Apple is bringing back this much-missed feature for your iPhone

Apple has just released iOS 16 beta 5 has introduced the battery percentage to the iOS status bar after shifting it to Control Center in the iPhone X and later. 

The battery percentage indicator was sacrificed in iPhone X and later due to extra screen space consumed by Face ID module’s notch at the top of the screen adjacent to the status bar. Instead, users of these models had to swipe down to view battery percentage in Control Center. On devices without Face ID, such as iPhone 8, the battery percentage indicator has remained always visible next to the battery icon.  

In the iOS 16 beta 5 release, Apple gets around the space constraint by placing the percentage number within the battery icon minus the “%” symbol. To view it after installing the beta, users can toggle on the battery percentage option within the Battery menu of the Settings app. Then it displays the battery percentage in the battery icon on the status bar. 

MacRumours notes that the battery percentage indicator is available on the iPhone X, iPhone 12 and iPhone 13, but not the “mini” variants of each model and neither iPhone 11 nor iPhone XR.

Many people are resistant to small UI changes, but this likely will be welcome by many iPhone users, although not everyone is happy (The Verge described it as ‘hideous’). Swiping down to see battery percentage in Control Center was a small action, but it meant you couldn’t just glance at a locked screen to see precisely how much juice the battery has.       

Apart from that there’s also a handy new action available when taking a screenshot from an iPhone. Previously, after sharing a screenshot and then pressing Done, you could Save to Photos, Save to Files, or Delete Screenshot. As of this beta, you can also Copy and Delete. 

Apple will release iOS 16 in the fall and based on past releases, it should be around September. iOS 16 introduces a customizable selection of lockscreens. Apple is rumored to be introducing an always-on screen mode in the iPhone 15 like the Apple Watch thanks to its use of LTPO screen technology.