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.

[–] Stovetop@lemmy.world 25 points 1 year ago (2 children)

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.

[–] azuth@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

I believe that's actually a legal requirement in some jurisdictions.

[–] FireRetardant@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

I didn't think of this use case of the light. I honestly just assumed that most cameras would be able to bypass the light and record you anyway because I have very little trust left in big tech companies. Either way with our screen advancements it should be possible to embed a small LED or use a small section of screen for notification lights.