A toggle is a button or switch that allows users to select between two states or options. It is commonly used in technology, computing and programming to allow users to change settings or modes. The term toggle is also used in everyday technology to refer to the switching between screens as you video chat with two friends at once, or to the way you alternate between streaming and map views on a GPS device when driving.
In software development, toggles are Boolean variables that are set to either “on” or “off”. When a user clicks on the toggle, it flips to the other state. By determining the current state of the toggle, other parts of your program can react accordingly.
Toggles are a popular user interface element, but they must be implemented thoughtfully to be effective. A poorly designed toggle can be confusing, or even unusable. Toggle switches should be used sparingly and only when it makes sense to do so. In addition, toggles should always be presented in the same manner so that users can learn to identify them quickly and intuitively.
Many web designers use toggles to enable or disable elements on their websites and apps, such as social media buttons or comment fields. They can be particularly useful for limiting access to sensitive information, such as private data or account settings. While this may seem like a simple thing to do, it is surprisingly easy for developers to make these toggles unusable and frustrating to interact with. In these cases, developers should use other UI elements, such as checkboxes or radio buttons, which provide more explicit, direct feedback to the user.
A toggle can be a powerful tool in the hands of a developer, and it is tempting to set up complex series of features that require a series of toggles to activate. However, this can be confusing for the rest of your team and a nightmare to debug weeks or months down the road when one of those toggles begins to interfere with another. Toggle switches should be limited to the minimum amount of functionality required to complete a task, and it is usually best to avoid using them for overlapping features at all.
Feature toggles, sometimes called feature flags, are a newer development tool that supports agile workflows. Instead of creating a code branch for new features, developers can create toggles in the trunk that can be switched on or off to support different release schedules. These toggles can help teams meet release targets by hiding new features in production until they are ready for QA testing or market acceptance.
Toggles are often created with the purpose of making code more accessible, but they can have a negative impact on performance if overused. Toggles that are used to control database calls can generate thousands or millions of queries per toggle change, which can slow down a website or app significantly. Additionally, if toggles are designed with color in mind, designers need to keep in mind sensitivity around red/green color blindness, as well as cultural context for their choice of colors.