once a year I email my favorite flashlight manufacturer to ask if they’ve finally made a flashlight that just turns on and off when you push the button, and every year they’re like, “no, but thanks so much for your feedback!”

be honest, have any of you ever used the flashing feature on your flashlight? did it actually come in handy? handy enough that I have to scroll past it every single time I want to turn my flashlight on or off

  • @Jesus_666
    1•18 hours ago

    Anduril is way overengineered. I like this UI that some of my lights have:

    While off:

    • One push: Turn on at the last used brightness.
    • Two pushes: Turn on at maximum brightness.
    • Three pushes: That strobe mode that you don’t need but seems to be obligatory.
    • Hold: Turn on at the lowest brightness (or moonlight mode if the light has one).

    While on:

    • One push to turn off.
    • Two pushes to toggle between maximum brightness and the last used “regular” brightness.
    • Three: That strobe mode that someone has to have some use for.
    • Hold: Alternately increase or decrease the brightness.

    That’s pretty easy to learn and gives you all the functions you’d reasonably need (plus that strobe) without a lot of clutter.

    • Badabinski
      2•17 hours ago

      That’s basically all I use from my Anduril flashlights. I don’t bother with the candle modes and all that shit. I’ve only ever used Anduril v2 flashlights, so maybe Anduril v1 was less intuitive?

      • @Jesus_666
        1•11 hours ago

        I also only used v2 but it’s the extra stuff in it that slightly annoys me. Like how turbo mode (brighter than the usual maximum but usually time-limited to avoid overheating) is only available when the full UI is unlocked. Or how there’s a stepped ramp mode that I have to remember to disable whenever I swap out the battery. Or how I can accidentally enter one of the more exotic modes of for some reason I press the button too often.