The icons at the top of Android smartphones have changed a lot over time. As features are added, more icons appear and can sometimes cause confusion. Here's what all those symbols mean.
Battery and charger

Perhaps the easiest to understand is the battery icon – these are variations of the battery icon.
- The battery status icon may be accompanied by the battery percentage. A simpler version of this icon will only show a fully charged battery.
- The charging icon will appear if the phone is charging – wired or wireless.
- Battery saving mode is indicated by a battery bar icon shaped like a cross (similar to the red cross symbol often associated with first aid and medical services).
- For low batteries – which usually means the battery is between 15 and 5% and is configurable – the battery icon has an exclamation mark.
Note: The Android status bar is a strip of icons that runs across the top of the screen. The top right corner is where you'll see most of these icons, while the top left corner is mainly for app notifications.
Network and connectivity

Network bars and Wi-Fi icons represent your mobile network and Internet as well as additional connectivity features. Wi-Fi and cellular network icons show a rough estimate of signal strength – the level of the filled icon is used to gauge the strength of the signal, just like the battery icon. Some carriers also display the network speed – LTE, 4G or 5G – next to this icon.
- An exclamation mark next to the cellular or Wi-Fi icon means there is no Internet connection. However, for Wi-Fi, this mark indicates that the device can be connected to a WLAN (wireless local area network) but not to the Internet.
- A circle with a cross inside means your device is in data saving mode. This just means that your device is reducing data usage wherever possible, allowing you to save on the cost of your data plan.
- There is a mobile hotspot icon that appears when you enable the feature that turns your smartphone into a Wi-Fi hotspot.
- The old Bluetooth icon indicates that your smartphone is paired and connected to another device, such as a pair of headphones, smartwatch, etc.
- The airplane icon replaces the cellular network icon, and the Wi-Fi icon implies airplane mode will cut off any connection from the smartphone. You can then turn on the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi options separately to connect to in-flight Wi-Fi or to listen to music from your phone, tablet, or laptop.
Call

The traditional icons for the calling experience have been there for quite some time.
- The most obvious of these is the phone icon, which changes between an active call and a missed call. What's interesting is that these icons appear on the left side of the status bar.
- If you've muted your microphone during a call, you'll see it crossed out in your status bar – on the right.
- The phone icon on the right, very similar to the ongoing call icon, indicates you're on speakerphone mode. Previously, this icon was the traditional speakerphone icon.
Other modes

Typically, you set your phone to one of the many available modes to turn off notifications, mute pings, or just to focus on the actual things you're doing.
- An icon that looks like a vibrate phone bar indicates that the phone is in vibrate mode and will vibrate for calls and notifications but doesn't make any sound.
- A crossed out speaker implies that the phone is in silent mode and will not make any sound during calls and notifications nor vibrate for effect.
- Another available mode is the do not disturb option, which blocks all notifications (you can customize which apps or contacts can show even when DND is enabled) – this icon is a solid circle containing a dash.
Other icons

From time to time, you will see a lot of other icons in the status bar. In addition to these status icons, you'll see app-specific icons whenever you receive a notification.
- An inverted teardrop with a hole indicates that location services are on and one of the Android apps or features is tracking or sharing location. This icon is always active when you use Google Maps for navigation, for example.
- A box containing a Wi-Fi icon appears whenever you cast from your phone to another display device on the network. For example, stream YouTube videos from your phone to the TV in the living room.
You probably recognize some of the most common Android status bar icons by now, just a quick glance to the top right corner will keep you aware of how your phone is doing.