iPhone Status Bar Icons and Symbols: Every Light Explained

The little icons at the top of your iPhone tell you what's on, what's connected, and whether an app is using your camera, mic or location. If your iPhone has Face ID, some of them only show up when you swipe down from the top-right corner into Control Center.

The colored dots and bubbles

Light	What it means
Green dot	An app is using your camera, or your camera and mic together. If you didn't open one, swipe down into Control Center and check which app it was.
Orange dot or square	An app is using your microphone. You'll see a square instead of a dot if Differentiate Without Color is on.
Green phone bubble	You're on a phone call.
Green camera bubble	You're on a FaceTime call.
Red bubble	Your iPhone is recording the screen.
Green link bubble	Your iPhone is sharing its internet through Personal Hotspot.
Blue arrow bubble	Your iPhone is giving you turn-by-turn directions.
Yellow battery	Low Power Mode is on.
Green battery with a bolt	Your iPhone is charging.
Gray battery with a bolt	It's plugged in, but charging is paused for now.
Blue sound wave	Voice Control is on, so you can use your iPhone with your voice.

Location, lock and battery

Icon	What it means
Location arrow	An app is using your location right now.
Lock	Your iPhone is locked.
Battery	How much charge is left. On iPhone Duo it's a ring instead of a bar.
Bluetooth battery	The battery level of a connected Bluetooth device, like your headphones.

Signal and network

Icon	What it means
Wi-Fi	You're online over Wi-Fi.
Cell signal	More bars, better signal. iPhone Duo shows dots instead. No signal shows No Service.
Two rows of bars	You've got two lines (Dual SIM). The top row is the line you use for data, the bottom one is your other line.
Arrows over dots	Your number is active on your other iPhone, so calls and texts go there. Unlock this iPhone to switch back.
Arrows over bright dots	Same as above, but your second line is still working on this iPhone. The dots are its signal.
Airplane	Airplane Mode is on. No calls, and Wi-Fi or Bluetooth may be off too.
5G	Your carrier's 5G network is available and your iPhone can use it.
5G+, 5G UW, 5G UC	Your carrier's faster 5G is available. These names can include the higher-frequency kind.
5G E	Your carrier's 5G E network is available.
LTE or 4G	You're on your carrier's 4G or LTE network.
3G	You're on an older 3G network, so expect slow data.
E or G	You're on a very old network (EDGE or GPRS). Data will crawl.
SOS	No normal service, but you may still be able to make emergency calls on other networks.
Satellite	You can use satellite features here, like Emergency SOS, Find My and Messages. iPhone 14 and later.
SAT	Your iPhone is using a satellite feature from your carrier.
Wi-Fi next to the carrier	Wi-Fi calling is set up, so calls can go over Wi-Fi.
Link	You're online through someone else's Personal Hotspot.
VPN	You're connected through a VPN.
Spinner	Something is using the network. Some apps use it to show they're busy.
Phone with an arrow	Call forwarding is on.

Modes, alarms and the car

Icon	What it means
Moon	Do Not Disturb is on. Other Focus modes show their own icon here.
Bell with a line	Silent mode is on.
Clock	You've got an alarm set.
Lock with a circle arrow	The screen is locked in portrait. Turn it off in Control Center.
CarPlay	Your iPhone is connected to CarPlay.
Microphone	Siri Eyes Free is ready, so you can ask Siri things in your car.
Circle arrows	Your iPhone is syncing with your computer.

Audio and accessibility

Icon	What it means
Headphones	Bluetooth headphones are connected and in range.
AirPlay	AirPlay is on.
Phone over a keypad	RTT or TTY is turned on.

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