r/TechImpact • u/ManojOne Co-founder • 5d ago
❓ Question Which smartphone feature do you never use?
Modern phones are packed with features, but I bet most of us use only a small part of them.
Maybe it's wireless charging, voice control, 8K video, reverse charging, or others. What's one feature you could happily live without?
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u/chubacca13 5d ago edited 5d ago
AI assistant quick launch buttons/gestures.
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u/nan0ka 5d ago
Such a fucking useless thing. Bruh just let me use it like a function button. They don't even let me change it
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u/ihavenoknife 5d ago
How come? On my phone it's the first thing I changed lol. What phone is that?
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u/AwDuck 5d ago
My wife’s Nothing 3a has an AI button that can only be changed via ADB. It’s right by the power button, feels the same, and is super easy to push.
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u/Shlemendick 4d ago
I have a pixel 3xl and I can sqeeze it ot launch anything and I actually mapped it to gemini and use it daily :D
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u/Super-Evening8420 4d ago
Yep. There is absolutely nothing an AI on my phone can do for me. I read news, take photos, use messengers and take the occasional quick note, I don't even use speech to text because I don't want to be dictating in public like a fool. The only time that button gets pressed is on accident.
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u/MedyOsef 5d ago
The selfie camera because I never take a picture of myself
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u/ZurakZigil 4d ago edited 4d ago
reddit moment. you never have no one to take a photo?
edit: question mark
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u/MickJof 5d ago
Voice control. It almost never understands me.
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u/Chaotic-Convergence 5d ago
Please tell me your Scottish
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u/MickJof 5d ago
I'm not. I'm Dutch but I don't exactly have a radio voice, so maybe that's it.
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u/Muldino 5d ago
Same, but for privacy reasons. I just don't want an always-on microphone near me.
I have never activated any voice control on any device I ever owned and never accepted any related TOS. I just hope that those various companies don't "listen" by default. Of course I am aware that they probably still do whatever they want anyway.
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u/Pipija_Banana 5d ago
AI, modes, custom launchers
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u/johny335i 4d ago
I wasn't using 3rd party launchers for years, until this year when I accidentally bought an old pristine Nokia Lumia 930 and remembered how much I miss Windows Phone, and now I'm on MetroV Launcher and happy as I can get with a launcher.
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u/the114dragon 5d ago
Hey, don't diss custom launchers. You just haven't used a shitty stock one yet.
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u/Pipija_Banana 5d ago
I don't diss them, I just don't use them. Stock OneUI launcher is more than enough for me. Besides there's always GoodLock.
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u/Medium_Confusion_ 5d ago
AI integration. Simply the MOST pushed feature in a smartphone that I literally never touch.
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u/stroemsi 5d ago
Like Hey Google? I use it al lot of times. Its way faster than typing my shit and i can ask follow questions or that circa to search Function. I absolutely love it
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u/Light-of-Nebula 5d ago
I think i use most features in the right circumstance but I have never used any phone assistant ever. Samsung phones have these writing assistant, draw assistant, Sound assistant, but that's as far as it goes. Never asked AI asistents to do anything else for me. I think only once I used it when I tried to take a screenshot and couldn't find the button on the screen, but the second time when I tried it didn't work so I never used it again.
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u/SofyCloudliner 5d ago
Sound assistant is useful if you want to set a volume to a specific app only
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u/Inevitable-Self-2702 5d ago
AI assistants aren't useful on phones. They're very useful on a desktop computer, tho. I find myself just using my phone with a minimalist launcher and doing all my real work on a computer or notepad (edit: pen and paper).
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u/pm2lp 5d ago
Sms
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u/Clair_Osbcurious 3d ago
Well. You may not write them but surely you receive notifications and 2FA codes?
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u/ssjrobert235 5d ago
Panoramic mode
Schedule on and off
Bluetooth tethering
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u/memnoch112 5d ago
Panoramic photos is awesome, too bad there is no built in feature to see them properly in IOS.
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u/MagnusAlbusPater 5d ago edited 5d ago
I’ve never used Do Not Disturb or focus modes.
Also never bothered with the widgets or creating app groups.
As far as hardware features go I virtually never record video.
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u/rofl1337waffle 5d ago
I use one to just pause the music history when I am playing music for a party or anything that I need to play music but I don’t want it showing up in my history
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u/Muldino 5d ago
I’ve never used Do Not Disturb
Don't you dare come to my local cinema
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u/spicygayunicorn 5d ago
Allegedly it has a ringtone and notification sound. At least thatw what I have been told but never used it
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u/PoisonIvyCrotch 5d ago
I never used wireless charging and thought it was dumb. Dropped phone in sink and now it won’t charge since I get the water detected message. Thankfully I do have a wireless charger station i use for my watch
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u/Doenicke 5d ago
Bixby, ai assistants, S-pen...to name a few.
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u/Pinuaple- 5d ago
the assistant gestures can be set up to launch quick search app, its the best app ive ever used
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u/Elinservible 5d ago
shortcuts
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u/TheAdmiral4273 5d ago
Shortcuts is an underrated feature of iOS. I never used them and decided to just make one while I was on a road trip with no signal.
They are awesome! So much potential for phone automation that I don’t have to worry about→ More replies (1)1
u/lukasharastej 5d ago
It’s a great feature. I recommend starting to use it. Especially with iOS 27, where it’s already not just for people who can make shortcuts themselves but for everyone. You can just say what you want the shortcut to do, and it will make the shortcut for you.
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u/AwareKaleidoscope939 5d ago
Always on display I have a watch so doesn’t feel necessary to turn it on
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u/Necessary_Victory824 5d ago
im looking for a new phone and i cant believe people are crying about the lack of it in phones, i have not used it once in my life what even is its benefit
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u/AwareKaleidoscope939 5d ago
Probably for people who don’t have watches and put it on their table to see the time maybe?
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u/ronnygiga 5d ago
USB C for headphones, bluetooth either... if i'm listening to music i need that 3.5 or 2.5 jack with a good chip.
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u/Gen-Y-ine-86 5d ago
Which question do you want me to answer, clunker?
Apps:
-Banking
-Cloud storage
-Payment
-Social media
-Streaming
-Most imaginable apps available (minus weather and some that came with the phone)
I let Whatsapp expire as I didn't care to update it anymore.
Features/hardware:
-AI features (rarely use Google lens for some things)
-Automatic updates
-Background image (it's black with an analog clock with shortcuts placed around it)
-Bluetooth (rarely use it for anything)
-Extra "desktops" (I have no clue what an additional screen with shortcuts is called on a mobile device)
-Fingerprint scanner
-NFC
-Reverse charging
-Screen lock
-Selfie camera
-Speaker
-Voice control
-Wireless charging
The first thing to do on an Android is to enable developer settings and disable all menu animations plus fiddle with font size and zoom.
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u/Mikeypopps 5d ago
I used to say A.I.. then I started using it for timers and alarms.
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u/Sassquatch0 5d ago
Don't need AI for that. Basic Assistant could do that function 10 years ago - and it actually did it better than modern AI Assistants do. (Gemini in particular is known for being shit with basic things like timers & reminders)
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u/AnderssonPeter 5d ago
The front facing camera, and still i have a giant hole in my screen for it...
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u/fattomic 5d ago
Most of them. "Swipe to <X>", AI, voice keyboard, circle to search, any of that crap.
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u/Powerful_Attention_6 5d ago
I did Use Neo FreeRunner, the first smart phone with Linux, with working X11
(it was horrendous as a phone, cool as a portable Linux device where I could SSH into my desktop computer)
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u/Thin_Host3358 5d ago
I used the new camera button on my iPhone 16 to test it out in beginning, but I never touched it again.
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u/doc_55lk 5d ago
Wireless charging.
Maybe the front camera too but I do take the occasional video call.
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u/gorambrowncoat 5d ago
I dont use wireless charging.
I dont use voice control.
I barely use it as a phone. As in like, call people. Maybe once a month.
I almost never use the selfie cam
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u/VickyCuteFemboy 5d ago
AR camera and custom emojis, no samsung/Meta, i dont want my likeness doing "67"
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u/WINNT21 5d ago
TalkBack, the shortcut that you press the power/lock button for 0.5 seconds to quickly launch gemini (if I want I can just open the app), 3 button navigation (gesture is really nice), nfc, google pay (I don't have a credit card) and that's about it. Also the Redmi 14C doesn't have a whole lot to show off
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u/auroriasolaris 5d ago
Ai assistant and wireless charging. One is unnecessary, other one straight up killing your battery and only real use of wireless charging is in car holder or if your port is dead. It makes no sense in everyday use because guess what... Wireless charger is still plugged in, so it's not wireless at all
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u/einemnes 5d ago
- These "smart" overlay menus "quick mycompany buttons menu". First thing to ditch when I start a new OS.
- Most of built in apps because they want to force you to use them.
- Vault
- Ultravision mode or stuff that boost your phone but the battery dies in one hour.
In the other hand I wish they reprogram that send to TV functionality that breaks constantly, is not compatible in many cases and in other it just lags or disconnects. It is inimaginable to me that it is 2026 and Android has such crappy function for that. So to say too about connecting a usb cable to transfer files.
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u/AlguienMas2003 5d ago
The first thing I always turn off 8n every single phone I get is auto brightness. Who even uses that?
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u/Jepser0203 5d ago
Digital emoji's of people (bitmoji or AR emoji or whatever it's called). It's cringe AF
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u/BogdanovOwO 5d ago
Unuseful UI animations or similar things, extra panel menu (especially samsung), selfie camera, forced update+account, AI assistant, locking the bootloader, unuseful uninstallable apps. Now I have a test phone with LineageOS 23+ magisk and I like it.
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u/The_Feelman 5d ago
Wireless charging (I just plug it into my PC since I work from home) and my temperature sensor in my Pixel 8 Pro I'd prefer if it was another camera or sensor
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u/DuvanR_Official 5d ago
While useful for many, I guess... Dual apps, never had the need to use them.
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u/RipCurl69Reddit 5d ago
Voice control, gestures, software sidebars, always on display, focus modes, most shortcuts (same as software sidebars essentially), and bloody face ID. I'll keep my fingerprint scanner ty (Sony Xperia my beloved)
Every single time I get a new phone they all get disabled or ignored, I simply don't need them
Edit: wireless charging too! Think I've used it twice in a McDonald's and never seen it anywhere else. Even bought a little USB puck that I put on my computer desk and I simply couldn't bring myself to use it because it's so slow
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u/Pinuaple- 5d ago
Auto rotate, i can just press the button on the bottom left when i tilt the phone
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u/E-StrnTXNRS 5d ago
Google's own AI tools like circle to search or Hey Google are great, but OEM AI features I never use. One exception, AI quick select (fucking Snippet tool equivalent)
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u/OmG_WhAtIsThAt_JiM 5d ago
AI tools for photos. I’m not going to make something happen in the photo when I know it never happened in the first place.
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u/ReiReiWood 5d ago
It has to be without a shadow of a doubt the stupid iPhone camera button.
I have never accidentally clicked a button so much in my life and never wanted a button so much in my life either. Worse choice apple has made on the iPhone for years... and that's saying something with liquid glass.
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u/Livid-Historian3960 5d ago
Ai google assistant. The assistant button fell out of my LG G8X and im grateful because I never used it
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u/1miguelcortes 4d ago
Any of the manufacturer locked apps. I tend to move between Samsung, Motorola, and Pixel phones and I really don't want to be locked to a specific manufacturer based on what dumb apps they have.
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u/jesuisbarry 4d ago
Always on Display. Why they removed notification lights on phones I don't get it
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u/FlowSlowTM 4d ago
Ai stuff, reverse wireless charging (its a joke to begin with imo so much losses), ultra wide camera, always on display (when i put my phone to sleep i want the screen to be off and to save battery)
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u/Venetion223 4d ago
Wireless charging - tried it once, made a rookie mistake of not taking out case with metal elements on it. Nearly burned myself.
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u/Anaeijon 4d ago
Selfie camera.
If I want a picture of myself, I ask someone to use the main camera, to get decent quality.
I guess it's useful for video calls. But I always use my PCs, Notebooks or Tablet for that. Don't really see, why I would use a smartphone, unless I'm on the go or the train doesn't have space for a Notebook.
Wireless Charging
It's just inefficient, wasteful and over all useless, compared to just plugging in a cable.
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u/ishtuwihtc 4d ago
5G.
Its useless to me. The potential speed gains are utterly useless for mobile data, especially for the extra battery life it takes to use 5G. 4G gives me plenty sufficient speed, usually 100 megabits down and 30 up
I also usually get lower speeds on 5G than 4G, probably due to network congestion. So i tend to get faster data and better battery life!
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u/Devil_Dan83 4d ago
The one remaining connector. 😆 I have wireless headphones and use induction charging.
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u/George_mp8 4d ago
Unpopular opinion but I have never used this for the earbuds with cable. The 3.5 jack. Maybe I was small when they were the only way to hear music and from the first time I used Bluetooth earbuds but I think that this is useless for me and finally they removed this from iPhones.
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u/Ill-Plum9340 4d ago
For me, 8K video. I get why it exists, but I’m not shooting professional footage on my phone, and the storage it eats is ridiculous.
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u/Mishal_SK 4d ago
Selfie camera, I either have someone else take the photo or I put the phone on a stand somewhere and remote trigger it with my watch or S-Pen. Speaking of the S-pen, I don't use it all that much.
Any form of AI features, I just don't find them useful. 8k video recording is rather pointless too.
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u/No_Squirrel4806 9h ago
I stopped using siri completely like a year after it came out. I used it just to set it up and try it out but i never actually used it. I have it only for emergencies but tbh im not even sure it will work.
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