In a move that is sure to trigger some ardent OnePlus fans, Carl Pei, the company’s ex-founder and current CEO of Nothing, has come out and said that “most people never use” the alert slider. This bold statement, dropped casually on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, comes just ahead of the OnePlus 13 launch, a phone that, you guessed it, still features the slider.
Pei was reacting to an X user’s suggestion to add an alert slider to Nothing smartphones in 2025. “The vast majority of people who have access to it never use it,” Pei said citing “data” in response to a follow-up comment. The source of the said data remains unclear at the time of writing. That said, Pei, known for his knack for stirring up controversy and generating buzz, probably knew exactly what he was doing with this comment.
The alert slider, a physical switch allowing users to quickly toggle between silent, vibrate, and ring modes, has been a staple of OnePlus phones since the OnePlus 2. It’s a feature many users have come to love and appreciate, for its ease of use and satisfying tactile feedback. Over the course of time, even flagship Oppo smartphones like the new Find X8 Pro have started to get it.
So, is Pei just trying to get a rise out of people? Perhaps he’s subtly throwing shade at his former company, suggesting they’re clinging to outdated features. Or maybe, just maybe, he genuinely believes the alert slider has outlived its usefulness in a world full of customisable software settings, the kind that Nothing is known for. Even Apple has replaced its mute switch with a new Action Button in the recent iPhones.
Whatever his motive, Pei’s post has certainly ignited a debate among tech enthusiasts. OnePlus loyalists have been quick to defend the slider, with one user saying “Most people don’t put their phone face down, so they never see any kind of glif [glyph] animation on the back of the phone but you put it there anyway..” pointing at Nothing’s signature LED lights. Another wrote, “I’ve been using OnePlus from 2016 & there has never been a scenario where I felt the ALERT SLIDER is useless or of no use. I’ve been using it every single day. Ability to switch between RING, VIBRATE & SILENT without having to pick up the device or look at is very handy.”
Many have agreed with Pei, too, with one user writing, “True, most of us don’t need it. What we would really appreciate is more customisation options in the next iteration of Nothing OS. Love it’s clean experience but it’s kind of bare bones compared to other UIs, would really appreciate more of the same.”
Whatever be the case, Carl Pei surely knows how to get people talking. Whether you love it or hate it, the alert slider continues to be a topic of conversation, and with the OnePlus 13 on the horizon, it’ll be interesting to see if this feature sticks around for future generations.
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