They were a good indicator for notifications that are missed when you were away from phone.
Higher end Smartphones have anyway always on displays. And the led needs screenspace - which should be maximized. That’s why the notch on phones etc. was introduced.
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Why did LED notification lights silently got removed from phone?
What’s the normal sound of removing feature from the phone?
On more serious note, this is why I have smart watch.
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.
I gotta say, sometimes I miss my fully customized LED on my blackberry back in the day. It could be in the bottom of a gym bag and I’d still know if I missed a Google Talk message (green) or a Facebook alert (dark blue) or an email (light blue), etc etc etc.
I had a Galaxy Nexus with a custom ROM and was able to set the led to any color I wanted per app. It was awesome.
Packaging 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.
Every physical breach of the case is a reliability, sealing, dust, water, etc issue. Those are the things they fail on phones, after screens and batteries.
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 a 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.
This defense of feature removal always conveniently ignores the phones that manage to accomplish fantastic ingress ratings even with headphone jacks, SD cards, etc.
It’s not because of water/dust. It’s purely cost cutting.
Yup cost is probably the single highest priority. But it is also true those are the things that fail most often. It is certainly true that they could be made reliable but it would cost more. And most people most of the time buy things that are “cheaper”. So basically we’re fucked.
