Understanding the meaning of status icons and notification icons on Galaxy S20 can help you get quick information about the phone status, system health, and notifications.
This Galaxy S20 guide first covers the differences between status icons and notification icons on Galaxy S20, then explains the meaning of Galaxy S20 status icons and notification icons in Galaxy S20, S20+, and S20 Ultra.
Because Samsung uses slightly different icons in different regions or for some carriers, you may get the notification icons or status icons that are different from shown in this guide. It is normal. If you cannot figure out the meaning of those icons, you may share the screenshot on our FaceBook page so that others can help you identify them.
What is the difference between status icons and notification icons on Galaxy S20?
All Android phones including Galaxy S20 use the top part of the screen as the status bar to display some icons indicating the system status, alerting you possible issues and notifying you about incoming notifications.
Traditionally, a status icon refers to the icons telling you the phone status (e.g., mobile network status, WiFi status, battery percentage, or battery charging status), They are typically displayed on the right side of the status bar and aligned to the right side of the screen.
The status icons on the Galaxy S20 are always shown on the left side of the status bar, as shown below. These notification icons include notifications from all apps(system apps and normal apps).
Since Android 9, Google has moved the time to the left side of the status bar. The notch or hole-punch for the front camera usually are located in the status bar. So, the space for notification icons becomes very limited.
To avoid the overcrowded notification icons, Galaxy S20 allows you to customize how the notifications are shown (all notification icons, the 3 most recent icons, or just the number of notification icons) as explained in this guide.
The differences between status icons and notification icons on Galaxy S20 include:
- Status icons are always related to the system; while notification icons are usually linked to specific apps (including a few system apps and third-party apps).
- Status icons are shown on the right side of the status bar; while Galaxy notification icons always appear on the left side of the status bar.
- Status icons are more or less universal
