Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

user-name-here

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Aug 31, 2013
1,111
1
Old news for some but since this is the first time I'm really starting to use it I figured a thread was in order for those who might not know.

Simply go into Settings -> General -> Accessibility -> Turn on "LED Flash for Alerts".

This way I can put my iPhone face down, knowing that any text message or phone call will cause the LED light to blink so I know to pick it up.

Much better option for me when my phone is on silent than relying on vibrate.
 
Last edited:

celly

macrumors 6502
Mar 14, 2012
284
32
Calgary
Old news for some but since this is the first time I'm really starting to use it I figured a thread was in order for those who might not know.

Simply go into Settings -> General -> Accessibility -> Turn on "LED Flash for Alerts".

This way I can put my iPhone face down, knowing that any text message or phone call will cause the LED light to blink so I know to pick it up.

Much better option for me when my phone is on silent than relying on vibrate.

I used it for a few days and found it distracting for me an others. A bit too bright for my liking.
 

user-name-here

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Aug 31, 2013
1,111
1
I used it for a few days and found it distracting for me an others. A bit too bright for my liking.

I personally love it as I would miss things when relying on vibrate in silent mode, but I would never miss anything with the LED alerts.
 

Iphone5preorder

macrumors 6502a
Sep 20, 2012
873
466
Warning.. I was staring into the flash wondering why it wouldn't work and nearly lost my eyesight when it went off.


Does it keep doing it if you don't check the message? Does it work for emails?
 

user-name-here

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Aug 31, 2013
1,111
1
Warning.. I was staring into the flash wondering why it wouldn't work and nearly lost my eyesight when it went off.

Does it keep doing it if you don't check the message? Does it work for emails?

LoL, I take it you have those "sunspots" in your eyes now that won't go away similar when you look at the sun? :D

Yeah, it works for any alerts you want it to. Only goes off once for me since I turned off "repeating alerts" in the settings.
 

user-name-here

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Aug 31, 2013
1,111
1
I'm typing this blindly ;).

So there are settings somewhere? Thanks

I'm not really sure, just that under Settings -> Notification Center I set up which apps I want alerts for. Most of the time I turn the other apps off. I've only used the LED alerts for Messages and Phone calls so far.
 

saving107

macrumors 603
Oct 14, 2007
6,384
33
San Jose, Ca
145543745385798635_18a9cb5fed5d.jpg


 

eyoungren

macrumors Penryn
Aug 31, 2011
28,793
26,883
Old news for some but since this is the first time I'm really starting to use it I figured a thread was in order for those who might not know.

Simply go into Settings -> General -> Accessibility -> Turn on "LED Flash for Alerts".

This way I can put my iPhone face down, knowing that any text message or phone call will cause the LED light to blink so I know to pick it up.

Much better option for me when my phone is on silent than relying on vibrate.
Jailbreak. Install FlashEnhancer. Control when and for what (email, notifications, calls etc), how many times and the duration in between flashes.

Much better than doing this non-jailbroken. Although if you can't jailbreak at least you have this.
 

Nautilus007

macrumors 68030
Jul 13, 2007
2,642
1,320
U.S
This is a stupid excuse for notification LED. It is annoying and apple really needs to add a better notification LED system.
 

sjinsjca

macrumors 68020
Oct 30, 2008
2,238
555
This has actually been an iOS feature for a while. My iPhone 4, running iOS 6.whatever, had it. It still does on iOS 7.

So those who want to try it don't need to rush out and get a 5S.

Personally, I find this notification too bright. If you're trying to sleep and the dang thing fires off, POW... good luck finding your way back to slumberland after that little supernova goes off.
 

SMELTN

macrumors regular
Apr 6, 2010
220
1
would be cool if we could choose which LED goes off. Maybe the Amber would be a little less intrusive or bright
 

Iphone5preorder

macrumors 6502a
Sep 20, 2012
873
466
Whatever, you guys are lame, I love it. But I definitely agree they can do better. I loved blackberry for this reason. You just walked by your phone and saw if you had any emails/messages based on the led
 

eyoungren

macrumors Penryn
Aug 31, 2011
28,793
26,883
The vibration/tone/screen notifies me just fine.
All of which you will miss if you walk away from the place you have set your phone down at and are no longer in range to hear or see.

My old Touch Pro had a LED ring around it's home button. Lit up whenever there was a notification. So if I was at work and left my desk and came back I could see that I had gotten a notification without having to pick the phone up and turn the screen on. With the iPhone you have to physically check by turning the screen on.
582p.jpg
 
Last edited:

Iphone5preorder

macrumors 6502a
Sep 20, 2012
873
466
LoL. I dunno why but I love how you can use the above quote for pretty much anything really :D

Glad you like it as well Iphone5preorder.

We seem to be getting along just dandy on here. We agreed the condom analogy was clever (that was you right), we like the led function, and our usernames are equally creative!
 

gym007

macrumors newbie
Sep 19, 2013
9
0
This is a stupid excuse for notification LED. It is annoying and apple really needs to add a better notification LED system.

I wish they had one like Blackberry. That's the only thing I miss about when I had a blackberry, the flashing red LED that kept flashing when you had unread messages
 

Blueline29

macrumors 68020
Jun 16, 2009
2,468
960
Saint Augustine, FL
All of which you will miss if you walk away from the place you have set your phone down at and are no longer in range to hear or see.

My old Touch Pro had a LED ring around it's home button. Lit up whenever there was a notification. So if I was a work and left my desk and came back I could see that I had gotten a notification without having to pick the phone up and turn the screen on. With the iPhone you have to physically check by turning the screen on.

I had an old Motorola flip phone that had the same thing; you could customize the color/colors that illuminated and even the different patterns in which they illuminated. I loved that phone. Ended up having it destroyed by a ham-handed AT&T employee who dropped it and broke it while I was in store inquiring about an early upgrade (I was a phone-whore from the get-go. Lol.) Did get the early upgrade as a result, however.

 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.