Looking at all the features that older phones uses to have compared to newer ones, I never hear anyone talk about the removal of the notification LED. I personally really liked that feature, being able to see if I got an email, a text or missed a call without turning on my phone was awesome. My Samsung note 8 had this feature, but to my knowledge, newer phones (in the major companies anyway) have abandoned this feature. Did everyone else unanimously agree they don’t care for this feature?
It died like 10 years ago for AOD and bigger screens
I kind of miss it. It was discrete and useful.
AOD is kind of more discreet tho
True, but I found a flashing colour more informative. I knew instantly what it meant. With an AOD I’d have to look more intently at the phone or bring it closer to my ageing eyes.
I think the problem that notification LEDs were designed to solve is just solved in other ways now, notably smart watches or the Always-On Display for OLED devices. Both consume more power than a notification LED would, but they also don’t require a dedicated physical space on the phone.
I think very few people cared. The Nothing Phone has a feature similar to that though, where the back of the phone lights up depending on what’s happening (notification, call, etc).
The notification led is one of the biggest things I miss. I glance at my phone from across the room and based on the color of the led, I knew what notification I had. Now I have to check my phone periodically to see if/what notifications have been received. Particularly annoying when my phone is charging somewhere.
Same. My Nexus 5x was the last device I had with this feature. Until then evvry device I owned had it, and I always tweaked it so color was unique to each app. Its a shame when something not useful to 100% of users is phased out with no alternative.
There is an app called aodnotify that can do that using the always on display option, but only displaying the notification light.
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I like notification LEDs, but I don’t use them for notifications. Instead as a battery/charging indicator.
For notifications I have Mi Band. This allows me to always have my phone on silent.Fun fact about one phone I have: The Moto G5s Plus does have a notification LED, but there’s no way to use it with stock ROM. The hardware is there, but it’s not used. I am not sure what weird decision has led there. Anyway, it can be used in PixelExperience (custom ROM).
I think there were multiple Motorola phones that had the LED unused in stock ROMs, which makes me think it was a patent/legal issue, rather than an engineering decision.
I missed it (green meant SMS! light blue meant GroupMe!) but Glance (Ambient Display, AOD’s) on my Nokia was a fine replacement (albeit not from across the room obviously) and I eventually got on the custom tones/vibrations train for individuals so I know who it is already.
Now iPhone people who use that option in the menu to use their phone camera flash as a notification light, I fear you.
My phone has a blinking white light. Pretty useless with the always-on display showing the notification icon, but it does work. I’m pretty sure the two phones I had before that had one as well, my Oneplus One had a customisable colour per app as well.
I think manufacturers could implement this by simply lighting a few pixels on the always-on display if they wanted to, but I guess there’s just not enough interest. Why brightly light a few LEDs when you can light an entire shape dimly? Add a basic clock too and you’ve got a modern AOD lock screen.
I have one on mine, but my case obscures it so it’s not much help. It’s not like I really look at my phone other than when I am actively using it tho.
It was the first thing I noticed missing when upgrading to a new phone (OnePlus 5 to Galaxy S22). It sucked, always on display uses too much battery and all I wanted was a colored notification LED.
I’m now using aodNotify (Free version is enough, but I decided to pay once because it was so good) and now I got a little animation in the notification color of my choice again.
Same! I recently went from the note 8 to the s23 and immediately realized how much I used the feature. I’ll have to check out that app. I don’t like AOD because of its battery usage.
This used to be a feature that you could filter by on GSMArena, but alas it has gone from even there.
I miss mine so much. aodNotify works good though, flashing a ring around the camera similar to the LED.
This is what I use on my Pixel
I use always on edge https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.used.aoe Love it.
I think my Xperia 1 has one, since it doesn’t do the punchole nonsense. There’s definitely a LED in the top bezel, and I think it’s color coded. To be honest, since I have a watch it’s not as relevant anyway. I do miss legacy features enough to have moved to this thing, though.
The iPhone can flash the camera LED for alerts. It’s under accessibility-> audio/visual. Not sure about android but check in your phone’s accessibility features there’s probably something similar.
I have no need for it with a smart watch.
