A toggle is a switch that has two positions, like on and off. The word is used for both software and hardware switches, such as the caps lock and num lock keys on a keyboard. In software, a toggle is typically represented as an icon with a contrasting color (like green or red) to indicate the current state. Toggles are powerful controls that can be confusing for users if not used appropriately. To avoid confusion, it is best to only use a toggle in contexts where its behavior is clear. For example, toggles should not be used as checkboxes or radio buttons where their states are already clear to the user.
Toggles are ideal for A/B tests because they allow your engineering team to experiment with new code and features in a real-world environment without putting your entire app at risk. Your team can deploy a version of your product with the experimental feature turned ON for a subset of users, while keeping the existing version for the rest of the user base. When the experiment is over, your engineering team can easily turn the toggle off and remove the experimental version of your product.
There are different types of toggles that can be created depending on their function. The most common toggles are visibility toggles which allow an owner to hide content from viewers, and subscriber containers which allow an owner to hide content from specific subscriber groups.
