What you need to know
- Pete Lau says that the new button is going to be designed to offer an intuitive and customizable experience while keeping the original sound-switching capabilities.
- OnePlus also notes that it will actively seek user input to shape the button's features.
- It appears the company is drawing parallels with developments like Nothing’s Essential Key and Apple’s Action Button, and we can expect more AI capabilities.
OnePlus has announced that it is replacing the traditional Alert Slider, which has been on the company’s flagship phones since their inception, with an all-new button.
According to Pete Lau, the new button is designed to be more personalized, which is also not just smart but also “incredibly intuitive” and “future-ready.” He also reassures users that they will still be able to switch sound profiles on their OnePlus handsets without waking the phone, similar to what the existing Alert Slider does. The new button aims to keep the best parts of it and unlock new possibilities.
Lau reiterates that Alert Slider has always been his favorite feature on the OnePlus phones, which is why it has been brought to Oppo devices. However, over time, it eventually became a “huge piece of hardware” with minimal functionality, i.e. to just switch sound profiles. Lau further notes that It wasn’t also reprogrammable due to its limitations.
And, it appears it was one of the reasons to remove it from the OnePlus 10T, which, however, received a severe backlash — and was later brought back in succeeding phones, including the latest OnePlus 13.
The company's co-founder further shares that he wants to hear from consumers about the new button and what they'd like it to do— further enhancing their daily handset usage experience.
OnePlus acknowledges that it is indeed a big change for long-time enthusiasts and reassures that it is not just about replacing the Alert Slider but rather evolving it with new capabilities.
On the whole, OnePlus’ approach should likely be similar to what Nothing has recently done with the Phone 3a series that now has a new Essential Key button, which has some AI-powered capabilities to get things done.
Samsung has also tried earlier to incorporate a new dedicated Bixby, which was, however, discontinued later. Apple, on the other hand, had also introduced an Action Button on the iPhone 15 series, replacing the good old alert slider, which is presumably considered an inspiration for the OnePlus in the first place.
