Before Apple discontinued the function with the release of the iPhone X, the new iPhone displayed the % of power remaining right in the status bar, accessible from wherever on your phone. This provided a convenient method to quickly peek at your battery level. The cause? At the time, Apple had to create place in the smaller notch for the numerous sensors.
Many people missed the battery symbol, so Apple returned it with the introduction of iOS 16, which you can download right now, but with a new look. I, along with many others, welcome the return of the battery indication, but some people are disappointed, in part because iOS 16 will still not bring them the battery symbol on their phone. Others felt Apple could have done more to make the symbol useful and were dissatisfied.
The new battery percentage function isn’t currently supported by every iPhone. Apple just last week published iOS 16.1, which provides the battery percentage capability to every iPhone running iOS 16 and is now only available to developers. What you should know is as follows.
What’s up with the iPhone’s battery status meter?
The precise battery % used to be displayed in the status bar of iPhones. There wasn’t enough screen space left after the iPhone X’s debut to maintain the battery level in the status bar, so Apple removed the function. The notch is the black bar at the top of your handset that contains a speaker and camera.
You can check the exact % in the Control Center by swiping down from the top right of your iPhone, but you can’t see the battery level from any app or the home screen. Additionally, it’s difficult to determine the precise percentage from the battery symbol alone, which is bad if your iPhone is about to die.
In the status bar, inside the current battery symbol, iOS 16 reintroduces the battery percentage indicator.
Which versions of the iPhone won’t get the battery percentage function restored?
Some people find it aggravating that not all iPhone users using iOS 16 will be able to view the new battery % feature in the status bar. Although the reason for some models’ exclusion from the feature has not been officially stated, it appears that lower pixel densities for some of the devices and space constraints for others are to blame.
The following models aren’t compatible with the functionality, according to this Apple support page:
- A iPhone XR
- iPhone 11
- Mini iPhone 12
- Mini iPhone 13
On iPhones that don’t support the new feature, the only way to see your battery % is to either add a battery widget to your lock screen or home screen, or scroll down from the top right of your iPhone to see the battery percentage next to the battery icon (instead of inside it).
However, with iOS 16.1, which was made available last week for developers, the new battery % functionality will be available for the iPhone XR, iPhone 11, and iPhone Minis. It is now only available for download here, but it will soon be made available to everyone.
Even some users of the function are unhappy with its layout.
The new battery % icon’s look hasn’t won over everyone. On compatible devices, the battery % is always displayed in the status bar, but the battery symbol itself always displays as full, regardless of whether the phone is in standby, charging, or low power mode—only the colour changes. So if you just skim it, it could seem a little perplexing.
Only when the battery is 20% or below does the design truly alter; at that point, the battery symbol displays as drained, or roughly a fifth full, and turns red.
Mikael Johansson posted a prototype of the battery symbol moving in tandem with the percentage on Twitter. The tweet received thousands of likes, and many of them felt that it was an improvement over the previous layout.
With iOS 16.1, Apple has heard and updated the battery percentage icon.
Apple appears to have taken note of the complaints made by iPhone customers and updated iOS 16.1, which is presently in its second developer beta, to include a new battery % icon. A battery symbol that depleted along with the percentage was desired by many users, as seen by the mockups Mikael Johansson put online.
And as you can see in the tweet from Federico Viticci below, that is precisely what Apple is doing with the battery symbol. It is now simpler to notice how full (or empty) your battery is since the battery icon design depletes in addition to the percentage.
However, the general public won’t be able to get iOS 16.1 for some time.
How to restore the battery % to the iOS 16 status bar
No matter what you think about the look, if your iPhone is capable of supporting it, you should at least try out the battery % function.
All you have to do is update to iOS 16 to see your battery level in the status bar of your iPhone. You may either wait for a pop-up notification from your iPhone or actively force an upgrade by navigating to Settings, General, and Software Update.
After the update, you should be able to access the battery symbol in the top-right corner of your screen from anywhere on your iPhone and see the % shown there. By doing this, you can keep a careful check on when your iPhone’s battery is full or nearly empty and know when to start charging it.
Although the setting is enabled by default, you can make sure it works by going to Settings, Battery and toggling on the Battery Percentage option. The battery icon on your smartphone will become entirely green when it is charging and display the percentage, while it will turn entirely yellow when it is in low power mode and display the percentage once more.
