Unlockable bootloader, removable battery, headphone jack, being assembled with SCREWS rather than GLUE.
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Love the first answer as, I have to get on my Linux soapbox here.
I remember first using Linux (Ubuntu 9.10 for those curious). One of the big ideas behind it was 'its your computer, do what you want'. That's why you can have access to Root or the Super User. Since its open source, root can do what it wants.
Android was initially built on Linux, but they have taken Root and turned it into a way to restrict users not just from sensitive things (like necessary system apps), but also from bloatware (looking at you Samsung). Years ago I had a phone that came with the NFL Network which I didn't want. Could I remove it? Of course not, I would have to be Root to do that!.
Sorry for the rant, but really, I should have access to anything on my phone if I want it. Give me a warning, make it so people can't get to it 'accidentally', but then let it be on me.
You want to⦠own the phone you bought???
Removable battery is the big one. I had a phone where they only cost like $15, so I could take 2 of them on a trip and last a week w/o charging.
IR Blasters!
I feel like I'm the only one who used them or cares that they were quietly phased out of phones.
You used to be able to use your phone as a universal remote. Being able to control my TV, sound system, ceiling fan, and lights all from my phone was so convenient! Plus if you were stuck in like a waiting room and they had ads or garbage like Fox News on, you could change the channel or turn it off completely. It was an incredibly useful feature to me, but I guess barely anyone else used since it was removed from phones without any complaints.
Except me. I'm complaining!
Back in the day, I discovered I could i) print over IR to our office's HP laser printer from my Psion organiser, ii) print control codes from the built-in OPL language to change the display message on the printer. I would occassionaly send messages like "insert coin", "too much paper", "grammatical error", etc. when colleagues were printing.
Headphone jack
And its buddy SD card slot.
Why phone manufacturers? Why?
You condemn us to dongle life.
It's all about selling the solution to a problem they created.
No SD card slot? You are forced to upgrade since you cannot store anything more than what they allow.
No headphone jack? Hope you like buying our inferior first party wireless earbuds or the shitty dongle thing.
Next up on the chopping block will be the charging port in favor of wireless charging, I swear.
By that point, I think I would rather just buy a phone that has all of those features and replace the components as needed instead of upgrading while also having a burner phone I can transfer whatever "e-sim card" they force upon me.
I miss the notification lights. One of my first true smart phones was the original oneplus. It was fun setting up custom colors for different types of notifications and came in handy every now and then
Fingerprint sensor on the back of the phone. So you'd pick it up and your finger would naturally fall on the sensor, so that by the time you look at the screen, it's unlocked.
IR blaster. You could have a universal remote app and control any tv from my palm PDA
Headphone jack, dedicated fingerprint reader, removable battery, physical sim card trays
Edit: expandable storage
- iris scanner
- Dedicated MicroSD card slot
- 3.5mm headphone jack
- Removable/user replacable battery
- Metal backs
- Front firing speakers
This may sound dumb... An old Samsung phone I had years ago, came with alarms that gradually faded in. The most memorable, started with the ocean, and the seagulls... Then there was a fog horn in the distance. Slowly the horn got closer, and closer... Until it was all you could hear, and your alarm was going off.
I've looked everywhere for the sound file... It must be Locked away in a basement at Samsung somewhere.
One day I'll find it
idk why, but I dug around YouTube for an hour or so to try and find that alarm for you. I stumbled across one that's so close to your description, though it's from a BlackBerry, not a Samsung:
Is this the one?
I miss my smart watch waking me up outside of detected REM sleep.
On the Microsoft Band you could set a time window where the alarm would go off - say between 0700-0800. If you're in REM sleep at 0700, the alarm stays off until you naturally rouse, or 0800.
I've worked as a sleep scientist for 7 years, and the idea of not being woken out of REM is such a neat idea, and yet no other watch seems to do it.
Being able reach the entire screen with one hand... Even with larger hands, reaching across a 6 inch screen with my thumb is bullshit and uncomfortable as fuck. I miss my iPhone 4S
3.5mm headphone jack.
3.5 jack
Physical buttons. Sometimes an app or the OS itself will fuck up and not show you the home or back button for example.
I would miss headphone jacks but any phone worth buying still comes with those... for now
Small sizes
Multicolour notification LEDS - customisable for each app
Smaller camera bumps and less cameras in general - not everyone wants or needs to be a professional photographer.
Plastic bodies, with removable batteries via covers.
I don't know how many current phones support it but mine doesn't... Extendable storage via micro sd
Customisable vibration patterns for different contacts and apps - I remember how super old early Android Xperia phones being able to do this (alongside the LED mentioned above). I used to think this was stock android, I guess not. But if it was, why did they remove it, same guess for LED
I like where phones are now for the most part, but the thing I miss the most is that magic moment of what leaps and bounds new technology/form factor/whatever was being incorporated into a new phone. Like when the iPhone was first announced or when Motorola announced (and marketed the hell out of) the original Droid - I can still hear the boot up sound.
I remember the debates and arguments had when the first 4+β phone was released and how it was βway too bigβ compared to the ideal sized 3.5β iPhone. The idea of swiping to type!? What a breakthrough! A fingerprint scanner to unlock your phone, that took like three or four tries some times and was met with skepticism by others.
Now I feel like, despite how monstrously capable are phones are now compared to even five years ago, thereβs just not as much of a spark anymore. New phones are iterative and have been for a while. Bendable displays are sort of neat, but just doesnβt quite tap the same bit of magic for me.
Headphone jacks and the ability to expand available memory using SD cards.
I loved how older versions of Android (and afaik iOS as well) could set the album cover of the currently played song as the lockscreen background.
It's a tiny and maybe completely unnecessary feature, but i loved it.
Headphone jack for sure. Like 90% of my phone usage is either listening to music or watching videos, so decent audio is like the only thing I care about lol.
Tactile buttons
Once I get my next phone, I'll miss the headphones jack.
Battery life, even with massive batteries, modern phones only last a day while older phones could last up to a week between charges.
Privacy
I missed how I could set an alarm and then shut my blackberry off overnight and the phone would turn itself back on in the morning to alarm
Headphone jack and IR blaster
IR transmitter, removable batteries (but they will come back), the notification LED.
Rear mounted fingerprint sensor 3.5mm Audio port
I refuse to use a phone without a headphone jack.
Removable batteries
Batteries that lasted a week.
Multi-colored LED notification light - better yet the Nexus One trackball + multi-colored LED light in one.
Headphone jack is always nice. I don't use it anymore, if anything USB-C dongle is fine.
An indestructible phone. Nokia and Sony Ericsson had some phones that were stronger than a brick. This weak glass sucks.
I had an htc one that could transmit IR signals meaning you could mess with TVs and other simple wireless electronics. You could also use the headphone wire as an actual radio antenna.
Specifically, modern computers have inherently more delay time between the keyboard (or other input devices), the software, and the display than much-older (1980s) computers. This means that it is not possible to create games that are as responsive to player inputs as the arcade, console, or microcomputer games of the past.
USB is slow. HDMI is slow.
I miss the gboard of 5 years ago when typo correction was spooky good.
I miss uploading my own songs to Google music.
I miss easily flashable bootloadera and roms.
I miss the three virtual navigation buttons.
I miss setting different notification dot colors for different apps.
I miss setting different notification sounds for different people.