I tried to install it and it seems it flashes only once. Maybe it behaves differently for app notifications, as I only tried SMS, but I doubt it. So if you want a persistent notification indicator, you will probably have to use something else. There are many similar (but closed source apps) on Google Play. However, it should be relatively easy to do in Automate. The app itself isn’t open source, but all the scripts are. (For example this one or this one).
I am missing the LED (or an Always on Display), too.
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Best to relay your thoughts to Fairphone support, maybe the next Fairphone will include it.
If you miss it so much that you cannot life with it, you have to sell it.
There’s no alternative.
Or you have to wait for the next model. Maybe it has it. 50:50 chance 
Hi and welcome to the forum
Hopefully you knew you were buying a phone without one.
It’s like living choosing to move from the UK to Timbuctu I’d miss the rain and it would be a big upheaval to get it back.
A few days ago, out of boredom, I read the FP4 Repair price list which actually mentions an LED as part of the core module:
PCBA: Motherboard and daughterboard housing SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G (SM7225), SIM card slot, SD card slot, microphones 1, 2 and 3, ambient light sensor, proximity sensor, LED, Fingerprint sensor, volume buttons, power button, midframe.
Thus, I reached out to fairphone support and asked them wheter this mention is true or false.
And actually, it’s true. the core module has a built-in LED:
Dear XYZ,
The core module houses an LED inside. But it is not in any way connected to the user experience. It is simply a part of the build of the core module and the motherboard which it contains.
If you have any further questions please let me know. I am happy to help!
Best regards
If the statement of the support is confirmed, there might be still a chance for other OSes to include this functionality - assuming, of course, that the LED is in the right position
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This is interesting. But as you said, it will heavily depend on where the LED is actually located. I doubt it is visible through the screen/bezel. There are only cutouts for the selfie camera, the proximity sensor and the light sensor.
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Not entirely true. There are four cut-outs (including selfie camera):
This was already discussed last sommer when some pictures of the FP4 were leaked…
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Well, I’m not so sure about this. The right one is definitely the light sensor. But it seems to me that both the left and middle ones are used for the proximity sensor.
Update: I tried hovering a needle over the left and middle cutouts. It seems to me that the proximity sensor reacts only to the middle one being covered. So it might be possible that the left one is actually a regular LED.
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That would be so cool if it does have an LED. Strange that they don’t include it. I guess it’s a feature included in AOSP.
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If there was an LED under that hole, I’d imagine you would be able to find it just by taking off the screen?
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The fact that only one LED may be installed is by no means sufficient. It must be controllable.
That is the big question.
And I doubt whether this will find its way into AOSP. If at all in custom ROMs.
I don’t want to take away anyone’s hope. As is well known, it dies last. But it won’t be a quick fix.
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Wasn’t the FP2 or FP3 having the same plot twist? A software update activated the LED on one of those devices as well. I think it doesn’t hurt to ask for this feature to be enabled. Especially when you see people buy smartwatches to have persistent notifications. That’s not the kind of behavior a sustainable phone should push for.
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definitely not…
I’d ask, if there is a controllable LED that one can see from the outside, why it wasn’t included as a feature. I guess the hardest part isn’t to make it work firmware/software wise, once it’s here, is it?
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There is a slight difference. In the case of FP3, the LED has already been used to indicate charging. On FP4, the LED isn’t used for anything at all.
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That’s almost exactly what I asked them. I will post the answer here.
Furthermore, I also asked the developers of iodéOS (LineageOS-based) if they could implement the LED functionality in their operating system.
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Maybe relay the question to LineageOS as well, if it’s implemented there, then all derivatives will inherit that feature as well. Who knows, maybe Fairphone will cherry pick that commit as well. I still can’t think of any reason why they don’t implement this LED light…
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I would do it. But is there already any (official) developer at all who plans to maintain LOS on FP4?
Me neither. I really don’t get it.
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