A toggle is a switch that has two positions: On and Off. You can find them in everyday technology such as smartphones and tablets that enable or disable Airplane Mode. They are also used in software applications to change states of system functionality and features. Toggles are the preferred control when changing settings as they take less screen space in comparison to a radio button.
As part of a continuous delivery practice, feature toggles are valuable tools that can be used for experimentation and rollback. By enabling a new feature with a toggle and then reverting it back to the previous state, teams can safely evaluate how a change will be received by their audience before rolling it out to all users. Toggles can also serve as circuit breakers for your application when a change may cause unexpected latency or stability issues.
Many product teams use toggles to perform multivariate or A/B testing. By using a Toggle Router to consistently send each user into one codepath or the other, teams can make data-driven optimizations without impacting production.
Toggle switches should never be used in forms that require users to click or tap a Save or Confirm button for changes to take effect. This is a common mistake that leads to confusing and frustrating experiences for visitors. Additionally, creating a toggle around bugged behavior can often make the issue worse and should be evaluated case-by-case.
