does The App Work?
The DynamicCow app exploits the ‘MacDirtyCow’ bug (CVE-2022-46689) on devices running iOS 15 – iOS 16.1.2 and macOS 13.0.1, which allows anyone to modify all files that a sandboxed app can read. Thankfully, these changes are temporary, as you are writing to the cached data in RAM.
As exciting as it sounds, the process isn’t as simple as downloading an app from the App Store. You will need to connect your iPhone to a Mac or Windows PC to download AltStore for sideloading the DynamicCow app. But, it’s worth the hassle if you want to experience those cool Dynamic Island features and animations on iPhone 11, iPhone 12, iPhone 13, or iPhone 14 series phones. Moreover, it is only possible to get Dynamic Island on iPhones that are running iOS 16.0 – iOS 16.1.2 as Apple has patched the MacDirtyCow bug on iOS 16.2.
Currently, the app is in an experimental phase and the developer has promised to improve it further in the future. So, we recommend you try this at your own risk. If you are an iPhone 11 user, be ready to see a large red bar around the notch that blocks time, icons, and battery percentage. The developer of the DynamicCow app is yet to find a fix for this issue.
Prerequisites to Install DynamicCow
With the basics out of the way, here are the prerequisites to install the DynamicCow app and get Dynamic Island on your iPhone:
- First, you need an iPhone running iOS 16.0 – iOS 16.1.2. Don’t download the latest iOS 16.2 update if you wish to use Dynamic Island features on your phone.
- You will need a Mac or Windows PC to install AltStore on your iPhone. Yeah, you can install iTunes on Windows to sideload AltStore on your iPhone.
- Lastly, you need a lightning cable to connect your iPhone to the Mac or Windows PC.
How to Install AltStore on Your iPhone
First of all, let’s look at how you can download and install the AltStore app on your iPhone, which is necessary to have the Dynamic Island app working. Here’s how it goes:
Note: We have demonstrated the process on Mac, but you can visit this link to check out the instructions for Windows.
1. Download AltServer on your Mac by visiting this link right here.
2. Once downloaded, launch AltServer and then launch the Mail app on the Mac.
3. In the Mail app, navigate to “Mail -> Preferences” from the Menu bar on the top. Then, choose the “Manage Plugins” option under the “General” tab and enable the ‘AltPlugin.Mailbundle’ option. Click on the “Apply and Restart Mail” option.
4. Next, connect your iPhone to your MacBook or Mac device.
5. Simultaneously, unlock your iPhone and click on “Trust” when the “Trust This Computer” pop-up appears on your iPhone.
6. Now, open “Finder” on the Mac, choose your iPhone from the left sidebar, and then enable the “Show this iPhone when on Wi-Fi” option in the right pane.
7. Next, go to your Mac’s Menu bar on the top of the screen and click the AltServer icon. Then, click on “Install AltStore” (used to install the Dynamic Island app) and choose the connected iPhone.
8. Enter your Apple ID and password, and you will get a notification reading “AltStore has been successfully installed onto your device” in a few seconds.
9. After that, move back to your iPhone and go to “Settings -> General -> VPN & Device Management” and then tap on “Trust [Your email ID]”.
10. Next, go to “Settings -> Privacy & Security” and scroll down to find Developer Mode. Here, enable Developer mode on your iPhone.
Sideload DynamicCow App on Your iPhone
You have now successfully installed AltStore on your iPhone. That said, it’s now time to sideload the DynamicCow app and get the Dynamic Island functionality on your iPhone. Here’s how you do that:
1. Open AltStore on your iPhone and sign in with your Apple ID.
2. Next, visit the GitHub page for DynamicCow on your iPhone. Then, scroll down to the “Releases” section and download the latest “.ipa” file for DynamicCow.
3. After that, open AltStore and move to the “My Apps” tab. Here, tap the ‘+’ icon and choose DynamicCow.ipa to install the app.
4. Once installed, open the DynamicCow app and choose between iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Max layout, depending upon your iPhone’s model and screen size. Then, tap the Enable button. If you own a non-Pro iPhone, we suggest you go for the iPhone 14 Pro Dynamic Island.
5. And voila! Your notched iPhone now has Dynamic Island UI and functionality like the new iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max.
Note: Remember to disable the Dynamic Island before you uninstall the DynamicCow app or AltStore from your iPhone. Otherwise, you will have to re-install the app or update your iPhone altogether to get rid of it.
Now that you have learned how to get Dynamic Island-like functionality on any iPhone, it’s time to test out the feature. You can check out our article to see the list of apps supported by Dynamic Island. Alternatively, you start fiddling around with the new feature by installing some cool apps to use with Dynamic Island. I agree that the Dynamic Island UI you get using the DynamicCow app is not as aesthetically pleasing as it is on iPhone 14 Pro series and the native notch obstructs the time and cellular signal icons, but it’s worth getting your hands on the new feature without spending $1,000.
