OnePlus mentioned Monday that its signature Alert Slider characteristic is being transitioned right into a button, very like Apple did when it changed an analogous characteristic with the Motion button beginning with the iPhone 15 Professional.
OnePlus CEO Pete Lau mentioned the change in a group weblog submit, mentioning that the change is coming after three years of dialogue towards discovering a technique to get the alert slider to do extra. Lau additionally referenced that the corporate heard group backlash when the OnePlus 10T omitted the characteristic in 2022, and that the brand new button will nonetheless permit for silencing a telephone with out waking it up.
The Alert Slider, seen right here on the OnePlus 13R.
“I do know it is a large change. And I do know it is not straightforward to simply accept. The Alert Slider holds a particular place within the hearts of our Neighborhood, and we do not take that evenly,” Lau mentioned within the weblog submit.
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Whereas the OnePlus group has been recognized to be protecting of the telephone’s design, customizable buttons are actually widespread throughout new Android telephones and the iPhone. Apple’s $599 iPhone 16E is the lowest-cost iPhone that features a customizable Motion button, and Samsung’s $800 Galaxy S25 features a facet button that will also be mapped to particular actions or options.
Lau did not announce any new telephones that may embrace a customizable button as an alternative of the Alert Slider, however the preemptive announcement seems to be positioned to get forward of reactions to that change every time it does arrive. OnePlus sometimes sticks to annual releases within the winter for its new telephones, however the firm would possibly debut the button on the telephone with a much less predictable launch cadence, like its lower-cost Nord collection.
