Why some feel the need for this and why others don't

Sep 6, 2015 07:11 GMT  ·  By

With the release of iPhone 6s just around the corner, or at least that's what everyone expects to happen next week at Apple's September 9 event, there are hundreds of reports out there pointing to various features that the fruity-named company could introduce with the new model.

Just like it happens with every new iPhone upgrade, iFans expect Apple to innovate and bring out something entirely new and revolutionary that would put the likes of Samsung, Microsoft, HTC and other phone makers to shame, but there's still one little thing that's 99.99 percent likely to be missing from the iPhone 6S: an LED notification light.

The idea of an LED notification light on the iPhone isn't new and people have been asking for it since the iPhone 4, but for the moment, there's no evidence that Apple has any plans to implement it. Not now and not anytime soon.

But the possibility of getting LED notifications on the iPhone has already stirred up controversy and Apple customers across the globe have different opinions when it comes to this little feature that's already available on many other phone models, such as Samsung's Android devices and BlackBerry's own models. Many Apple fans believe that you don't actually need an LED notification light on the device because you can always manually check for missed calls and messages, while others claim that it could help when you're not near your phone.

So today, we'll be looking into the pros and cons of an LED notification light on the iPhone and let you decide whether the iPhone 6S should come with such a feature or not. Apple has obviously made its decision already, but it helps to see what customers think and who knows, maybe iPhone 7 could be better tailored to address your needs.

The super popular BlackBerry LED on a BlackBerry Passport
The super popular BlackBerry LED on a BlackBerry Passport

Pros – Why an LED notification light makes sense?

If you're asking a long-time BlackBerry user, it's almost impossible to live without an LED notification light. Together with the QWERTY keyboard, it's the signature feature of the Canadian phone maker, and makes sure you see any missed call, message, or notification.

#1 – It's more convenient to check for missed notifications

Most manufacturers offer pretty much the same LED notification light settings, so you can customize its color according to type of notification, contact, or application. This way, if you get an email, for instance, the LED can blink blue, while for missed calls, it can be set to red. So just by looking at the phone you know that you have a missed alert, depending on the color of the LED.

Without a notification light, users have to press the home button and wake the device, and this is exactly what most iPhone users do right now. This way, they light up the screen and check for notifications manually, which is something that a number of users do not agree with.

#2 – It helps save battery life

Without a notification light, you have to manually wake the device whenever you want to check for missed calls and messages, so you basically turn on the screen. If you do that every day, which most of us already do as a bad habit despite the fact that there's no missed notification, you pretty much activate the number one battery killer of the phone every time.

Right now, the screen is the one eating up the biggest percentage of the battery and on the iPhone 6 Plus, for instance, it's no wonder why. The larger the screen, the bigger the impact on battery, so a notification LED, which uses considerably less power than the whole screen, would make it possible to wake the device less often and thus preserve battery life.

#3 – It can look stunning on the iPhone

Apple excels in terms of premium design, and if the Cupertino-based company decides to implement a notification light on the iPhone, do not expect it to be just a simple blinking LED on your phone.

Nope, Apple can do it with style, and fans already have a few suggestions that could help it design something that could easily outclass competition.

For example, the iPhone could come with a pulsating Apple logo that would blink whenever there's a missed notification, and the actual rate of the blinking can be configured depending of the app, contact, or notification type.

What's more, some say that the ring around the home button could be used to glow in various colors according to your settings. Obviously, there are ways to achieve this and Apple certainly has the know-how to make this in a pretty unique way.

A blinking Apple logo on the iPhone could be the perfect notification light
A blinking Apple logo on the iPhone could be the perfect notification light

Cons - Why an LED notification light doesn't make sense?

Obviously, there are iFans who believe the iPhone doesn't need an LED notification light and their reasons make just as much as sense as the ones of those who say that such a feature would be a great addition. Below are some of these reasons we heard from our readers.

#1 – We're almost all the time near the phone

So basically, an LED notification light makes it easier to see missed calls and messages when we're not near the phone. The only problem with this is that most of us are almost all the time near the phone, so it's basically impossible to miss a call or email.

We're getting addicted to our phones, it's no secret about this, and this is one of the reasons why we unlock them without any reasons several times a day.

If the phone is in the pocket, it vibrates and rings, so you can't miss a call. Plus, the LED is useless in a pocket. If the phone is on the desk and you're working, you can see an incoming notification even in silent mode because the screen turns on.

So an LED would once again be useless. And if you're not near the phone and you think that you might have a missed call, pressing the home button to check for this isn't quite the end of the world. And it's the thing many of us already do, no matter if there's a notification light or not. It might be a bad habit or not, but we do it anyway, so why the need for an LED?

#2 – It's really intrusive

LED lights tend to become quite intrusive and annoying after a while and that's why some manufacturers offer options to adjust the intensity of the generated light.

On BlackBerry, for instance, the LED light can give you a disco feeling if multiple colors are being used, while on Samsung devices, you can barely see the light in sunlight.

But in all cases, the LED can become really intrusive at certain times. For instance, I discovered this the hard way at the office. Say you are working on something and a notification arrives. You see the screen lighting up, you see it's an email that you don't want to read and ignore it.

And yet, you have to interrupt whatever you're working on to stop the blinking LED because otherwise it would blink and blink and blink until you do that. Or depending on your settings, until it's automatically silenced (but such settings might actually kill the idea of seeing missed notifications when you're not near the phone, right?)

#3 – There are other ways to get missed calls notifications

The LED light is not the only way you can be alerted of missed calls or notifications. You can, for example, have a smartwatch that lets you know whenever you have a call, message, or email, and the notification stays there until you delete it.

Apple already has its very own Watch and it works really well with notifications, so even if you're not anywhere near your phone, but still wearing the smartwatch, you'll know there's something that needs to be checked out on the device.

Additionally, a notification light can be also replaced with audio notifications and vibrations that are issued at a certain interval. This is harder to achieve on the iPhone, though, but it could be implemented at a later time because SMS notifications are already on repeat mode, so it's certainly possible to enable them for all kinds of notifications.

What's more, as a workaround, Apple is allowing you to use the LED flash on the back of the iPhone as a notification light, so it lights up in case of incoming calls or messages. To enable this go to:

Settings > General > Accessibility > LED Flash for Alerts

Unfortunately, the flash is only triggered in case of incoming notifications, so it doesn't blink in case of missed ones. But it could be tweaked to do this in future iOS updates.

LED notification light on the brand new Samsung Galaxy Note5
LED notification light on the brand new Samsung Galaxy Note5

The bottom line

It's pretty clear that opinions on this are still divided and each side has strong arguments that could support the idea of having or not having an LED notification light on the iPhone.

But it all depends on the type of user you actually are. If convenience is what you're looking for and you're not so addicted to your phone as others, then an LED light can really help, especially because this way you see any missed notifications.

On the other hand, for more than 90 percent of the people, the phone is the number one companion wherever they go and it doesn't seem to be weird at all to unlock the device just to scroll a little bit through the menus and then unlock it back. It could sound weird for many, but we do that, so a notification LED wouldn't change anything for this category of users. If we can't miss any call or message, why the need for an LED?

As far as the battery impact of turning on the screen every once in a while for checking for notifications, it also depends on who you are.

Most people already recharge their devices every night, no matter if they're about to run out of battery or not, but everyone wants to have a fully charged phone the next day in the morning. So even if waking the screen just for a routine check might have an impact on battery life, it's not the end of the world. And the iPhone is really well optimized to compensate for this.

In most cases, everything comes down to giving people choices. But this time, Apple simply can't do that, because implementing a LED might have an impact on the design of the iPhone. The company has what it takes to make it look really stunning, but at the same time, it's a risky call that some potential buyers might not like.

So what do you think? Should the next iPhone come with an LED notification light or not?

Photo Gallery (4 Images)

iPhone 6 Plus and iPhone 6, both without a LED notification light
The super popular BlackBerry LED on a BlackBerry PassportA blinking Apple logo on the iPhone could be the perfect notification light
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