Dear LPG,

I know that there are simpler mobile phones on the market these days and when I last decided that I needed a new one I took a good look at all those especially designed for older people, but I decided on a smart phone last year so that, in our lockdown world, I could keep in contact with my family both visually as well as being able to hear them.

It was a bit of a challenge at first but, with a lot of patience on the part of some of my family members, I am getting quite good at WhatsApp and a few of the other video calling apps.   I have even learnt how to send simple texts but, according to many of my younger family members, I have a problem.  

I am good at leaving messages when I can’t get through, but I keep forgetting to check to see if anyone has left any messages for me.  Funnily enough, quite a few of the friends that I have become used to contacting with my new telecommunication skills, have been told that they have the very same problem, and there was another thing.

Have you noticed all those little orange dots with numbers that seem to appear over some of the icons on the screen of your phone, when you first pick it up and turn it on?  I find them a bit annoying; and have you noticed that the little numbers in them keep getting bigger each time you turn the phone on? 

The other day while on the phone to one of my granddaughters, I asked her what they were for and she told me that they inform you that, depending on which icon has one attached, something will have happened since you last turned the phone on.  The little orange dots are called ‘Icon Notification Badges’ and are there to make you aware of how many things have happened on the affected part of your phone since you last checked.  The longer you leave checking them; the bigger the number in the orange dot gets.

The information came with a lecture about checking what is going on with my phone more often.   Our little mobile companions are so busy working on your behalf these days with doctors, dentists and the hospital reminding you of appointments, titbits of information left by your bank and utility bill providers, the company that you pay your phone bill to, all the adverts that are sent to you; and that is before you check the little messages that your family leave for you.  Have you ever had that conversation where you complain that you have not heard from a friend for ages, and they answer by telling you that they have been leaving text messages on your phone for weeks?

Unlike the young people, we oldies tend not to have our mobile phones out every spare minute of the day and night, and we are not the sort of people that have to take a look at it first thing when we get up and last thing before we go to bed, but I have now got into the habit of checking my little orange dots once a day with a cup of tea, just to keep up to date with what is going on. 

All you have to do is tap the dotted icon and check the most recent messages which are usually at the top of the screen…

In the Bible, Acts 20: 35, Jesus tells us it is ‘more blessed to give than to receive’, and I agree wholeheartedly, but I am learning that, when it comes to mobile phones, we need to do a bit of both…

OK, Lee

LPG would like to point out that the little orange dots are not always orange.  Different mobile phones use different coloured dots, and some come with numbers, but they are nearly always attached to the top right-hand corner of the app they are trying to alert you to and sometimes have a number in them… (you can adjust how many dots appear on your phone and if they have numbers or not.  You can get rid of the dots altogether… but that is an advanced job) 

We found a little related information although you might find it a little complicated …

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