How to get battery percentage and other icons on your iPhone

By Rene Ritchie, Karen S Freeman
published

iPhone X battery percentage
iPhone X battery percentage (Image credit: iMore)

On previous versions of the iPhone, you could go to Settings > Battery and toggle on Battery Percentage to see exactly how much power you had left. On iPhone X and newer models (besides the new iPhone SE), no such toggle exists, And that means there's no way to look up at the battery icon in the right "horn" of the display and see just what percentage of power remains.

Or is there?

How do you get Battery Percentage on your iPhone?

Even though there's no Battery Percentage toggle to turn on in Settings, there's still a way to see the battery percentage on any iPhone:

  1. Touch your finger to the top right "horn" where the battery icon is.
  2. Swipe down to pull down Control Center.
  3. Check out the battery percentage at the top right.

battery percentage how to

battery percentage how to (Image credit: iMore)
  1. Swipe up again to dismiss Control Center.

Yes, it's totally not the same as always on, always glanceable Battery Percentage on every screen, but it is just a swipe away. Any time you want to see Battery Percentage, repeat the Control Center process.

Or, you can add a widget on the Today View screen

  1. From your Home Screen, swipe right to access Today View.
  2. Tap the Edit button.
  3. Swipe up until you reach Batteries.

Battery Widget How To Ios

Battery Widget How To Ios (Image credit: iMore)
  1. Tap Batteries.
  2. Tap Done.
  3. Observe your Battery Percentage in your new widget on the Today View screen.

Battery Percentage How To

But what about Battery Percentage on the main screens?

You can argue the "horn" design of the iPhone doesn't leave enough space for an always-on Battery Percentage indicator. You can argue that Battery Percentage indicators can't predict the massive ups and downs of battery drain when you start using apps like Snapchat and Pokémon Go, or Photos start syncing in the background.

You could argue all of that and more, but people are used to having Battery Percentage indicators, at least optionally, on iPhone. And when you take away our safety blankets, we suddenly don't feel safe.

Personally, I'm over the lack of Battery Percentage on the main display. And I'm used to flicking down Control Center or over to Today View when I want to see it.

But I still miss it not being always immediately glanceable in the top right corner. At least as an option. Many of us are going to appreciate the new widgets coming in iOS 14. The battery percentage is back on the home screen, bigger and better than ever if you want it.

How to add The Batteries Widget on the Home Screen in iOS 14

Once iOS 14 is released, you'll be able to pick a widget for any of your main screens that display your battery percentage all the time. You'll have that "glanceability" back if you're willing to give up some screen real estate for it.

Apple occasionally offers updates to iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, tvOS, and macOS as closed developer previews or public betas (opens in new tab). While the betas contain new features, they also contain pre-release bugs that can prevent the normal use of your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV, or Mac, and are not intended for everyday use on a primary device. That's why we strongly recommend staying away from developer previews unless you need them for software development, and using the public betas with caution. If you depend on your devices, wait for the final release.

  1. Tap and hold anywhere on your Home Screen until the apps start wiggling.
  2. Tap the plus button in the top left corner of your screen.
  3. Scroll up until you find the Batteries icon.

Battery Percentage How To (Image credit: iMore)
  1. Tap the Batteries icon.
  2. Swipe to find the Widget you want.
  3. Tap Add Widget when you decide on one.

Battery Percentage How To (Image credit: iMore)
  1. Arrange your home screen as desired.
  2. Tap Done in the top right corner
  3. Observe your new Batteries Widget. Bonus: the widget contains battery information for up to three additional connected devices!

Battery Percentage How To (Image credit: iMore)

Questions?

Let us know in the comments!

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Rene Ritchie
Rene Ritchie
Contributor

Rene Ritchie is one of the most respected Apple analysts in the business, reaching a combined audience of over 40 million readers a month. His YouTube channel, Vector, has over 90 thousand subscribers and 14 million views and his podcasts, including Debug, have been downloaded over 20 million times. He also regularly co-hosts MacBreak Weekly for the TWiT network and co-hosted CES Live! and Talk Mobile. Based in Montreal, Rene is a former director of product marketing, web developer, and graphic designer. He's authored several books and appeared on numerous television and radio segments to discuss Apple and the technology industry. When not working, he likes to cook, grapple, and spend time with his friends and family.

17 Comments
  • If the battery life is good then this shouldn't be too much of an issue, and from what I've read it should get through a day of average use. It has made me hate the notches just a little bit more though.
  • reading this literally stopped me from trying to buy an iPhone x. deal breaker.
  • Really...? Your fuel gauge in your car (probably) doesn't have a percentage indicator either, only a rough estimate gauge... I have personally turned off the percentage and have notice a much lower worry of what my percentage is at.
  • my car has a very accurate fuel gauge (down to a couple of miles) and i couldn't imagine driving a vehicle without one.
  • Actually the gauge in the cars always reads lower to make sure people get gas before they really run out. So if it says you have 10 miles to empty it is really more like 20. Inside info working for the auto industry.
  • Your car's fuel gauge is incredibly accurate. You might want to reconsider.
  • Reconsider my point? Alright - Why does battery percentage even matter when you've got a battery that visually drains? It's just a coarse vs. fine reading.
  • ok so i went in to the apple store to play with the iPhone x last night, expecting to hate it, but the rest of the phone was so amazing that i can overlook having to pull down to see the percentage every so often. i plan on ordering one as soon as possible.
  • It’s funny, there were a couple of things I thought I’d hate to keep from buying one too, but then I played around with one. Loved it so much, immediately ordered one.
  • I could also argue that simply tapping a horn could have displayed the battery level for a while, or toggled.
  • Yeah, plus the screen is so good that it can easily display a readable percentage within the battery pic itself, or just underneath where there is still some room. I’m sure some of these little things will be reanalyzed at some point and we may see them in an update.
  • The lack of showing a bunch of these things until you swipe down is a bit annoying. When I get my iPhone X, I will make sure to send feedback about this. It's not like the don't have the space. You know you can always put stuff under the battery.
  • They could've removed the battery logo and just had the text for the percentage.
  • So this is what everyone will be crying about today. How did we ever survive pre-iPhone when phones didn’t have battery percentage.
  • It looks like there isnt room for the VPN icon when connected and that’s important enough it should be there. At least there should be some sort of visual indication.
  • So it's FOUR STEPS to check your battery percentage which I can get tilting my iPhone 8 using Raise to Wake. Magical.
  • It's pretty annoying. I like seeing my battery percent at all times. But I'll have to get used to it.