notification icon

Meaning of status icons and notification icons on Galaxy S20

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

… Read the rest

How to use Galaxy S20 Clear View Cover (S View cover)?

By simon 3 Comments

Galaxy S20 Clear View Cover (aka S View smart cover in some regions) lets you check notifications, accept/reject incoming calls, handle alarms, and control music play through the S View window without opening the case.

Samsung improved a lot for the Clear View (S View ) covers in recent years for the S-View window design and materials.

This Galaxy S20 accessories guide explains the improvements of the Galaxy S20 Clear View cover, how the S View cover works and unique features of the Clear View cover, shows you how to use the cover to show notification icons, to accept/reject calls, and to control music playing, The guide also shows you how to use the Always-on Display (AOD) on Galaxy S20 Clear View cover. At the end of the guide, a concise no-nonsense review of Galaxy S20 S View cover is included.

Due to the difference in dimensions and cutouts of Galaxy S20, S20+, and S20 Ultra, you need to get the Galaxy S20 cover based on your phone model. The features, functions, and usage of the cover are identical on all these 3 Galaxy S20 phones.

What is new in Galaxy S20 Clear View Cover (S View cover)?

Samsung changed the design of the Galaxy Note 10 Clear View cover dramatically (compared to S10 clear view cover) by introducing the long (and narrow) S View window.

Galaxy S20 clear view cover is clearly a refinement of Galaxy Note 10 clear view cover.

Here are the three new features or improvements of Galaxy S20 Clear View Cover.

#1. New S View window

The full screen S View window as in Galaxy S10 Clear View cover is a fingerprint magnet. Also, the cover only utilizes a small portion of the display (that is why it was named as S View window).

Galaxy Note 10 Clear View Cover is a good experiment for the new S View window. The long and narrow S View window is perfect for most owners. You can easily peek the S View window to see the notifications and time when it is on the desk.

Galaxy S20 Clear View Cover uses a similar S View window. But it is integrated into the front piece in a more natural way (read on),

#2. Improved design

In Galaxy S20, the new S View window is not on the edge of the front piece. Instead, it is embedded inside … Read the rest

How to customize notification icon style in Galaxy S20 status bar?

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Galaxy S20 allows you to customize notification icon style in the status bar to avoid overcrowded icons.

You can choose to show all notification icons, last 3 icons, or the total number of notification icons in Galaxy S20 status bar.

This Galaxy S20 guide explains the details of Galaxy S20 status bar, the icon arrangements, and how to customize notification icon style in Galaxy S20 status bar to hide notification icons, show 3 recent icons, show all notification icons, or only show the number of notifications in the status bar.

Please note, the status bar and notification icons work identically on Galaxy S20, S20+, and S20 Ultra, although there are significant differences among these 3 phones.

What is Galaxy S20 status bar?

Like all other Android phones (even iPhones), the top part of the Galaxy S20 screen is reserved for the system to show status icons and notification icons.

As shown in the screenshot below., a typical Galaxy S20 status bar has two parts separated by the punching hole of the front-facing camera:

Notification icons (and time, which cannot be disabled) aligned to the left edge on the left side of the front camera.
Status icons aligned to the right edge on the right side of the front camera.

Since Galaxy S8, Samsung allows you to limit the total number of notification icons on the status bar. Galaxy S20 allows more options to customize notification style on the status bar.

Actually, all Galaxy phones with the Android 10 update has a similar feature.

What is the dot in the Galaxy S20 status bar?

You may notice the dot icon, as shown in the screenshot above (marked in the green circle), on the rightmost of the status bar.

The dot icon in the Galaxy S20 status bar means “and more”. In other words, the dot icon tells you there are more than 3 notifications icons.

By default, Galaxy S20 status bar only displays up to 3 notification icons. If there are more than 3, the most recent 3 notification icons will be shown and the dot icon starts to appear.

Of course, you can change this default behaviour to customize notification icon style on Galaxy S20 status bar (read on).

Anyway, do not be panic when you see the dot icon on the status bar.

You may check this guide to understand the meaning of the status … Read the rest