Network Type Indicator (Android App)

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Check its Google Play Store page.

Android 2.2 or higher, with phone functionality.
Not extensively tested in different phones.

Network Type Indicator is a status bar icon indicator of the type of mobile network in use (i.e. 2G, 2G+, 3G, …).

This app is meant for devices that don't include this information in the status bar by default (e.g. Xperias).

• Will you add support for new network type X?
  Maybe. I'll add support for every network type that can be detected/differentiated by standard means. As of Android Lollipop, all detectable types are supported.
• Will you add support for Dual SIM phones?
  Eventually, but those types of phones are only officially supported in recent versions of Android. Older versions would require non-standard implementations, and I don't intend to support them.
• Can the icon be displayed on the right side, along the phone's builtin icons?
  No. Standard apps cannot display icons on the system side of the status bar.
• Can I disable the notification and keep the status bar icon?
  No. Android doesn't allow such a function. Apps that display an icon in the status bar must also display a notification.
• Can the notification be removed from the lockscreen?
  Probably not. Android Lollipop and up force permanent notifications to appear on the lockscreen.
• Will you add more icon designs?
  Maybe. I aim to keep the app as simple as possible but I'm aware the current designs don't fit all phones, so I will study such possibility.
• Will you support loading of custom icon designs?
  No. Although I always expected to add support for this feature, Android doesn't allow apps to load notification icons other than the ones inside the app.

Source code is not public for now.

Signal strength is incorrectly reported as disconnected

Some makers don't allow apps to read signal strength values. As far as I can tell there's no way around this nor is there a way to know for sure if there's no signal or the device just doesn't report it.

Cyanogenmod and DC-HSPA

Dual carrier HSPA can't be detected with the standard Android API, however it can on Cyanogenmod. The current version of Network Type Indicator doesn't understand the value used on CM, so it is reported as "unknown". Support for it will be added in an upcoming update.

No RTL support

The app design isn't adjusted to render properly on devices configured for right-to-left scripts.

I'm studying other issues.

If you have a contribution (new ideas, fixes, translations…) to make, please contact me.

A summary of changes for the latest release is always listed on the Play Store page.

• Initial 5G support.

Please note that complete detection of 5G variants requires Android 11 or higher.

Also, now when running on Android 11 or higher you'll have to grant the “Phone” permission for network type detection to work (this a new requirement of Android itself).

• Fix notifications on Oreo and up

• Add extra intent filters for QUICKBOOT to the Boot receiver, should fix load-on-boot problems on HTC devices [#362] (possibly others)
• Explicitly set exported=true on the Boot receiver, which may not be correctly defaulted to true on some devices [#337]
• Remove android:permission from Boot receiver tag (but keep using uses-permission tag in the root) [#337]

• Explicitly disable RTL since the layout doesn't render properly with the current design [#356]
• HOTFIX release for issue [#354]: VectorDrawable icons are broken on Lollipop and Marshmallow:
  • Flavours re-split into API7+, API14+ and API23+, added back Epoch to versionCode since the split is different
  • Re-enabled PNG rendering for Lollipop and Marshmallow
  • Re-enabled rendering to PNG on xxhdpi and xxxhdpi
  • Use pre-rendered PNGs for the problematic icons and VectorDrawables for the rest (through flavours)
• Recompressed PNGs with zopflipng to reduce their sizes further

• INTERNAL: Split AboutDialog, DonationsActivity and TogglePreference into separate module for reuse [#352]
• Provide “Up” (back) navigation from the donations page and settings activity [#351]

  rXX038 (beta only)

• Introduce notice about donations instead of opening the browser right away when the Donations menu item is selected [#344]
• INTERNAL: Started switch to BuildConfig.DEBUG instead of the custom DevelConfig.DEBUG [#350]

  rXX037 (alpha only)

• Make “Load on boot” dependant on notification being enabled [#333]
• Restricted READ_PHONE_STATE permission to API ⇐ 22. Since Marshmallow removed the need for it [#349]
• Run as a foreground service. Should prevent the notification from being killed easily [#348]

  rXX036 (alpha only)

• Actual merge of build flavours into a single one with versioned directories [#330]. Re-split based on API-level features
• Made notification priority configurable (Jelly Bean and up) [#347]
• Switch to vector icons on Lollipop and up, with compile-time generated bitmaps [#312]
• BUGFIX: Do not allow enabling notification buttons on Android versions older than Jelly Bean [#346]
• INTERNAL: Target Nougat 7.1 (API v25) / Marshmallow 6.0 (API v23)
• INTERNAL: Bumped support library to v25 / v23
• INTERNAL: Automated SVG icon generation [#242] reusing elements to ease modifications

  rXX035 (alpha only)

• Reworked icons (slightly bigger characters) [#239]
• Reflect data connection status in icon: two-state icons [#240, #241]
• Mark notification contents as not sensitive for display in Lollipop's lockscreen [#310]
• Changed default app theme to light [#332, #345]
• Added menu item to launch donations page [#344]
• INTERNAL: Target Lollipop 5.1 (API v22)
• INTERNAL: Bumped support library to v22
• INTERNAL: Unified events [#345]
• INTERNAL: Explicitly use device default theme instead of Holo (updates UI for switches and selection dialogs) [#332]
• INTERNAL: Merged old-droids and new-droids branches [#330]
• INTERNAL: Updated Gradle/Gradle Plugin to 2.3.3 (enables “Instant Run”)
• INTERNAL: Automated SVG icons rendering to PNGs [#242]

• Disable action buttons in notification by default
• Added support for additional Cyanogenmod-only network types (GSM, TD-SCDMA and IWLAN) [#282] (Backported from trunk)

• Added option to allow disabling buttons in notification [#276]
• Changed from CheckBoxPreference to SwitchPreference in settings [#281]
• Added detection for Cyanogenmod-only network type DC-HSPA+ [#238]
• BUGFIX: Handle the case of a SecurityException being raised when accessing system settings [#279]

• BUGFIX: Correction for forced closures on some Gingerbread devices [#259] (also seen in newer versions)
• BUGFIX: (Possibly) Avoid force-closing in some devices running Android 2.2 and 2.3.3-2.3.7 [#257] (also seen in newer versions)
• INTERNAL: Version 1.4.2 skipped to reflect being in sync with older droids' branch

• BUGFIX: (Regression) Keep icon and app in sync [#256]
• Experimental workaround for missing events: [#255]
  • Always monitor signal changes
  • Update the network type on signal changes
• Jelly Bean and up: Added button to close notification from the notification itself
• Jelly Bean and up: Added button to access the system's network settings
• Added easier toggling of notification
• INTERNAL: Move listeners into onResume/onPause instead of onStart/onStop (should free up some unnecessary resources)
• Removed the “dismiss” and “exit” menu options. Dismissing is to be done in standard Android fashion, while exiting is accomplished by disabling the notification and dismissing the main window.
• Rewording of data connection status

• Added option to display signal strength in dBm [#251]
• Display signal strength in main app
• BUGFIX: Update network status in main app when it changes
• Split development for older versions of Android (bugfixes only) and newer versions (bugfixes and new features) [#254]

• Added setting to open the system's mobile network settings when the notification is tapped onto.
• Minor rewording in settings.

• Fix opening network settings in older Android versions
• Workaround for layout getting cropped on shorter devices
• New launcher icon
• Localizations: Spanish and Catalan
• Internal cleanups
• Bumped target SDK to API 18 (4.3)

• Refined hardware requirements for tablet support

• Added separate icon for HSPA+ (previously was using the 4G icon)
• Added network settings shortcut to menu

• Apply themes instantly in Honeycomb and above
• Image re-loading fix for some devices

• Fix launch permissions

• Correct handling of visibility
• Fix main app display in smaller screens
• Added GPRS to legend (previously missing)
• Allow choosing a light theme and light-friendly icons

• Internal code cleanups

• Lower minimum Android version to 2.1 (Eclair)
• Fix settings in older Android versions
• UI fixes

• First public release