Android 15 update will give users a revised status bar

Google is going to make some changes to the Android status bar with the Android 15 update. The status bar, the bar running across the top of an Android phone, displays icons to give the user certain information such as whether the phone is connected to Wi-Fi or a cellular signal (showing the signal strength for each), the current time, open apps, battery percentage remaining, and more.

Android Authority has posted images of some of the changes taking place to the status bar in Android 15 including a new battery icon that shows the percentage of battery life remaining inside the icon itself, which resembles a battery laying on its side. If you don't like being constantly reminded how much battery life you have remaining (for some, this is a trigger that will have them searching for an outlet impulsively), you can leave the percentage toggled off leaving the sideways battery icon without the numbers inside it. In this scenario, a gray bar inside the battery icon will get smaller corresponding to the percentage of battery life remaining.

It is interesting that some smartphone owners don't like to know precisely how much battery life they have left. On Android (and iOS), the battery percentage is missing from the status bar by default. As for this writer, I'd rather know exactly how much time I have before having to find an outlet instead of trying to figure out what the battery icon alone is telling me. To have the battery percentage appear on Android and iOS, you can do the same thing regardless of which platform you use: Go to Settings > Battery and toggle on Battery percentage. 

As we told you at the end of last month, Android 15 will also change the look of the volume panel with new, thicker, collapsible sliders and some useful new features. We should learn more about Android 15 on May 10th when Google holds its annual Google I/O developer conference. While the Android 15 Developer Preview is currently being offered by Google, the first Beta release for Android 15 is expected to drop this month.