A toggle is a pin passed through the eye of a rope to fasten it. It is also used figuratively to describe an on/off command. In computer technology, toggles can be used to turn on and off functions like caps lock and screen savers.

In application development, toggles can be used to allow product teams to experiment with new features and changes without risking the impact on their production users. They can be used to test out new design and functionality with a limited segment of the user base or as circuit breakers to prevent unwanted regressions in applications that have been rolled out to the entire audience.

It is important to consider how the use of toggles in your product can affect accessibility and usability for all users. Using toggles to update preferences and settings should be carefully considered to avoid creating an inconsistent user experience. It is recommended to maintain a consistent design style for toggles across your product to enhance usability and aesthetics. It is also important to make sure that toggle switches are easily accessible and provide clear labels.

It is common to implement a toggle configuration management system to manage the re-configuration of individual toggles. This can range from simple commenting approaches through to more sophisticated systems that manage toggles in some type of centralized location, often within existing application DB’s. Typically these more sophisticated systems come with some form of admin UI which allows system operators, testers and product managers to view and modify toggle configuration. To ensure consistency and reduce the possibility of unexpected regressions when releasing to production it is wise to always test the toggle configuration that will be live in production plus any toggles that you plan to release with flipped On.