Samsung Will Use Green Battery Icon To Indicate ‘Safe’ Note 7 Devices

If you’ve picked yourself up a new Galaxy Note 7 or a replacement unit and you’re wondering if the one you’ve got is “safe”, not to worry. There are a variety of ways that you can find out if the Note 7 handset you’re using is not affected by the battery issues (see our guide here), but one of the most obvious ways is to turn on the phone.

It has been noted that for safe Note 7 devices, Samsung has updated its software to give its battery in the status bar a green color. It doesn’t seem like that big of a deal, but it is. As ArsTechnica points out, while this might seem like a subtle change, it actually violates Android compatibility as there are certain things that OEMs can and cannot do to the Android platform, and changing the color of the status bar icons is one of them.

However Google’s SVP of Android, Hiroshi Lockheimer has responded and said that they would be granting Samsung an exception. He writes, “We worked with Samsung on this given extraordinary circumstances. White border around icon to ensure compatibility.” We’re not sure how long this exception will be granted for but chances are it will only be for the Note 7, so don’t expect colorful status bar icons anytime soon.

That being said, if you turn on your new Note 7 and notice a green battery icon, know that you have gotten one of the “safe” units. If you don’t see it, then you should definitely consider taking it back for a replacement unit ASAP.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Cellphones
Tags: Android, Galaxy Note 7, Galaxy Note 7 Recall, Google, Samsung