zephyrELI5: Why did LED notification lights silently got removed from phone?
moisttoast34My guess it is cheaper to do software features rather than a physical led … cutting costs at every corner
Every phone has an LED for the camera flash.
RickRussell_CAHow is that relevant to the OP’s question?
They could make it blink with software to notify you.
My phone (galaxy z fold 4) has this feature built in, it’s under accessibility. I believe iphones can do it too.
For the fold 4, do you know if there is there a way to customize a color for each specific app?
Color? Like of the LED? There isn’t it’s just the camera flash
One of my old LGs would flash an LED based on conditions and I could include the camera flash as an option. I assume he is implying that since every phone with a camera has a flash, that it could be strobed.
On the front though?
Their absence encourages you to check your phone more often, which means you’ll unlock it and look at some content more often, which means as revenue for someone.
You just wrinkled my brain right now.
In Apple's case it's a subtle encouragement to buy their watch.
I don’t believe the iPhone ever had an LED notification light. The iPhone existed well before the watch did, as well.
I shouldn't have doubted Apple's campaign for minimalism > functionality
DuckGuyIt never did, indeed. However, there’s an accessibility function to use the flashlight like an old school LED.
Onii-ChanGenuinely wouldn't be surprised if this was the truth. The tactics these companies employ are both putridly-covert, yet brilliantly executed.
I hate how correct you are about this.
Being honest I think the opposite of this is more likely true. Seeing a flashing indicator for all the notifications my phone “thinks” are important is going to make me more likely to constantly check my phone. Barring that I check when I want to. And with the new passive display modes I can glance and decide whether to even unlock or not.
passive display
This is the real answer for OP. Those lights were replaced. Maybe OP (and maybe me as well, I haven’t really thought about it) would prefer to still have the notification LED, but to the hardware manufacturers they replaced those with something “cooler”.
For some random hardware producer I don’t see how that would be favourable.
HeartyBeastIt’s a nice conspiracy theory. But unlikely. Who gets the additional review?
Higher end Smartphones have anyway always on displays. And the led needs screeelnspace - which should be maximized. That’s why the notch on phones etc. was introduced.
Dark_BladeYeah, it’s basically just this. AODs took over for notification lights.
I wish I could just light a few pixels light the older lights.
EpicFailGuy
I still think it’s a terrible compromise. I actually looke specifically for a phone without one and ended up with a Sony Xperia. Sure, the front isn’t 100% screen and I have tiny bars above and below the screen, but who cares?
The led can just be put in the speaker grill though, I think my old HTC did this.
CharlesReedI have one of the Galaxy Notes that has both LED light and Always On, and you just made me realize I pay attention to the Always On display more than even noticing the LED light.
ThelsimI’m guessing that with everything they cram into those things nowadays, every last nook and cranny is valuable space to be used.
A little blinken light is probably not high on the list of features competing for that space.
A little blinken light is probably not high on the list of features competing for that space.
iPhones use the camera flash LED for this exact function, no reason Android phones can’t do the same.
No it does not. The led flash occurs when the message is sent. It doesn’t persist. The entire point the notification led on Samsung phones is to tell you repetitively that you have an unread message.
That means if you look at your phone an hour after you received the message you’ll know you have an unread message without having to interact with the phone. It’s a nice feature for someone that doesn’t like constantly checking their phone.
Besides the flash led is super obnoxious. I can’t imagine why you’d want this flashing every time you get a message. I can’t imagine it being great for battery life either.
Modern smartphones hardly have any edges and therefore hardly any space for an LED at the notch. In addition, the pixels of AMOLED displays can be controlled individually, which allows displaying notifications well and consumes little power at the same time.
I'm pretty sure it's just to cut costs / complexity / part counts in lower end phones, and higher end phones will use an always on display.
Though worth noting that the Nothing Phone 1 & 2 include pretty snazzy LEDs on the back that are used for notifications amongst other things.
MxM111What's the normal sound of removing feature from the phone?
And there it is, not only is it cheaper to produce a phone with less features, you’ve been given a reason to make another purchase to replace the now missing feature
(Not saying you don’t need a smart watch, I have one too and it’s much better than an led! Just the removal of a feature to make something else paid seem more attractive is a common one now)
This doesn’t really make much sense in this context though.
All iPhones have the feature built-in by using the camera’s flash LED. Androids have the same camera flash LEDs, but the software side simply doesn’t use them for this purpose. There’s no “cheaper production” here since the components are already there. Dedicated notification lights are gone, but the flash LED is efficient enough to serve the same purpose these days
Pretty sure you can still enable the flash LED on Galaxy phones under accessibility but I don’t have one to check - not sure about other android phones but I’m sure there’s a third party app that does it anyway.
You’ve misunderstood the original post, many android phones had an RGB LED on the device just for notifications as well as the flash. That RGB LED is now gone, so it’s hardware that’s been removed which makes the device cost less to produce,al at least in theory.
mihntWhat's the normal sound of removing feature from the phone?
People bitching and complaining about it being removed.
jimiPhone = Settings / Accessibility / Audio Visual “LED Flash for Alerts” (at the bottom)
HungryKoalaOn Samsung phones your whole screen flashes in a custom color and and animation, and after that you have your always on display. So they are no longer needed with OLED screens that can display it themselves
That seems to me a waaay too inefficient indicator of “you have unread notifications”
Idk why? I like it to see the clock on the always on display, but you can also change it so you just have a small red pixels lit up, to mirror the “notification led style”. You can style the aod like you want on Android
what the hell are you talking about
noughtnautFor just a fraction of a second I considered showing you, but taking a screen shot… 🤦 I’m my defence, I’m suppressed to be asleep now.
Many phones used to have - some still have - a separate LED facing you that could light up to notify you of, uh, notifications. The first generation android phones just had green LEDs, eventually they all supported colour as well. Some OS’es or apps enabled you to set up per-app colour, blink/fade, and pattern configurations. Super neat, I was a huge fan.
On most modern phones [such apps] (play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ragecon…) rarely work anymore, but on my OnePlus 5 I still have different colours for different notifications.
thanks for explanation
if this feature got rare around 2010 or so, then i had no way of ever seeing such a phone in the wild
My phone still has the LED but I turned off the feature long ago including the battery low and charge indicators. More annoying than useful.
LianreplI hate the LED and I'm so glad my current phone doesn't have it. It's especially the charging indicator that bothers me because it's so bright at night
I didn’t know I miss those LED notifications until now. Thanks :(
With OLED, your entire screen is an array of possible LED notifications :)
It doesn’t illuminate the same though ☹️ . Have a new phone with no LED and an old OnePlus phone I use as a back up with a dedicated LED.
Just bought Galaxy XCover 6pro. Lost many features I had in my previous phone. Kept removable battery and headphone jack. Gained notification led.
Can’t say I really missed it tho. I’d trade it for an optical image stabilizer.
The nothing phone has led glyph indicators on the back.
The whole front of modern phone is a display, there’s simply no space for a notification LED.
irkliPackaging design, cost, manufacturing complexity, reliability. LEDs require a breach on the case for the lens. This requires a couple components plus sealing plus testing. Affects IP seal rating.
The PCB now has LEDs on the edge thdr need special assembly care like the three buttons do.
Most people put protective cases on phones so edges aren’t available.
The top is all screen. The bottom sees the desk/table.
Haptics, screen, vibration do so much the loss of the LEDs is pretty minimal.
Don’t be surprised if the power and up/down buttons go away sometime soon.
Headphone jacks are a huge problem as is USB and speakers.
I hate that everything useful is being thrown out the window for “water proofing.” Fuck that, people need to quit being so lazy and careless with their shit.
And I’m calling bullshit on the dust thing. I’m not saying it’s a negligible consideration, but it’s not something they need to start gelding features for. That’s just their horseshit excuse to effectuate planned obsolescence and sell you overpriced accessories.
I still use an 8 year old phone with a tool-free replaceable battery, headphone jack, and microSD slot. I live in the country, there’s dust everywhere and it would be dead by now if dust was such a problem.
I’m not necessarily agreeing with all what I wrote. It’s just that I’m familiar with product dev and manufacturing issues.
I like physical controls. I’m not so happy with everything on the screen even recognizing the advantages.
OzymatiLook I live in a place where we get sideways torrential rain. Often. I need my phone to be waterproof enough to survive my commute to work on a bad day
I’m not convinced by this argument: at the back of the phone is a built-in LED (used as the flash). Which could be used for notifications too.
Phones with OLED screens could use part of the screen as a notification as well. Both of these can be accomplished in software. Currently you have to notice that something happens as it happens, otherwise you need to at leas activate the screen. The notification LED was useful in that you could glance at your phone and see if you missed something.
Phones with OLED screens could use part of the screen as a notification as well. Both of these can be accomplished in software. Currently you have to notice that something happens as it happens, otherwise you need to at leas activate the screen. The notification LED was useful in that you could glance at your phone and see if you missed something.
I use an app on my Pixel 7 that uses a small portion of the OLED around the front facing camera cutout to generate customer colored notifications. This is similar to how dynamic island on Apple works and since I do not use the always on display it mimics an LED light for my purposes.
Would you mind sharing the name of this app?