Essential Phone New Update Lets Users Customize App Support For Notch

Essential has decided to give its Essential Phone PH-1 users the freedom to decide when it’s best for their apps to embrace the camera notch of the device. The latest software update for the smartphone adds a new feature that allows notch support customizations.

This week, a newer build of Android 8.1 Oreo arrived on the Essential Phone, bringing with it a new “Essential notch settings” feature that enables users to set notch support per app. This basically means each app can now be set to embrace the camera notch.

There are two options under Essential notch settings: 1. Set default for all applications, and 2. Set per application. The former will allow the phone to always use the notch area, so all apps will wrap their content around the notch. The latter will allow users to set the apps that will make use of the space surrounding the notch.

When choosing the Set default for all applications, users are given three options to choose from: Essential recommended, Don’t use notch area in landscape and Always use notch area. Android Police explains that Essential recommended follows the settings the company prefers per-app because the company has presumably tested applications to see which ones would look better with the notch.

There is a bit of a downside when enabling entertainment or video apps to embrace the notch. Content will have to suffer the loss of visibility on the area where the notch is situated. So it’s good that Andy Rubin’s company is giving users the freedom to customize the Essential Phone’s app support for the notch.

Essential rolled out Android 8.1 Oreo to the PH-1 last month, but this week it is bringing build 141 to the device. The update comes with the April security patch, Bluetooth 5.0, certain performance improvements and bug fixes, according to 9to5Google.

For users who have yet to update to the latest build, they can download the OTA update by heading to Settings and Check for updates. The update should be available to everyone in the U.S. right now, so download and install the new build right away.

Meanwhile, Essential’s head of industrial design Linda Jiang has already confirmed that the sequel to the PH-1, currently dubbed PH-2, will come with better camera technology. “We’re going to make it better for you. We can say, we heard you and we’re going to do it better on the second-gen for sure,” she said after acknowledging the complaints of users on the PH-1’s camera.