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Eggtastic

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jun 9, 2009
1,066
730
NJ
phone got stolen over the weekend (iPhone 4 16gb) and i am actually do for an upgrade. like many, I am faced with the decision of the new s3 or wait it out for the iPhone 5.

as stupid as this sounds, i was just curious on your thoughts if apple were to ever adopt a front facing, multi-color, LED indicator. honestly, i think its really cool and can be useful at times without having to turn on your screen to see messages.

yes, i know you can use your LED camera flash now as an indicator, but thats not only in the back of the phone, but its one boring color.

i have weighed several options and continue to do so between the features of both phones, so let it be known that a small feature such as an LED indicator is not my deciding factor.


what are your thoughts? i feel like apple will never swing in that direction as it might just not flow with whatever design they choose, but i wish apple engineers read these boards often as we hope they do, because a multicolor, front facing LED indicator could be enough to attract new customers.
 
I always wanted them to integrate a notification light into the home button.

An LED notifier is the #1 feature I miss from my blackberry. Even the samsung dumb phone I had in 2003 had a LED just for notifications. I really miss it. I don't expect Apple to adopt it though. Ever.
 
thanks for your thoughts. its a double edged sword with apple. nearly flawless designs yet something as simple and clean as a multi-color LED indicator would be considered "tacky".

one can only hope, but for those curious: check out the light flow app on youtube that can be used for the s3. very sleek, and yes very cool haha.
 
This is the one feature I miss from my BB back in the day.
A backlit home button that could illuminate different colors would be nice. Wouldn't have to be tacky either, just make options in the settings to disable if not wanted or make it off by default and let the user choose. Would be easy to incorporate into the notification system.

But I don't really see it happening. I would like blurry in my Macs and I don't see that happening either.
 
A pulsing LED indicator on the home button would be cool...

That would be slick, but I dont think Apple wants anything eating power that isn't absolutely needed at this point.

Best use of LED on any phone I had was the HTC Evo.
 
I really, really hope not. Didn't realize how much of a slave to that damned blinking light I was on my old Blackberry until I got rid of it. Never want to go back to that.
 
Yeah, I too miss that from my BlackBerry days. Never going to happen on an Apple phone I imagine though sadly.
 
Would be great. It could actually save battery by eliminating the need to turn on the screen to check if anything's been missed, which in itself is a little annoying to have to do each time.

Don't foresee it happening though.
 
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I really, really hope not. Didn't realize how much of a slave to that damned blinking light I was on my old Blackberry until I got rid of it. Never want to go back to that.

Same here. While I do see the want for it I don't miss it. If they do implement one I'd rather it be on the top in the corner rather than the home button.
 
A pulsing LED indicator on the home button would be cool...

Totally agree. And Apple could certainly make the white outlines on the button glow occasionally when notifications come in. Less intrusive yet informative. Compared to some orange or red or blue or any colour of notification light at the corner, taking advantage of the home button is an innovative way to hide the ugly bulb of light yet at the same time performs almost the same function.

I disagree with the multiple colours led indicator though. Apple would want to keep things simple with just one colour. As for the White iPhone with white buttons, I can't thin of a solution to allow the backlit home buttons to be visible but perhaps it would be one of the disadvantages of buying a white iPhone .
 
When I switched to the iPhone, I REALLY missed the front LED light. It was almost a deal breaker. However, I have friends with Android phones and I notice their LEDs are nearly always flashing. In that case, it's nearly as bad as not having any LED. You still have to check the home screen.
 
When I switched to the iPhone, I REALLY missed the front LED light. It was almost a deal breaker. However, I have friends with Android phones and I notice their LEDs are nearly always flashing. In that case, it's nearly as bad as not having any LED. You still have to check the home screen.

You don't have to check anything if you don't want to. You can have the led just flash once or for one minute or until you turn the phone on or until you clear the notification and so on. Youcan make emails blue, sms green, alarms red, and so. I let my notifications blink for 15 minutes, then shut off.
 
I for one would welcome it. It would be most convenient to look at your phone and tell instantly that you had a text, email or missed call without having to pick it up.
 
I've been an Android user for years - 5 different manufacturers - and ALL of them had front facing LED notification lights. Not ridiculously bright flash-strength LEDs, but discreet low power-use versions. Not one person I know has ever turned them off - they are extremely useful. One of those androids allowed me to display different colours depending if it was a missed call, text, email, or just social media.

Since I got an iPhone, I have to constantly turn the phone on to see if I missed a call or message. It uses up considerably more battery life than a low powered LED.

Apple is so far behind the times on this one, its embarrassing. The rest of the world gets it, why doesn't Apple?
 
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