Poll: Which abandoned Android phone features do you miss the most?
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Root. No root means its never gonna be my device. I want more buttons back as well.
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Don't forget about the IR blaster.
Most useful gimmick on a phone ever. I never had to deal with an annoying TV in public throughout most of the 2010s. It was nice; it was one of my most-used features and I miss it dearly.
OnePlus still offers this one on some of their phones.
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Going from my old pixel 5 rear-scanner to an in-screen scanner ahs been a nightmare. I have dry hands and i have gone from a <0.5s unlock to a 3-10s unlock depending how many times i need to scan or lick my finger, wipe it off then scan, or usually failing scans/giving up and typing in pincode.
"Oh my child is doing something funny or i quickly need to gake a photo of something...aaaaand its gone".
It is really fucking frustrating missing something, or even just trying to check a notification or timer quickly and having to stop and go through the whole dance of just unlocking the phone.
Seriously considering just going back to typing the fucking pincode 50 times a day.While I fully sympathise and agree, most android phones have a camera shortcut that doesnt need you to unlock with fingerprint. just swipe up the camera icon usually bottom right on lock screen
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Being able to take out the battery so that I can swap it with a pre-charged one. Those were great times. Then you can just throw the nearly-dead one on the charger.
This is identical to having the super power of being able to restart your phone to get a full battery charge.
Even just being able to easily replace it with a new one was nice.
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Blinking LED when I got a text
Customizable notification led color!
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The feature where you can hold the phone comfortably in one hand and without having to do any gymnastics to reach the top corner.
I bought a new phone somewhat recently. My main feature request was small. There were 0 options, so I ended up with one that's 50% larger than my last phone.
My eyes work fine. I don't need a huge screen. I just want something that I can hold.
I also don't need a razor thin phone. More battery capacity is an acceptable compromise for added durability and not hurting my hand.
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Human coded Smart Keyboard. Ever since they changed to learning algorithms the spelling and grammar corrections have gotten much worse.
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It's the under-screen fingerprint sensor. It's kind of flaky, and it shines the sensor area of the screen at what's gotta be greater than normal max screen brightness. It's blinding at night.
It's also much less reliable than the back reader in my old pixel 2, though it's gotten better with software updates. It was barely functional when the 6 first came out.
Only the optical sensors do this. The newer ultrasonic fingerprint sensors are more accurate and don't require any light/brightness changes.
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I liked the little led light at the top that would blink for notification
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is there at least a 3rd party accessory?
I don't know, you could probably find something that plugs in, but the trackball on the Nexus One was right below the screen and it made text editing easy. You could also scroll through text, web pages, home screens, sections of apps, and you could tap it, double tap it and hold it down to do things. It was so useful.
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Definitely the jack. I have special headphones for listening to white noise while sleeping. The Bluetooth version have a chunky panel, and don't last long before they get that Bluetooth whine. That whine is a deal-breaker is a sleep aid.
So I use the 3.5mm version.... if I use the charge port converted to a Jack, I can't charge my phone while I listen to white noise and I'll wake up to 6%. Rhe loss or the jack is why I haven't upgraded my phone in years.
What headphones are you using? Are they comfortable when you sleep on your side?
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The triangle / circle / square (or back / home / app tray) navigation system.
I've had to re-enable it on my last phones because they come with the much less usable new gesture navigation, and I dread the day it's not an option anymore.
The classic app drawer.
If I wanted an iPhone (with their cluttered, unusable, and extremely user hostile design) I'd get an iPhone.
I don't want my screen cluttered with random icons, I want multiple sliding screens with widgets for the apps I need to be able to check at a glance, with a row of quick access apps / app folders at the bottom (slidable and hidable if possible), with an icon to access the list of less used apps on the top right, where it used to be back when android was useable instead of a cheap iOS clone.
Luckily third party launchers are still a thing.
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Only the optical sensors do this. The newer ultrasonic fingerprint sensors are more accurate and don't require any light/brightness changes.
So I've heard! My 6 has the light, and while I've gotten accustomed to it, I'm not a fan.
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Control over it.
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I liked the little led light at the top that would blink for notification
And you could customize the color depending on the message/notification!
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At this point I am team "use phones less, use Linux PCs more" unless I am away from home.
I'm just chilling on my couch with my family. Having a nice ergo trackball and a monitor on an arm that can swing out in front of me is a game changer.
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Human coded Smart Keyboard. Ever since they changed to learning algorithms the spelling and grammar corrections have gotten much worse.
I straight up turn the autocorrect off wntirely these days. Natural rypos are so much easier to read than autocorrect switching out entire damn wprds...
(leaving in typos for example)
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OnePlus still offers this one on some of their phones.
Can confirm. Currently rocking a OnePlus 12 with an IR blaster. Only sucky part is the app doesn't let you put in custom codes or tweak the layout, so one of the old TVs I have set up doesn't have a freaking number pad. Suuuper annoying to not have a number pad with digital channels.
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While I fully sympathise and agree, most android phones have a camera shortcut that doesnt need you to unlock with fingerprint. just swipe up the camera icon usually bottom right on lock screen
My shortcut is to double-tap the power button. Works to bypass the lock screen for the camera, though going anywhere else including the gallery then asks for a fingerprint or pattern/etc.
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I liked the little led light at the top that would blink for notification
I don't remember which phone, but one of mine had an rgb led that could be set to blink different colors for different apps. I really miss that!
