{"id":223239,"date":"2026-03-13T12:45:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T16:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/13\/4-old-android-gimmicks-that-need-to-make-a-return\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T13:00:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T17:00:11","slug":"4-old-android-gimmicks-that-need-to-make-a-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/13\/4-old-android-gimmicks-that-need-to-make-a-return\/","title":{"rendered":"4 old Android “gimmicks” that need to make a return"},"content":{"rendered":"

4 old Android “gimmicks” that need to make a return<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/old-android-gimmicks-that-need-to-make-a-return\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Publish Date: 2026-03-13 12:45:00<\/a><\/p>\n

Source Domain: www.howtogeek.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Android devices have always come in different shapes and sizes, with designers experimenting with niche ideas and form factors changing with the times. There are many once common conventions that, if reintroduced today, would be thought of as gimmicks. That doesn’t mean they weren’t good\u2014if anything, it’s time for them to make a comeback.<\/p>\n

\n LED indicator lights
\n <\/h2>\n

\n A more subtle way to be notified
\n <\/h3>\n

Early smartphones had LED lights tucked away in the corner that served a single purpose: to let you know when someone or something wanted your attention. These indicator lights were the visual companion to notification sounds, but they were far more passive: Android indicator lights weren’t going to get your attention from the kitchen table while you were at the sink washing dishes, you might not notice one blinking on the corner of your desk while you typed away at your keyboard, and you certainly wouldn’t notice it while the phone was tucked away in your pocket during your morning walk.<\/p>\n

This was a reason to get rid of them\u2014they were indicators doing a so-so job at actually indicating! But in our times, as we deal with screen addiction and information overload, LED indicators offer a useful way to cut down on the neediness of our phones. Not every notification needs an audible ping, but some don’t need to be fully silenced either. There is value in a middle ground, and LED lights can serve that role. I’m not alone in missing a blinking light for my phone.<\/p>\n

On some phones, LED lights could even be color-coded. Slack notifications can be green. Signal can be blue. ProtonMail gets purple. This helps you decide before turning on the screen if your phone actually needs your attention.<\/p>\n

Nothing Phones began with an innovative take on rear LED lights, branded as Glyph lights. Here were fun lights on the back of the phone whose wacky placement allowed you to not just customize colors, but…<\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

4 old Android “gimmicks” that need to make a return https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/old-android-gimmicks-that-need-to-make-a-return\/ Publish Date: 2026-03-13 12:45:00…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":223240,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static0.howtogeekimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/a-slide-out-attachable-qwerty-keyboard-compatible-with-magsafe-created-using-gemini.png?w=1200&h=675&fit=crop","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-223239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-android"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223239"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223239"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223239\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":223241,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223239\/revisions\/223241"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/223240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}