Android

A fucking headphone jack

HEADPHONE JACK.

GIVE ME THE GOD DAMN HEADPHONE JACK BACK

I'd like a phone with no camera facing me, and physical hardware switches to completely disable the mic, camera, battery, and entire modem. Not some software interrupt and lock. I mean, the switch is circuit ground for these circuit blocks. When I select OFF, it means real world "this thing does not exist any more ever" until I turn it back on.

It would be interesting to have a modular rear camera with a removable lens, removable IR filter, along with public documentation and the full API for the sensor. This would open up an enormous range of applications. I would mostly mess with astrophotography more.

I miss having a notification LED. It used to be super common to have a "breathing" effect with a given color when an app had sent a notification.

So a Snapchat for example would show the breathing as yellow, etc. Super convenient to check for messages without going and grabbing the phone.

Headset jack and let me replace my damn battery. Also default option to uninstall non-OEM apps

Apparently most of my requirements/desires fit this. I require an unlocked bootloader, because I need root to not throw my phone through a window. An amazing camera would be needed as well.

I REALLY, REALLY would like a removable battery, IR blaster, small form function, a headphone jack, and a rear fingerprint reader.

OMG great question! I want:

• Laser range finder/"tape" measure
• Thermal camera
• Air quality sensor
• Radiation detector/Geiger counter
• Multimeter capabilities
• IR LED (so I can use it as a remote)
• Ultrasound capabilities
• Peltier so I can put a drink on my phone to chill it down 👍

An unlocked bootloader and a normal Linux distribution where I have root!

Honestly, headphone jacks are number 1.

Then also, FM radios. Most Android phones had them up until a few years ago, when Apple stopped shipping iphones with the feature, to push more people onto iTunes. I'm not a huge radio listener. But having the functionality during an emergency is invaluable. There was a really bad storm in my country a few years ago. Me and my family had no power and no internet for nearly a week. I would listen to my battery powered radio to get weather updates and to find out what the situation was like elsewhere. I don't understand why that same functionality can't be implemented in phones.

Besides that, removable batteries, sim card and SD card slots.

I know some phones had already did this, but I always liked the idea of support for using your phone as a TV remote. The phone has replaced so many pieces of hardware that it feels silly that TV remotes haven't been replaced yet.

I also specifically wish Chrome supported extensions on mobile. Firefox does it. Why can't the biggest browser do it?

Modular everything. I really wanted Project Ara to come to market.

A swappable battery. I could buy a few batteries and never be out of power. I could replace the battery on an older phone without pretty much having to replace the phone itself.

Niche feature....

By Apple's standards a headphone jack.

By Android's standards IR blaster. Had them in my last 2 phone and man is it nice to turn the volume down on a TV which is too loud in a public place like a Hotel Lobby or a Restaurant

I was looking into smaller form factor phones awhile back, and an interesting feature I noticed some of them had was a programmable button.

I don't know that programmable buttons on phones are that niche, but it's certainly not common either so far as I'm aware, so this super simple feature would be wicked imo. I'd also really like if more phones just stole Motorola's gesture interactions (e.g. quick twist for camera, firm double-shake for flashlight, etc.).

Also, uh...Speaking of small form factor phones, I don't know if that counts as a feature, but it's one detail I'd like to see come back, or flip phones with separate screens (clunky, sure, but better than the screen eventually creasing imo).

Officially supported rooting! Makes this less complicated.

I want a Galaxy Fold style phone, but the external screen is eInk. Have it set to always show the book I am reading. This will let me read in bite sized pieces.

I miss my IR blaster.

Headphone socket. They are taking away what was a universal feature and replacing it with inconvenient crap.

Niche or not, I want an SD card slot that actually fucking works. Like, yes, I can move files to it, but I can't actually install apps to it. There's the "move to SD, but that doesn't matter when the app files are still stored on the internal storage.

Whenever I buy a phone there's two function I look for that is getting phased out: LED indicator and a 3.5mm audio jack. It's why I have a Sony Xperia. The thing is there's no user configuration for the LED indicator. You either need to pay for a third party app or unlock the bootloader and install a custom firmware. I would love if a flagship phone had an LED Indicstor that was customizable. i.e. Blue for a text, Red for an email, Green for battery at 80%+, etc.

More phones like the Fairphone/Framework Laptop. Easy to repair and upgrade in a modular manner, as well as install what ever OS I choose.

Something interesting. Like 2 USB-C ports, also a nice hard plastic back, since they are so hard to find now.

E-Ink would be nice, whether integrated as part of an OLED/LCD screen, or a separate module that goes over the top.

Most of the things that I use my phone for don't generally need the full colour display (text isn't that expensive to display), and I wouldn't mind trading that for vastly better battery life that you can get from e-ink, but having the option to use both is probably the best way to go.

An IR transceiver wouldn't go poorly either. It's not something I use much, but it was handy to have when I did, whether to send things around, or to just use my phone as a remote for televisions and things.

Plastic back and a removable/user replaceable battery.

Yeah yeah I know it "feels cheap" but honestly I LIKED when phones were made of more plastic. Now they're heavier and both sides are breakable. Like, the metal backs were fine, but apparently metal backs suck for NFC and wireless charging so instead of giving us some classy Nokia Lumia style plastic they went with glass backs.

Also I keep my phone in a case because otherwise the back is so smooth it shoots off the couch if someone walks across my apartment. It's legit only in the case to add some friction.

IR blasters. I love that about Xiaomi

One without a damn camera, I swear to God most of the price goes into having "quality cameras" I never end up using.

I miss the IR blaster. Being able to control my TV and other set-top boxes was amazing. Now that functionality has been replaced by each manufacturer having their own control app that needs an internet connection and all your information. Bring back the IR blaster!

IR emitter . Super handy wen you use old stuf like me like VHS dvd combo crt ect .

I miss my keyboards

Headphone jack, apparently..

I liked the physical toggle for silent mode on iPhones. Flip/slide-out keyboards were also kinda cool

As far as apps though... I really loved having a good programmable remote app on devices with an IR transceiver. The best one was actually on Palm of all things, and you could add custom icons to a layout and then record inputs from your actual remotes to replay.

DisplayPort over USB C. Preferably with some desktop optimization like DEX. I don't want to buy a personal laptop beside my company owned machine, but obviously there are things I want to do in a desktop environment without my employer's all seeing eye during traveling.

Its frustrating that it is a flagship feature and the only conviniently working solution are Galaxy S devices.

I really wanted to switch to a Galaxy Flip, but the lack of DEX settled that I shouldn't have one.

I will never buy a phone that doesn't have GrapheneOS, so that limits me to Pixels.

I want a phone with an ultrasonic fingerprint reader, those are apparently a niche feature nowadays. The optical readers are terrible by comparison.

A phone built somewhat like a desktop PC. All parts replaceable or even upgradable. Choose the components for your needs and budget, or buy a pre-built.
But let's get to more standard smartphone concept.
On software side, no bootloader locks, or easily unlockable bootloader (not requiring internet) and root access that could be enabled in developer settings.

On hardware side:
IR blaster - Control your AC, TV, etc.
Front-facing stereo speakers - could give a better stereo sound. And bezels aren't a big problem. Actually they can be positive as you can hold your phone better with them.
Headphone jack - Obvious. Would be cool if it had mode for composite output, but that's quite extra.
Dedicated fingerprint scanner on front - I had this on Moto G5s Plus. It allowed awesome gesture navigation, much better than using whatever on-screen.
Trackpoint - Early Androids used to have that. Would definitely be useful with large screens.
FM, HD Radio, DAB, DAB+, DVB-T2 Lite receiver - Radio is pretty useful. AM would also be nice, though you would need external antenna better than cable from earphones. I think FM radio is the minimum here.
TV Receiver - Just like with radio, except now you're saving much more on mobile data.
Camera with optical zoom - We've been there with Samsung in the past. But I understand it makes things too large and heavy.
Projector - We've been there with Samsung in the past, again. I think it was done pretty nicely on the projector part with Beam 2. It didn't even add much thickness. Just the rest of the phone was meh.

Today my wish is for an internal pihole instance running on the device.

I loved the IR Blaster on my old Galaxy S4, was really fun to mess with the TV's in public places with it sometimes and was also pretty useful at home as well!

A full physical QWERTY keypad on my 3rd hand Blackberry Bold (in 2013) was the best thing I had seen on a cell phone. I wish full physical QWERTY keyboards would make a comeback.

It's the rear fingerprint reader for me, I use the pulldown action constantly. That and stereo front-facing speakers.

The ability to easily unlock bootloaders, IPS screen and removable batteries.

Oh I forgot, a clamshell folding phone but with only one screen and the other side is a physical keyboard, like a mini-laptop.

Nobody seems really know how to do a folding screen well, so why have the screen fold at all?

I want a phone small enough to fit in my pocket with the pocket flap buttoned shut