Android 5.1 brings back silent mode, sort of

Just yesterday, Google finally unveiled the full changelog for the new Android 5.1 Lollipop update. The main changes that came along with the update were the addition of a new Device Protection mode, multi-SIM card support and HD voice calling capabilities. One change many folks were hoping would make it is the ability to completely silence Lollipop devices, not just set the interruption slider to “none”. Google hasn’t changed its ways in this new update, but it has done something to soften the blow for people who want silent mode back.

Now if you set your interruption slider to “none” in Android 5.1 Lollipop, the notification LED light will still blink when you receive notifications. Android devices in the past have had this feature when setting the device to silent mode, but that was removed in the 5.0 update. While this change hasn’t brought back silent mode in its entirety, the interruption slider now does a decent job at mimicking it.

On one hand, bringing back the notification LED in “no interruptions” mode is great. Now users can see if they’ve missed anything without having to hear their devices go off. On the other hand, “no interruptions” used to mean just that. No interruptions, at all, not even the notification LED.

All in all, this is a relatively small change that we’re sure many users will welcome back to their devices. Are you happy to see the return of the LED light in “no interruptions” mode?