Nokia mask option removed, foreshadows Pixel 3 XL problem



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The notch is probably one of the most divergent design trends in smartphones today. Some hate it with passion, others do not do it at all. Fortunately, most manufacturers that have screen cutouts offer an option to "hide" them. Most, but not all, HMD Global baffled users and fans when it suddenly removed the option of hiding the notch. It turned out that it was at the request of Google. And although it's pretty easy to write as something specific to Nokia phones, it does not bode well for the Pixel 3 XL.

In response to a complaint about the Nokia 6.1 Plus's sudden inability to disguise the notch, a forum moderator said it had been removed "according to Google's requirements" and he had not left it. The people of Reddit, however, had a rather lively discussion about what this requirement was. And although the explanation is quite simple, the implications can be troubling.

In summary, the Nokia 6.1 Plus, like many international Nokia phones from HMD Global, is an Android One phone, currently running Android 8.1 Oreo. As such, it is necessary to ship with a primitive Android experience and Android Oreo has no official support for a cut, let alone an option to hide it. This comes in Android 9 Pie, which still has no official way to hide the cutout.

This is going to be a requirement that all Android One phones will face. But as they ship pure Android, this will also apply to Pixel phones. This would imply that users would have no way of hiding the "bucket" notch for which the Pixel 3 XL is already being criticized.

That might be better, because the size of the Pixel 3 XL cutout would be too big to hide the black bars. It is also possible that Google has its own special Pixel option only to hide the notch (after all, there are only Pixel features). This would mean, however, that it would be unfair to impose a requirement on Android One manufacturers that it will not follow itself.

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