How can I get ongoing visual notification for missed text or call?

[Mojo88]

Just got new S21 and, except for the battery life, I'm kinda wishing I was back with my antique Note 3. Hoping this is just until I'm used to it, but I find it frustrating to get simple settings the way I want them.

How can I get ongoing visual notification that I have a message or that I missed a call? I set up the edge light-up notification, but that seems to be a one-time thing when the message comes in. I have neither the time nor the desire to sit there and stare at my phone all day to watch for messages. The blue blinking LED on the Note 3 was great... caught my attention immediately when I glanced in the direction of my phone. I now find myself having to turn on the screen every time I think of it to see if there's a message waiting.

I feel like I must be missing something obvious... how can I set up an ongoing visual notification for messages or missed calls? I've Googled this to death, and it appears the notification light is indeed removed from the S series. I honestly can't believe it, what the heck were they thinking? Does anyone have a viable solution???

Thanks!

 

[Dannydet]

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jamworks.alwaysondisplay

 

[ocnbrze]

Just got new S21 and, except for the battery life, I'm kinda wishing I was back with my antique Note 3. Hoping this is just until I'm used to it, but I find it frustrating to get simple settings the way I want them.

How can I get ongoing visual notification that I have a message or that I missed a call? I set up the edge light-up notification, but that seems to be a one-time thing when the message comes in. I have neither the time nor the desire to sit there and stare at my phone all day to watch for messages. The blue blinking LED on the Note 3 was great... caught my attention immediately when I glanced in the direction of my phone. I now find myself having to turn on the screen every time I think of it to see if there's a message waiting.

I feel like I must be missing something obvious... how can I set up an ongoing visual notification for messages or missed calls? I've Googled this to death, and it appears the notification light is indeed removed from the S series. I honestly can't believe it, what the heck were they thinking? Does anyone have a viable solution???

Thanks!

gone are the days for dedicated notification lights on smart phones. never tried the app that @Dannydet suggested. might give that one a go.

 

[Mojo88]

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jamworks.alwaysondisplay

Thanks, I'm gonna give that a try! I am completely and totally baffled as to why they would remove such a great feature as that little notification light. There are a few other things I absolutely HATE about this S21 phone, whereas I loved my old Note 3 for many years.

 

[Hadron]

Almost all phones have removed the notification LEDs now, though Sony still provide them (along with headphone sockets and microSD slots - I'd have bought an Xperia 5iii without a thought except that I couldn't justify paying literally 1.5 times the price of my s21).

I think the loss of these LEDs is a combination of removing the top bezel (Sony still have a narrow bezel) plus "always on displays" becoming fashionable. Manufacturers seem to believe that a dim icon when the screen is off, that can't be read from a distance, is somehow better than a brighter flashing LED, colour-coded so that you can tell what app has placed the notification from meters away. Personally I find ambient/always on displays so useless that I just turn them off. But to be honest I think that phone manufacturers are rather prone to groupthink and a less than serious attitude to usability.

 

[Mojo88]

Almost all phones have removed the notification LEDs now, ....... But to be honest I think that phone manufacturers are rather prone to groupthink and a less than serious attitude to usability.

Here's my theory: most people are so attached to their phones, they notification light is likely not necessary. They have the stupid phone in their hands virtually every second, so at that point, who needs a notification LED? I imagine if you have a 'groupthink' situation (which I'm sure exists), then that group could easily come to the conclusion that the notification LED is not needed any more, because all the folks in that group are likely phone addicts and rarely put their phones down.

 

[Hadron]

Well to be fair my phone is rarely that far from me either .

I suspect a lot of it is just the LED and circuitry to support it is an extra cost, and removing costs, even small ones, is how these companies make their money. Ambient displays were marketed as an "upgrade" (because you can show actual information rather than just a light), despite the fact that you generally just get a small, dim icon and you can't tell what it is unless you look closely, which means that for me at any rate it conveys less information than a coloured light flashing every now and then. Then the marketing story provides enough cover for the cost-cutting to be accepted, plus (as we've often seen) there's the tendency for manufacturers to all do the same thing which means users don't get a choice. And of course the trend for a display that fills the whole of the front doesn't leave much space for an LED, and most people think that a phone with a space for such things looks "old fashioned" (even if the alternative is stupid-looking notches or punch holes, which to my eye are worse).

There are apps that try to offer some alternative using the screen itself, like the one Danny linked, but I've no experience with them.

Overall my s21 works well, though I'd prefer it a little smaller. And it does have some good features (speaker is much louder than my Pixel 2, I like the ability to turn off fast charging, and have found a couple of edge apps that are useful to me). But like the removal of the headphone jack, the loss of the notification LED is something that benefits the manufacturer but not the customer.

 

[Mojo88]

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jamworks.alwaysondisplay

Well, I installed this app and am amazed at all the options. Sadly, I may be the dumbest mofo on the planet, because I still do not have it working, LOL. Of course, I am still on the free version, I have no problem paying for it, if I can just see it actually work a little bit.

 

[Banemm]

Well, I installed this app and am amazed at all the options. Sadly, I may be the dumbest mofo on the planet, because I still do not have it working, LOL. Of course, I am still on the free version, I have no problem paying for it, if I can just see it actually work a little bit.

Same thing, i purchased the pro thing but i still cant get it working properly, sometimes it works sometimes it doesnt, i set it to turn off AOD but it still turns it on for some reason, notifications also wont repeat even though i set them to repeat...

 

[Mojo88]

Same thing, i purchased the pro thing but i still cant get it working properly, sometimes it works sometimes it doesnt, i set it to turn off AOD but it still turns it on for some reason, notifications also wont repeat even though i set them to repeat...

I took some time to study it a bit, and relaxed (the missing blue LED still pizzes me off, so I am aggravated about this issue, LOL). Anyway, I got it working OK. At least I have a notification on the lock screen.

 

[PitCarver]

Sorry to be late to the party, but here's my solution to the missing led.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ledblinker.pro

 

[RJB]

Almost all phones have removed the notification LEDs now, though Sony still provide them (along with headphone sockets and microSD slots - I'd have bought an Xperia 5iii without a thought except that I couldn't justify paying literally 1.5 times the price of my s21).

I think the loss of these LEDs is a combination of removing the top bezel (Sony still have a narrow bezel) plus "always on displays" becoming fashionable. Manufacturers seem to believe that a dim icon when the screen is off, that can't be read from a distance, is somehow better than a brighter flashing LED, colour-coded so that you can tell what app has placed the notification from meters away. Personally I find ambient/always on displays so useless that I just turn them off. But to be honest I think that phone manufacturers are rather prone to groupthink and a less than serious attitude to usability.

In my experience with software developers, they also tend to design things for the way they want to use them... And are baffled when anyone contradicts them. I remember a long discussion with Outlook developers 25 years ago about security problems when you share a PC with others at work, and they kept telling me to get each user their own PC... And I'm like, PCs are $2500 each! Shit, I'm old.

 

[Hadron]

And Google are amongst the worst for that. They would release Nexus phones with 8GB or 16GB storage because surely nobody would need to keep anything on their device when you have Google's cloud and constant, free Internet (as long as you never left the Google campus).