One of the defining features of OnePlus smartphones is the Alert Slider, but it looks that’s coming to an end. Company CEO Pete Lau made a lengthy community post saying this, as well as why it’s going away and what’s coming to replace it.
Taking the place of the Alert Slider is what is described as “a smarter, customisable button” for future OnePlus Phones. The reasoning behind the replacement could go both ways though, depending on your perspective. On one hand, Lau says that the Alert Slider is a hardware switch, so it wasn’t possible to let it do more, or to even let users customise what it does based on its position.
But on the flip side, it’s unclear what’s stopping OnePlus from making the Alert Slider functionality not be hardware locked, and allow for software customisability instead. Regardless, Lau says that this change into a button allows the brand to “better utilise the device’s space, explore new layouts, and make structural improvement s while keeping performance top notch”.
For what it’s worth, Lau says the new button will still allow users to switch sound profiles without waking their phones. But that’s not stopping the comments from calling the move to replace the Alert Slider with a button a copy of Apple replacing the mute switch with the Action Button.
Those who still want the Alert Slider can still technically it via the current OnePlus devices, or even the OPPO Find X8 series and the Find N5. But GSMArena reports that the Find X8 Ultra, as well as the OnePlus 14, will be the first devices to sport the new button that replaces the slider.
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