Future Android versions may hide network signal strength: Here’s how to check on your phone

A new code committed to the Android Open Source Project hints Google may allow telecom operators to hide the signal strength information.

The change is likely to only affect the network strength hidden under the Settings and not the signal bars on the phone. (AFP)

Google is likely to remove a nifty feature from Android phones that allowed them to test network strength more accurately.

According to a report on XDA Developers, the next version of Android, dubbed as Android P, will remove the network status feature from smartphones. The change will only affect the network strength that comes within Settings, and not remove the bars from the phone screen.

To test your mobile network on your Android smartphone, go to Settings > About Phone > Status > SIM Status > Signal strength. On the Signal strength, you will see the network strength measured in dBM (decibel milliwatts) as well as ASU (Arbitrary Strength Unit) which is an integer value proportional to the received signal strength.

You can check the network strength in a similar manner in older versions of Android, KitKat and Lollipop, though it is slightly different in versions older than Android 4.4 KitKat.

So, what does dBM units mean? Well, lower the dBM units, better the signal. For instance, -60dBM is considered near perfect whereas -112 is considered as extremely poor.

Note that these figures give you information about the phone reception and varies for different radios.

But, these stats give you a good idea about the reception quality. This method can come handy when you are in an area with poor coverage or a dead zone.

If you find this method tedious, you can download third-party applications such as Open Signal which displays network strength, internet speed and even nearby cell towers. The application shows nearby Wi-Fi hotspots and has a compass pointing towards the nearby cell tower.

You can also download TikTik which doesn't elaborate the insight on the network strength but gives you a comparative analysis of the network offered by different telecom service providers.

The application analyses the publicly available operator information on TRAI portal to present a simple five-star rating for all networks in your locality. Another excellent application is Network Signal Guru which even works on rooted devices. You can also consider SignalCheck Lite another network strength measuring app.