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What is a nifty little feature modern gadgets have lost? (lemmy.world)
submitted 2 years ago* by to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world
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For me it’s the notification light you used to find on older phones, was particularly good to know if your phone was charged without picking it up

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[+] 224 points 2 years ago (6 children)
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  • [–] 68 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    I used to love customising the notification colour on my old phones, so good.

    I miss my headphone jack so damn much, I'm over Bluetooth earbuds breaking constantly and being so damn expensive and low quality.

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  • [–] 19 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Then buy phones with headphone jacks. Mine has one, I dont buy ones without it.

    If it matters for you to have it, dont buy phones that cut it. If models with it keep selling, theyre less likely to ditch it.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    I'd rather just buy a DAP than randomly replace a perfectly good phone with one that sucks in comparison.

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  • [–] -2 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    And that why you'll never get it back. You're clinging to brand loyalty and hung up on arbitrary crap rather than just trying competing phones. Have you actually used any of those "suck" phones, or are you just going with the usual iPhone/high end android circlejerk?

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago

    You have assumed completely wrong, friend.

    As I mentioned in another comment, if you'd bothered to read it, I have particular needs that mean I can't really replace my phone with something else right now. I have absolutely no loyalty to brands, and I'm not clinging to something arbitrary.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (2 children)

    (deleted content)

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 child)

    usb to jack converter

    All Most of the ones you can get nowadays actually have a sound chip inside the cable (in the flat part behind the USB-C). So they're pretty much a USB-C soundcard with just a headphone out. So it's worth shopping around to find one that has a good soundcard built in.

    A good alternative is getting a decent portable Bluetooth audio receiver to plug your regular headphones into. Can get a better headphone amp that way.

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  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    There are phones that output analog audio over type C so you can have a type c to jack adapter with no dac inside, just wires. That is possible through Audio Adapter Accessory Alternate Mode.

    My huawei tablet works with such an adapter, but when I try it with the samsung s10e which has a jack, it gives an error and doesn't work.

    Type C alternate modes are cool, too bad they are not advertised, they should be clearly labled and easily distinguishable. Type C has so many features yet it's so hard to know what's available without actually having the devices and connecting them. It's both a blessing and a curse.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

    Thanks for the correction. I had thought that only some of the early Motorolas had that feature, but it looks like there are quite a few more phones that support analog audio out via USB-C.

    From the wiki article:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB-C#Alternate_modes

    Moto Z/Z Force, Moto Z2/Z2 Force/Z2 Play, Moto Z3/Z3 Play

    Sony Xperia XZ2

    Huawei Mate 10 Pro, Huawei P20/P20 Pro, Honor Magic2, LeEco

    Xiaomi phones

    OnePlus 6T, OnePlus 7/7 Pro/7T/7T Pro

    Oppo Find X/Oppo R17/R17 Pro

    ZTE Nubia Z17/Z18

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    I used to have a similar problem - even if well reviewed, budget and midrange bluetooth earbuds would not last while budget-midrange wired earphones would last forever.

    Think it's just build quality for bluetooth buds. I got a set of Galaxy buds, 1st gen, roughly 3+ years and still running strong to this day. Was not cheap though.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago

    I've been through two pairs of Sennheiser's wireless buds, and I'm just over it.

    The only thing that might bring me back is the ANC, but even then I get significantly better ANC from my over ears, so probably not.

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  • [–] 49 points 2 years ago (6 children)

    What I don't understand is why the notification LED was removed in the first place? It can easily be put under the screen.
    The LED was so helpful, and it's so annoying when I don't see an important message for hours, because I haven't used my phone.

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  • [+] 39 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (3 children)
    [deleted]
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  • [–] 19 points 2 years ago

    I think you may have a point, It's kind of weird how the first 10 years of smartphones, was an ever higher climb for better phones, driven by competition.
    But now that everybody are dependent on the phones, they all agree on taking useful features away???

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

    It’s probably also a little safer with only system apis accessing system hardware. If you look at how the camera assembly is one piece and apps basically access the whole thing securely.

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  • [–] 23 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    I used to have a custom ROM that would allow me to change the color based on which app had the most recent notification: FB was Blue, SMS was Green. Let me be prepared ahead of time if it was going to be important or not.

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  • [–] 19 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    I used to have a custom ROM that would allow me to change the color based on which app had the most recent notification

    Even more than that, in early versions of Android this setting was baked in. I had colors set based on text messages, emails, etc. I think around 2.x was when the option was removed.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    I remember and miss that. Any remember the original droid with the slide out keyboard ?

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago

    I don't know about the original, but I rocked a Droid 4 for the longest time. It's probably my all time favorite phone. I really miss how quickly I could type and the extra screen space I got from not needing the software keyboard.

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  • [–] 20 points 2 years ago* (3 children)

    Nowadays most phones have OLED screens, which can easily replicate the function of the notification LED with the “always on” feature.

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  • [–] 18 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    Yet there are often warnings that even with OLED AOD eats a lot of battery, not so with a notification LED.
    The absolute newest OLED that can do 1Hz refresh are better. But that doesn't change that the removal of the notification LED was detrimental to the functionality of the smartphone.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago

    OLED AoD eats a lot of battery because there's still quite a lot of information(and thus, pixels turned on) shown on the AoD. A single pixel blinking on and off would at most use the same power as a dedicated notification led.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Someone else posted an app that gives the feature back. If you turn off other aid features and just use the app it won't use more battery than a notification led.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    If you turn off other aid features

    What?

    it won’t use more battery than a notification led.

    If the screen has 60hz or higher refresh, I'm pretty sure it will. The screen itself may not use much, but the DAC will still use power.
    I haven't seen this actually tested, but many claim the difference in battery life is noticeable. I don't think it matters much what app you use, many phones come with an AOD app, and I seriously doubt a third party app is better.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    aid what?

    Typo: aod feature. Always on display.

    If the screen has 60hz or higher refresh, I’m pretty sure it will.

    It's supposed to drop down to 1hz. The CPU refreshing a pixel of an OLED screen or a notification led is the same power usage. That is even if you have a notification led, the CPU could still be stuck refreshing it at 60 hz.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago

    AH ok that makes a lot more sense. ;) As I understand it, it's only the newest top displays that can go down to 1 Hz. Or maybe it's just when in use they can't for some reason. I find the 1Hz capability to be extremely cool, so it would be great if it's a more general feature of AOD.

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  • [–] 6 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Oh, in some cases the notification LED is physically there, but is disabled in software. At least I know that was the case with a bunch of Motorola phones, including my Moto G5s Plus.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 years ago

    Because if you can read an LED notification system you have no purpose to pick up the cellphone.

    Cellphones are not designed FOR YOU. They are designed by marketeers for you to use.

    Once you realize this, all the anti-consumer shit makes sense.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    I got all three on my XCover 6 Pro

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (1 child)

    I had an XCover 4 and hated the specs and the Samsung aspect. Too much bloat for my tastes.

    I'm glad there are others still buying these phones though, and the "Pro" makes it sound like it has modern specs!

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    It's very much a mid-range device but so was the price. It was still an easy decision since it is literally the only modern smartphone in existence that matched my minimum requirements. I'm coming from LG V20 so I still had to let go of FM-radio, optical image stabilization, IR blaster and the hi-fi DAC.

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