ELI5: Why did LED notification lights silently got removed from phone?

Their absence encourages you to check your phone more often, which means you'll unlock it and look at some content more often, which means as revenue for someone.
- You just wrinkled my brain right now.
- Being honest I think the opposite of this is more likely true. Seeing a flashing indicator for all the notifications my phone “thinks” are important is going to make me more likely to constantly check my phone. Barring that I check when I want to. And with the new passive display modes I can glance and decide whether to even unlock or not.
  
  passive display
  This is the real answer for OP. Those lights were replaced. Maybe OP (and maybe me as well, I haven't really thought about it) would prefer to still have the notification LED, but to the hardware manufacturers they replaced those with something "cooler".
- It’s a nice conspiracy theory. But unlikely. Who gets the additional review?
- For some random hardware producer I don't see how that would be favourable.
- Genuinely wouldn't be surprised if this was the truth. The tactics these companies employ are both putridly-covert, yet brilliantly executed - especially so if it also saves a few cents.
- In Apple's case it's a subtle encouragement to buy their watch.
  
  I don’t believe the iPhone ever had an LED notification light. The iPhone existed well before the watch did, as well.
- I hate how correct you are about this.

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.
- Yeah, it’s basically just this. AODs took over for notification lights.
- I still think it's a terrible compromise. I actually looke specifically for a phone without one and ended up with a Sony Xperia. Sure, the front isn't 100% screen and I have tiny bars above and below the screen, but who cares?
- The led can just be put in the speaker grill though, I think my old HTC did this.
  
  This is true, and my last phone with a notification LED was like this, but I found that having the light recessed made it a lot harder to see from across the room since you're dependending quite a bit on viewing angle.
  
  Yes, but this has issues, too. Because dust clogs up the grills and suddenly the led is badly visible.
- I have one of the Galaxy Notes that has both LED light and Always On, and you just made me realize I pay attention to the Always On display more than even noticing the LED light.

I also love notification LEDs.
I'm pretty sure the main reason for them disappearing is the displays extending all the way to to edge. There isn't any room left where to place it.
Also, on phones with always-on display, you can use the display to show notifications, the led is redundant.
But still, I find them really useful and am sad to see them being phased out.
- My phone does not have a LED notification light. It does however have a little green LED hidden near the front facing camera which is within the screen area. This light comes on only when using the front facing camera and I assume is some kind of indicator light. Why this can't be dual purpose or why another LED or even small sections of screen can't be used for notifications is beyond me.
  I think the real reason they removed the notification light is to make people use their phones more. Now instead of a glance to see a light I actually have to touch my screen which could allow additional scans of my figerprints or face and could contribute to data tracking when I am most active on my phone.
  
  Personally, I want that light to have one purpose and one purpose only, which is to tell me when the camera is on. It should be hardwired into the circuit powering that front facing camera and not touched by software at all, otherwise you open up the risk of someone recording you with the indicator disabled.
- There's a few apps you could use if you have an android phone with an OLED screen!
  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.xander.android.notifybuddy
  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.anker.ledmeknow
  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jamworks.alwaysondisplay&hl=en_US&gl=US

Sony Xperia user here, I recommend your Next phone should be a Sony. Not only does it still have notification LEDs, it also has an SD card slot and a headphone jack...and a 5500mah battery. Will never go back to Samsung again
- How long does Sony support their hardware with OS updates? Do they lock down the ability to run custom roms?
  I left Samsung because their flagship phones lost support after a couple of years and they made it harder and harder to load custom ROMs.
  I move to apple mostly because it is the easiest to support my kids on and they support the phones for what seems like forever, making my hand me down phones much more valuable for much longer. I’d consider jumping back to android if I could expect a phone to be useful and up to date for 4ish years.
  
  I'm still rocking my Pixel 3 with no complaints! I dumped Samsung once the Pixels came out. So much less bullshit preloaded into it.
  
  Hand me downs vs. using them until they break.
  
  My 1 Xperia IV has an unlocked bootloader, headphone jack and is water proof. Don't know how long they will support this phone but I still get updates.
- Same. I love my Xperia, and never realized how much I missed the notification LED.
- Oh gawd, this takes me back to the cute little X10 Mini Pro I had. Such a handy little device for the time, had a slide out keyboard. I miss those.
- except they price their phone ridiculously high, so no

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.
  
  Did it go through multiple colors when you had notifications from different apps at the same time?
  
  I had a cool LED on my old Sony which pulsed to the beat of music playing. It also covered the whole of the bottom of the phone and also showed when the phone was upside down. It was well cool.
- I don't understand how Blackberry managed to drive itself into the ground like it did. I need a modern BB 9900 ASAP.
  
  Shit management + greed
- Still have one on my sony xperia 5 iii (and no notch, micro sd, headphone jack, zoom camera)

Off topic a little but I stop most of my messaging app to notify me. And my life is so much more peaceful. I told everyone when they connect with me on any messaging app that it'll take time for me to answer. I'll read it when I remember to read it, which I do like once or twice a day. They adapt to that and if it's really important they'll call.
- This is the way.
  Its not natural to feel "connected" all the time
  
  smh this mf isn't bathing in the source
  
  This is the way
- While we're off topic, you should also consider grey-scaling your phone most of the time, only turning it back to color when needed. A lot of psychological trickery goes into icon and notification color to catch you eye, and it's much less interesting in drab grey

Well, with oled and always on displays you can achieve the same thing now, and not just an led flash but having the entire notification display whilst the rest of the screen is off.
And the camera flash still exists if you need an led flash.

With OLED, your entire screen is an array of possible LED notifications :)
- It doesn't illuminate the same though ☹️ . Have a new phone with no LED and an old OnePlus phone I use as a back up with a dedicated LED.

iPhone = Settings / Accessibility / Audio Visual "LED Flash for Alerts" (at the bottom)

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.
  
  Look I live in a place where we get sideways torrential rain. Often. I need my phone to be waterproof enough to survive my commute to work on a bad day
  
  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.
- I'm not convinced by this argument: at the back of the phone is a built-in LED (used as the flash). Which could be used for notifications too.
  Phones with OLED screens could use part of the screen as a notification as well. Both of these can be accomplished in software. Currently you have to notice that something happens as it happens, otherwise you need to at leas activate the screen. The notification LED was useful in that you could glance at your phone and see if you missed something.
  
  I use an app on my Pixel 7 that uses a small portion of the OLED around the front facing camera cutout to generate custom colored notifications. This is similar to how dynamic island on IOS works and since I do not use the always on display it mimics an LED light for my notification needs.

My guess it is cheaper to do software features rather than a physical led .. cutting costs at every corner
- Every phone has an LED for the camera flash.
  
  On the front though?
  *Huh mine does, I never use the selfie camera. Anyone else seeing spots?
  
  How is that relevant to the OP's question?

I didn't know I miss those LED notifications until now. Thanks :(

I get so many trash notifications it would just be on all the time and I'd turn it off.

The whole front of modern phone is a display, there's simply no space for a notification LED.
- Yet they've managed to fit speaker openings at each end. They could do it, just would cost a little bit more.
  
  and the camera. so yhea there space for a led.

When you have questions like this, the answer is almost always money.
For this particular question, it is money - the cost of the LEDs (which is of course minimal, but multiplied by millions of phones), but also manufacturing (need to have a hole in the case to let the LED shine though which can let water ingress into phone). To make those holes water tight would add more cost so instead they decided to use the screen itself as the notification method. I think Motorola's implementation of this was the best - they had their always on display to show notifications and a single tap would let you see what the message was even if the phone was locked.

I forgot all about notification LEDs when I got a smartwatch
- This. I was surprised when I moved to using a fitbit (got one for super cheap) and even that was able to show me my notifications from my phone. I also recently changed my phone to a z flip 4 which has a screen when its closed that shows me my notifs.
  Gotta admit, I spend a lot less time on my phone when I can tell what notifications are important without opening or looking at my phone.

I'm pretty sure it's just to cut costs / complexity / part counts in lower end phones, and higher end phones will use an always on display.
Though worth noting that the Nothing Phone 1 & 2 include pretty snazzy LEDs on the back that are used for notifications amongst other things.

I'm guessing that with everything they cram into those things nowadays, every last nook and cranny is valuable space to be used.
A little blinken light is probably not high on the list of features competing for that space.
- iPhones use the camera flash LED for this exact function, no reason Android phones can’t do the same.
  
  No it does not. The led flash occurs when the message is sent. It doesn’t persist. The entire point the notification led on Samsung phones is to tell you repetitively that you have an unread message.
  That means if you look at your phone an hour after you received the message you’ll know you have an unread message without having to interact with the phone. It’s a nice feature for someone that doesn’t like constantly checking their phone.
  Besides the flash led is super obnoxious. I can’t imagine why you’d want this flashing every time you get a message. I can’t imagine it being great for battery life either.

Modern smartphones hardly have any edges and therefore hardly any space for an LED at the notch. In addition, the pixels of AMOLED displays can be controlled individually, which allows displaying notifications well and consumes little power at the same time.

On Samsung phones your whole screen flashes in a custom color and and animation, and after that you have your always on display. So they are no longer needed with OLED screens that can display it themselves
- That seems to me a waaay too inefficient indicator of "you have unread notifications"
  
  Idk why? I like it to see the clock on the always on display, but you can also change it so you just have a small red pixels lit up, to mirror the "notification led style". You can style the aod like you want on Android

Just bought Galaxy XCover 6pro. Lost many features I had in my previous phone. Kept removable battery and headphone jack. Gained notification led.
Can't say I really missed it tho. I'd trade it for an optical image stabilizer.

The nothing phone has led glyph indicators on the back.

My phone still has the LED but I turned off the feature long ago including the battery low and charge indicators. More annoying than useful.
- I hate the LED and I'm so glad my current phone doesn't have it. It's especially the charging indicator that bothers me because it's so bright at night

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.
- What's the normal sound of removing feature from the phone?
  People removed and complaining about it being removed.

i am still mad they got rid of it on xiaomi note 10 pro.... i mean yhea you can activate a thing for show notification on the screen but slurp slurp the batery. (and future burn in)

what the hell are you talking about
- For just a fraction of a second I considered showing you, by taking a screen shot... 🤦 I'm my defence, I'm suppressed to be asleep now.
  Many phones used to have - some still have - a separate LED facing you that could light up to notify you of, uh, notifications. The first generation android phones just had green LEDs, eventually they all supported colour as well. Some OS'es or apps enabled you to set up per-app colour, blink/fade, and pattern configurations. Super neat, I was a huge fan.
  On most modern phones [such apps] (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rageconsulting.android.lightflow) rarely work anymore, but on my OnePlus 5 I still have different colours for different notifications.
  
  thanks for explanation
  if this feature got rare around 2010 or so, then i had no way of ever seeing such a phone in the wild