Find out what the Status and Notification Icons mean on Android

Since Android smartphone manufacturers often customize the user interface of their devices, even the most commonly used icons can differ from one brand to another. Plus, there’s a good chance you’re reading this article because you’re confused by a specific icon on your smartphone that you can’t quite figure out.

To quickly check what it might be, you can use the shortcuts listed here to quickly check if the icon in question is mentioned. If what you're looking for isn't listed in your smartphone's manual, there's a good chance you'll find it on Google Fonts anyway.

Learn what the status bar, notification bar and quick settings are

Before diving into the glyph icons, it is important to know what is the difference between the status bar and notification bar on your Android system, as these icons will be displayed and grouped depending on the type.

Status bar

The status bar and the notification bar look very similar, but they are actually two different things. The status bar is located in the top right corner of the screen. This is where you will see information such as the current time, battery status, and connections. Here is a typical list of icons that you can find on the status bar:

• Battery and charging;
• Connectivity (WLAN, NFC, Bluetooth, cellular, etc.);
• Location services (GPS);
• Profiles (ringing, silent, etc.);
• Modes (gaming, do not disturb or DND, etc.).

Notification bar

The notification bar, on the other hand, is located on the top left side, where you will find the app icons that will alert you about new messages, Google Play updates, current tracks being played and other notifications such as:

• Messages and emails (SMS, messaging apps, etc.);
• Call logs;
• App notifications;
• Clock, date and alarms;
• Tools (flashlight, recorder and others);
• Active media being played (music, videos, and recordings).

The notification bar also contains notifications that can be opened with a swipe down gesture. This gesture reveals a lot of information — for example, recent screenshots, a WhatsApp message, Facebook notifications, and email alerts.

Quick Settings

Aside from the notification bar, another important set of buttons that you can access with this swipe down gesture are the quick settings buttons. Here, you can quickly turn on/off a feature without having to go into the settings menu.

Some of the most common things you can change here include turning Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and other connections on and off, turning the hotspot on and off, toggling the auto-rotate option, and turning on the flashlight. If you press and hold an icon, you'll enter the settings for that feature:

• Connectivity alternatives;
• Tool shortcuts;
• Modes;
• Brightness slider;
• Profiles;
• SIM Manager;
• Controllers.

Most manufacturers also customize their own quick settings, so there are always plenty of options here. Fortunately, the selection can be customized to suit your tastes and habits, so you always have access to the settings that are most essential to you.

Additionally, you can always turn off annoying or uninteresting notifications by long-pressing on an alert. This will open a small menu where you can choose how you want to be notified by the app.

Most common manufacturer notification and status icons

Below, we’ll take a look at some of the most commonly used notification and status icons you’ll come across while using a smartphone. We’ve listed most of the prominent device brands and their custom Android skins. While these customizations don’t completely change the look or feel of your status and notification icons, you can often find options that are unique to the software you’re running.

Samsung (One UI)

Samsung's user manual includes a list of symbols that are typically displayed in the notification bar on Galaxy smartphones and tablets. See the image below for the most important ones.

Xiaomi/ Redmi/ Poco

Here are the most commonly used status icons on Xiaomi smartphones. These icons can be seen on almost all of the company's devices running HyperOS, including sub-brands like Poco and Redmi.

OnePlus / Oppo

These are the icons you'll encounter when using OnePlus or Oppo smartphones running the company's ColorOS operating system.

Huawei/Honor (HarmonyOS, EMUI and MagicUI)

Honor may have split from Huawei, but many of the statuses and notifications on Honor devices running MagicUI are inspired by Huawei's HarmonyOS.

Motorola (stock Android)

Motorola devices run on stock Android, but compared to other devices running pure Android OS, there are some tweaks in the appearance of the glyph icons in the status bar.

Stock Android (for Google, Nokia/HMD, Sony and Asus smartphones)

If you’re an Android purist who prefers the stock Android experience, chances are you own a Google Pixel smartphone or one of the many devices that offer the option. Some of the brands that offer the stock Android experience to their users include Google, Nokia/HMD, Sony, and even Asus.

Some of the icons you find on stock Android are listed in the image below. While these icons are from Android 11, most of them remain unchanged in the latest version of Android.

If the icon you’re looking for isn’t listed above, Google has a large list of icons that are part of Android 11 on its Google Fonts portal. This page lists all of the icons you’ll find on your Android device. It’s divided into several sections, some of which are listed below.

Have you ever seen a notification or icon that you can't understand what it means? Describe it in the comments and tell us what kind of smartphone you have!