Connect with us

Android

Samsung Galaxy S5 Notification Bar Icons Explained

Published

on

Now that the Samsung Galaxy S5 is here and has been readily available from US carriers for nearly a month, more and more consumers are starting to buy the latest smartphone and are now full of questions.

The Samsung Galaxy S5 is filled with features, options and settings, and surely consumers have seen a few odd notification bar icons and been confused regarding what they are, or how to remove them. The phone’s been available nearly a month and we’ve received more than a few questions regarding specific icons in users notification bars.

Read: 5 Best Samsung Galaxy S5 Wallet Cases

While we’ve covered tons of details and how to’s for the new Galaxy S5 already, one question we keep getting over and over again is regarding those icons at the top of a users screen. If you’ve recently purchased the Galaxy S5, or have family wondering what that “eye-shaped icon” is doing on their device, below is a quick rundown of what they all mean.

gs5-icons

From users asking about a book with a keylock hole, to what’s this bulls-eye icon on my new Galaxy S5. They’re all valid questions, and one’s that we’ve seen more than a few time in the few weeks the Galaxy S5 has been on the market and in consumers hands.

Sadly not all Galaxy S5 models are the same. In fact, some US carriers change certain things and want more control of the notification bar. As a result, not all the icons will always be in the same place, some could differ, and others simply won’t show up at all. So while you may see the “eye” icon on your Galaxy S5 (which is the eye-tracking feature) others may not at all.

Read: 100+ Galaxy S5 Details Released by Samsung

Before the release date Samsung revealed a 270 page PDF full of answers to nearly any question a user may have, and that’s what’s detailed in the link above. However if you don’t want to skim through  pages and pages, we’ll attempt to explain what some of the more popular seen icons are, and how to remove them if you’d like.

On the Samsung Galaxy S III and Galaxy S4 there was a full icon glossary right on the device in the help menu. However, while the Galaxy S5 has an extensive help menu right on the device, it doesn’t detail what each icon means. Instead, you can check out this full PDF with all the details.

GS5-iconinfo

Now most users are probably familiar with what some of these mean, but for the first-time smartphone owner the many different icons can be confusing. 4G is what you want to see, but some regions won’t have that, or you’ll be on WiFi instead. Above are a few very general icons, but the more confusing ones are also detailed below.

The bulls-eye, weird hand icon, and creepy eye icon are the few we’ve received the most questions about. If you (or a family member that calls you for help) has been wondering what that eye means on their new phone, it’s simply a feature that can be disabled in settings.

gs5-iconmore

As shown above the bulls-eye icon is for GPS, which is used to retrieve location data for Google Maps, weather applications, Facebook, and a few other various apps and features. This is needed for navigation, which is another time it may appear on a device. GPS drains battery, so if you’re seeing this all the time there’s probably something keeping it awake, so be sure to check out our tip below to get better battery life. You may need to head into settings and change location from “High accuracy” to “battery saver mode” to cut down GPS usage.

Read: How to Get Better Galaxy S5 Battery Life with Ultra Power Save Mode

The eye icon is one that my brother was concerned with, and immediately called wondering what it was about. Galaxy S5 owners will be happy to know this is just alerting users of a feature in use, it isn’t the NSA. Smart pause, smart scroll & smart stay are all eye-tracking features of the Galaxy S5. If you look away from the phone while using Samsung’s built-in video player it pauses the movie til you’re watching again. Smart Stay keeps the screen on so long as you’re looking at it, instead of dimming at the usual 30 seconds, or whatever you’ve chosen in settings.

Pulling down on the notification bar with two fingers will bring up the “quick settings” menu, and here you can quickly disable some of these things. Turning off Smart Stay or Smart pause will remove the eye icon, and possibly improve battery life too. If you enjoy the features there’s nothing you can do here, but we don’t find ourselves using them much and just disable them.

For the real beginner the squiggly B symbol is for Bluetooth, which is how your phone connects to your car or some wireless accessories and speakers, which should be turned off if you’re never using it. The same two-finger pulldown will bring you to quick settings and tap to turn it off.

gs5-moreicons

Another icon which we’ve received a few questions about is the book and key lock you see below. This is in a different place on the Galaxy S5 from Verizon, as some carriers change things a bit, and this also is a feature of the Galaxy S5. It’s called Private Mode, and you’ve either enabled it, or did it on accident.

Screen Shot 2014-05-01 at 12.22.11 PM

Private mode is in the settings menu, and once enabled allows the owner to hide pictures, video, apps, and even documents securely behind a password from prying eyes. Never worry about someone flipping through your gallery again when you hand your photo to show off a picture. Not everyone obeys the “don’t swipe through my gallery” rule, so private mode hides anything that needs to be hidden. You can even secure it with the fingerprint scanner on the Galaxy S5.

Simply find this in settings and disable it if you don’t need it, but then those hidden private files will be open to easy access. You can’t remove the icon if Private Mode is enabled.

The “N” shaped icon stands for NFC, which is Near Field Communications. This is a wireless standard for Tap to Pay as we’ve seen with Starbucks, instantly bluetooth pairing with a tap for speakers or accessories, and many other functions. If you don’t use Samsung’s S-Beam, Android Beam, or any wireless payment options like Google Wallet or ISIS, you might as well disable NFC.

For whatever reason Samsung has a pretty decent list online, but not on the smartphone itself. In fact, the Galaxy S4 glossary was longer and more informative, so there’s probably a few missing here that users will likely see on their own Galaxy S5. If you’ve ever wondered what an icon was, or what it did, the details above should help clear things up.

25 Comments

25 Comments

  1. Johnno

    05/05/2014 at 5:49 pm

    I feel so stupid but I can’t find the settings menu on this phone. Where has it gone?

    • Helpful

      05/07/2014 at 4:55 am

      Slide down the notifications bar and the cog wheel icons for settings is up the top right corner, second icon across.

  2. Sookie859

    05/13/2014 at 7:19 am

    how can i get my notification bar to stay on on my homepage?

  3. ichard

    06/03/2014 at 1:59 pm

    The manual is rubbish – it says open the notifications panel. It doesn’t give proper or correct instructions on how to open the notification panel!

    • Renegade

      07/10/2016 at 9:58 am

      Go to your setting go to notifications an turn it on

  4. STD NX Tilak

    06/05/2014 at 8:34 am

    nice

  5. al

    07/20/2014 at 6:27 am

    What the hell does the hand between this mean.. and my phone is not letting me upload more than one picture to Facebook with out that popping up. And still won’t let me add more than one picture at a time

  6. David

    08/07/2014 at 7:34 am

    What does it mean when you have the icon that looks like an envelope (meaning text message) with an X at the bottom right corner of the icon?

  7. bret

    09/17/2014 at 1:57 pm

    Que sinifie l’icône N

  8. cininvegas

    09/20/2014 at 10:26 pm

    I have a icon on my phone on the top bar that looks like another batteryI com

  9. Three Rasmusson

    10/12/2014 at 7:44 pm

    I have Galaxy S5 Active and I went into my setting for my email and turned off notifications but it constantly sends me messages about how many new emails I have. I wonder if that is using up my data and I’d really like your turn off that notification.

  10. jill

    12/31/2014 at 11:37 am

    I have a battery icon with the recycle symbol in it. What is this? Its on the left side and NOT my battery. When I pull down my notification bar it shows nothing. Pls help this is annoying me badly!

    • Cory Gunther

      12/31/2014 at 2:33 pm

      That is from some 3rd party app you’ve downloaded, or battery saver mode is enabled.

  11. john repp

    02/05/2015 at 10:51 am

    How do i remove emergency call tab off lock screen?

  12. donna

    07/08/2015 at 10:55 pm

    What is the little key icon on the top left side of screen where notifications are shown? Can’t seem to find anything about that symbol and not sure if this is the reason the phone is having such an issue.

  13. Vicki

    07/29/2015 at 6:59 pm

    I have my smart screen turned off but sometimes I still notice the eye at the top of my screen. Why?

  14. RogerDRodgers

    08/29/2015 at 2:03 am

    ;//; Hey Friends,,,,!my classmate’s step-aunt makes $79 /hr on the laptop .!!She has been fired for 5 months but last month her income was $19889 just working on the laptop for a few hours.
    Visit This Link>>>> Click Here To Read More

  15. MoMo

    11/02/2015 at 12:29 pm

    In the sample pictures in this article, between the “Bluetooth feature activated” icon and the “Wifi connected” icon, there is another one not listed on this page. What IS that?

  16. Jocelyn

    03/21/2016 at 6:38 pm

    what is the symbol in between the wifi and blootooth symbol. that just recently showed up on my phone. idk what that is.

  17. Hope Alexis Mayle

    04/16/2016 at 9:07 pm

    What does the binoculars icon mean

  18. Tracy Russell

    04/24/2016 at 2:59 am

    Can’t seem to clear history. Manual is rubbish where is the toolbar icon?

  19. Linda Sharpe

    05/05/2016 at 2:14 am

    Phone has updated and now pull down screen is missing

  20. michelle anglin

    07/01/2016 at 10:48 am

    why do I see the eye pop up and go away on my phone?

  21. Cathy brown

    09/14/2016 at 5:42 am

    What is the bell icon and how do I get rid of it?

  22. Laura Halvorsen

    03/21/2017 at 1:43 am

    I will dispute the smartphone video sensor thing.. only appeared after an accidental android os upgrade only comes on at night when i am in bed.. very rarely have i seen it on in the day time… and whilst i am staring at the screen no smartphone recognition detector is on but after 30 secs fades to black…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.