Island guide: Dynamic Island visualizer, music player, notification glow and directions

Island turns your Dynamic Island into a live music visualizer that moves with whatever is playing, in any app. Swipe the island to skip songs, hold it to open a music player, and see it glow in an app's color when a notification arrives, so you know it's Snapchat because it's yellow.

Before you start

• You need an iPhone with a Dynamic Island (iPhone 14 Pro and newer). On other iPhones Island does nothing.
• A jailbroken iPhone on Dopamine (rootless), iOS 16 or 17. Not jailbroken yet? Use the jailbreak finder.
• Sileo installs what Island needs (ElleKit or Substrate, and PreferenceLoader) for you.
• There's no Home Screen app. Everything lives in Settings → Island.
• Price: $0.99 one-time, or included with the CarterWare Tweak Pass. See buying.

Set it up

1. Add the CarterWare source and install Island in Sileo. Installing tweaks walks through it. If music is playing, it may pause for a second while the install finishes.
2. When Sileo offers to respring (restart the Home Screen), let it.
3. Open Settings → Island and tap Preview for 6 Seconds. The island lights up with a demo animation, so you can see Island is working before playing anything.
4. Play music in any app and go to the Home Screen. Within a moment the visualizer appears around the island and moves with the beat. When you pause, it fades out.
5. Pick a Style and Color you like (see below).
6. Swipe left across the island to skip to the next song, or hold it to open the player.

Common tasks

Change the visualizer style

1. Open Settings → Island → Style.
2. Pick one: Halo and Ears (the default) is a glowing ring with bars on each side, Halo is just the ring, Ears is just the side bars, Bars Below puts bars under the island, and Wave Below draws a moving line under it.
3. Tap Preview for 6 Seconds to try it without music.

The visualizer follows the island as it changes shape, for example when Now Playing or another activity shows. The side bars stop short of the clock and status icons.

Use album art colors or pick your own color

1. Open Settings → Island → Color.
2. Choose Album Art to take two colors from the cover of the song that's playing, Rainbow for slowly shifting colors, White, or Custom Color.
3. For Custom Color, drag the Custom Color slider to pick the shade.

Album Art needs the playing app to share its cover. When it doesn't (Safari on iOS 16, for example), Island uses your Custom Color instead.

Skip songs by swiping the island

1. Make sure Island Gestures is on in Settings → Island.
2. While music plays, swipe left across the island for the next song, or right for the previous one.
3. You'll feel a tap and see a quick flash.

Swipe sideways in one quick motion. A slow drag, or a swipe that's mostly up or down, doesn't count. Swipes don't work in landscape. Skipping works with any app whose music shows up in Now Playing.

Control your music by holding the island

1. While music plays, press and hold the island for about half a second without moving your finger.
2. You'll feel a firm tap and the island grows into a player with the album cover, song and artist, a scrubber, previous, play/pause and next buttons, and a volume slider.
3. Drag the scrubber to jump around in the song, or drag the volume slider.
4. Tap the album cover to open the app that's playing.
5. To close the player, tap anywhere outside it or swipe it up. It also tucks itself away after 10 seconds without a touch.

Holding still works for 10 minutes after you pause, so you can start the music again from the island. Hold works when the island is plain black. When iOS is showing its own album cover in the island, a hold opens iOS's player instead. Turn off Album Art in Island (below) if you'd rather always get Island's player.

Put away the album art iOS shows in the island

When music plays from an app you're not in, iOS shows a small cover and waveform in the island. To keep the island plain black with just Island's visualizer:

1. Open Settings → Island.
2. Under Music, turn off Album Art in Island.

The cover goes away right away and comes back when you turn the switch on again. You still see the cover any time by holding the island to open the player.

Know which app is notifying you while music plays

Leave Notification Glow on. When a notification arrives, the island glows in that app's icon color: yellow for Snapchat, green for Messages, blue for Mail. While music plays, the visualizer itself turns that color for about two seconds, then goes back to your usual colors. You can tell who it is without looking away from what you're doing.

Hide banners when the island glows

If the color is enough, you can have the glow replace the banner. This is off by default.

1. Open Settings → Island.
2. Under Banners, turn on Hide Banners When Island Glows. Three more switches appear, all on by default.
3. Only While Music Plays keeps banners hidden only while you're listening. Turn it off to hide them any time the island glows.
4. Show on Second Notification lets the banner through when the same app sends another notification within 10 minutes. After that, that app's banners keep showing until it has been quiet for 10 minutes. One message from a friend stays quiet; a conversation picking up gets your attention.
5. Mute Their Sounds skips the sound and vibration for a banner Island hid. Turn it off to keep hearing every notification.

Hidden notifications aren't lost. They go straight to Notification Center, where you can read them any time. Banners always show for Time Sensitive alerts, while your iPhone is locked, and for any notification the island doesn't glow for, such as apps you turned off in Glow Apps or the app you have open.

See your next turn beside the island

1. Make sure Turn-by-Turn Beside Island is on in Settings → Island.
2. Start directions in Apple Maps, then lock your iPhone or switch to another app.
3. As each turn gets within about 150 meters (500 feet), the island pulses green and you feel a light tap.
4. When the island is plain black, such as on the Lock Screen, the turn arrow shows on its left and the distance on its right, in feet and miles or meters and kilometers to match your region.

When iOS already shows directions in the island itself, Island leaves them alone and only adds the green pulse. Nothing shows while Maps is on screen, because Maps already tells you.

Change or turn off the unlock animation

1. Open Settings → Island → Unlock Animation.
2. Pick Soft Glow (the default) for a gentle ring of light, Sweep for a line that traces the island's outline, or Off.

The animation waits until the island has settled after the unlock, so it doesn't jump around while the Lock Screen is still moving away.

Stop the island glowing for one app

1. Open Settings → Island → Glow Apps.
2. Search for the app, or scroll to it.
3. Turn its switch off. That app's notifications no longer make the island glow.

To turn off the glow for every app, turn off Notification Glow instead.

Keep the visualizer off the Lock Screen or out of apps

• Turn off Lock Screen to hide it while your iPhone is locked.
• Turn off Inside Apps to show it only on the Home Screen (and the Lock Screen, if that's on).
• Hide in Landscape is on by default, so full-screen video and games stay clear. Turn it off if you want the visualizer in landscape too.

Make the visualizer react more to quiet music

Drag the Sensitivity slider to the right for bigger movement on quiet songs, or to the left to calm it down for loud ones. Play a song while you adjust it to see the difference.

Preview the notification glow and sweeps

Tap Preview Glow and Sweeps in Settings → Island. Over about six seconds you'll see a green notification glow, the red low battery pulse, and your Unlock Animation. If music is playing, the visualizer turns green with the glow, the same way it does for a real notification.

Settings explained

Everything in Settings → Island, in order. Changes apply right away, with no respring needed. The three switches under Hide Banners When Island Glows only appear once it's on.

Glow Apps

Glow Apps opens a list of every app on your Home Screen, Apple's included, each with a switch. All apps start switched on. Turn an app off to keep its notifications plain, without the glow. Use Search Apps at the top to find an app quickly. This list only matters while Notification Glow is on.

Troubleshooting

Nothing appears around the island when music plays

• Check that Enabled is on and that your iPhone has a Dynamic Island.
• Make sure the screen is on and music is actually playing (not paused).
• If you're in an app, check Inside Apps. If you're in landscape, check Hide in Landscape. If you're on the Lock Screen, check Lock Screen.
• Tap Preview for 6 Seconds. If the preview shows, the display side is fine. See the next fix.

Preview works but music doesn't move the visualizer

The part of Island that listens to your iPhone's sound didn't load. Remove Island in Sileo, then install it again. Removing it resets that part, so the fresh install loads it. Music pauses for a second during each step.

Colors don't match the album art

The app that's playing isn't sharing its cover art. Safari on iOS 16 is one example. Island falls back to your Custom Color there. Pick a different Custom Color if you don't like the fallback, or choose Rainbow or White.

Swiping the island doesn't skip the song

• Check that Island Gestures is on.
• Swipes don't work in landscape.
• Swipe sideways in one quick, short motion across the island itself.
• The playing app has to accept Now Playing controls. If Control Center's skip button doesn't work for that app, the island swipe won't either.

Holding the island opens iOS's player instead of Island's

iOS is showing its own album cover in the island, so the hold goes to iOS. Turn off Album Art in Island to keep the island plain, and holding it opens Island's player every time.

Holding the island does nothing

• Check that Island Gestures is on.
• Hold works while music is playing and for 10 minutes after you pause. After that, start the music from the app first.
• Keep your finger still for about half a second. Moving it turns the hold into a swipe.

The player's scrubber doesn't move the song

Some apps don't allow jumping around from outside the app, for example live radio. Control Center's scrubber won't work for those apps either.

Banners stopped showing

Hide Banners When Island Glows is on. Turn it off, or turn on Only While Music Plays and Show on Second Notification so fewer banners are hidden. Your notifications are all in Notification Center.

The island glowed for a notification I didn't want

Turn that app off in Glow Apps, turn on Quiet During Focus, or turn off Notification Glow.

A notification arrived but the island didn't glow

Island skips the glow on purpose for:

• silent notifications
• the app you have open
• notifications during Do Not Disturb or a Focus while Quiet During Focus is on, unless they're Time Sensitive
• apps you switched off in Glow Apps
• notifications older than a minute, and anything in the first 15 seconds after a respring

The turn arrow doesn't show beside the island

• Check that Turn-by-Turn Beside Island is on and that Apple Maps is giving directions, not just showing a route.
• The arrow only shows while the island is plain black. When iOS shows directions or another activity in the island, Island leaves it alone and only pulses green as turns come up.
• Nothing shows while Maps is on screen.
• Island only works with Apple Maps, not Google Maps or Waze.

Music paused for a second when I installed or updated Island

That's normal when an update changes the part of Island that listens to audio. Playback resumes on its own. Updates that don't touch that part leave your audio alone.

Questions

Does Island use the microphone?

No. Island reads the sound your iPhone is already playing. It never records anything, and nothing leaves your phone.

Does Island drain the battery?

Island only animates while something is playing and the screen is on. When the music stops it fades out and goes idle, and it does no work while the screen is off. Directions only check in while Apple Maps is guiding you.

Does the notification glow show what the notification says?

No. The glow is only a color, taken from the app's icon: yellow for Snapchat, green for Messages, blue for Mail, and so on. The message itself never appears on the island.

If Island hides a banner, do I lose the notification?

No. Hide Banners When Island Glows only skips the banner that slides down from the top. The notification still goes to Notification Center, and Time Sensitive alerts always show as banners.

Can I keep the album cover in the Dynamic Island?

Yes. Album Art in Island is on by default, so iOS keeps showing the cover and waveform in the island while music plays from another app. Turn it off to put them away. You can always see the cover by holding the island.

Does Island work with Google Maps or Waze?

No. The turn alerts and arrow beside the island come from Apple Maps directions only.

Which apps does the visualizer work with?

Any app that plays sound, including music, podcasts and video apps. It reacts to whatever your iPhone is playing. Swipe to skip and the player's controls need the app to support Now Playing controls.

Does Island work on an iPhone without a Dynamic Island?

No. Island draws around the Dynamic Island, so on iPhones without one it does nothing.

How much does Island cost?

$0.99 one-time, or included with the CarterWare Tweak Pass while your Pass is active. See buying.