One of the cool new functions of iOS 5 is the ability to set the iPhone’s LED to flash for various system level alerts… but how useful is that functionality when the LED is on the back of the phone?
Not very. That’s why sources are now saying that the iPhone 5 will boast dual LEDs, one on the front, one on the back. Like a Blackberry!
Sebastien Page for the iPhone Download Blog reports:
Our tipster – let’s call him Mr T – referred to an article we wrote last week, in which DigiTimes claimed the next iPhone will sport a dual-LED camera flash. According to Mr T, the next iPhone will indeed sport 2 LEDs, except that one will be a LED camera flash, and the other one will be an LED indicator…
An LED indicator? Yes, just like the good old BlackBerrys have right above the screen.
I have to say that’s one of the features I miss about my BlackBerry. Having a flashing LED to tell you you have a missed call, or an unread text message was good to have, especially when I was stuck in those long meetings where no ringtones or vibrations would be allowed.
It sounds plausible enough. What do you think?
John Brownlee is a writer for Fast Company, and a contributing writer here at CoM. He has also written for Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, VentureBeat, and Gizmodo. He lives in Boston with his wife and two parakeets. You can follow him here on Twitter.
60 responses to “Rumor: iPhone 5 Will Have A Blinking, BlackBerry-Like LED Indicator”
I just had the stupid CrackBerry LED annoying me at the movies. Now I can look forward to it happening with iPhones, too? Wonderful.
I’m almost 100% positive that if this were true, there would definitely be a setting to disable it and/or adjust it.
That will be annoying.
I’m sure you can turn it off if you want.
If that’s true. I’ll put some kind of sticker over it.
A link to the source would have been nice!
Yes, but I need the option to disable someone ELSE’s! ;-)
PERFECT!!!! APPLE HAVE BEEN WORKING WITH DEAF COMMUNITY AND UNDERSTANDING WHAT WE NEED TO IMPROVING FOR OUR COMMUNICATION. FIRST WITH FACETIME, CHECKED! SECOND IOS 5.0 ADDED FEATURE CUSTOM VIBRATION, CHECKED! NOW, THIRD LED NOTIFICATION. ( HOPE SO…. )
@ BERNARDO AND OPFAN13 HAVE NO SHOW APPRECIATED OR THINKING OF OTHER PEOPLE LIFE. HOW SAD. PITY.
yeah i would love one of these! ,
I’m sorry that LED was annoying you but why using your BB while watching at the movies??? Second of all, most majority population deaf users are BB because of LED notification. That’s why. Soon, we will switch over to Apple iPhone ” friendly ” smartphone. RIM BB will going down the drain…. no change since stone-age era. Be positive and hope for the best when iPhone come out, it may not be so bad after all with LED.
Knowing Apple, they will probably have an override in Settings. As someone losing hearing, I’m happy for these visual enhancements.
I’ve always found LEDs on front of phones rather annoying, but then I saw Lynda’s post… obviously I had been overlooking things, sorry about that. If I did have an iPhone, I imagine I’d set mine to stay off most of the time, but I’m honestly not sure.
There will probably be a way to disable it…if Steve allows it
Wow Lynda. No disrespect intended, but while Apple has historically been very proactive with accessibility (a wonderful thing about them), deriding people for not being excited about it (and also labeling them as uncaring towards other people) because of that lack of enthusiasm is inaccurate, rude and close-minded. Your insistance on typing your entire comment in caps is also pretty rude. How sad. Pity.
I guess it explains those early iPhone 5 cases with 2 LEDs on the back. It would’ve been really cool if the Apple logo lit up instead.
Lynda, I agree with you. But then I DO REALLY REALLY want to be able to disable the front led systemwide through the preferences panel (not on a per app basis). For me, the blinking LED was the most important reason to abandon my Blackberry – it felt like being harassed. My coolest electronic companion should not be harassing me.
Lynda, I’m happy to plead guilty to not having thought of this feature’s utility to the deaf community. Will you reciprocate and acknowledge MY point? Just this week I was in a theater where I thought a fight was going to break out because people can’t put their freakin’ phones away for two hours. It’s extremely inconsiderate.
I have both an iPhone 4 and a cra… er… BlackBerry, and funny that just a few days ago I was thinking why not the new iPhone will have such feature. I find it is very convenient, at least for me, that when I’m away from my mobile and get a notification (sms, email, etc.) I don’t need to swipe the screen to find out. The BB has that and don’t take me wrong, I hate that device (its a “requirement” from my company ), but that neat feature I’ll love to see it ported to the next version of my beloved iPhone.
Not mine – someone else’s. They just plopped it into the armrest drink-holder and let that baby rip until I said something to them, at which point they acted like they were the offended party.
Assuming this rumor becomes true, I hope you enjoy your iPhone. I love mine, BUT IT STAYS IN MY POCKET AT THE MOVIES!!! ;-)
You’re supposed to turn off your phone at the movies and the LED can only annoy you if you are using your phone or taking it out of your pocket when you shouldn’t be anyway.
I believe they talked about this as part of the new increased accessibility since it turns out that the iphone is very very popular among deaf, mute and hearing impaired users.
Hey Lynda, awesome for you to speak up and all. But all caps is difficult for the visually impaired to read and is considered rude. So perhaps next time you could turn the caps lock off.
Word to that. In fact I support any tech that focuses a phone to go into a silent, no lights mode in movie theatres. Let it vibe in your pocket but you have to get up and go all the way outside to the lobby area before you can turn it on, talk etc.
That said, I was so pissed off at one guy that I went out to the lobby told an usher what he was doing and was not at all guilty when the usher yanked him out of the theatre. The guy screamed that he wanted his money back and the manager agreed to give it to him, and told him he was banned and if he ever returned he’d be arrested for trespassing. Plus all 40 of the folks in the theatre were given a pass to come back and see a free movie to make up for the disruption.
I was never so happy to be in a small chain theatre.
Just go to the movies with a guy that is 6’3″ built like a tank and a Special Forces officer. Scrawny little, pants off his butt, type pulled out his phone in the middle of the movie and Thomas grabbed it out of his hand, gave him a look like “I dare you to so much as whisper a word at me” and wouldn’t give it back until the end. This guy will also thump your head of you are talking etc.
I love my brother.
macbook-like, white, and it goes away when you don’t need it. wooooooo! :D
What a douche. -> ( lucascott )
BBM and the LED light are the only things I miss about my BlackBerry. Having those on an iPhone will make it perfect for me.
Well this is kind of obvious I think.
I’ve been thinking this would be the case since I heard iOS 5 has the ability to use the iPhones 4’s camera flash for alerts.
Facetime? Meh.
Why can’t smartphones make video-calls to any other 3g phone with a frontal camera? Been working between all 3g dumbphones no matter the brand since what, 2003?
Wow! The innovation astounds me!
When BB Copy Apple, the blogs tear them a new one, wow apple is so cool. When Apple copies BB, wow, apple is so cool. :-(