When Google laid out their large laundry list of changes in Android 4.4 KITKAT, the company left out a couple of things. One of those things is a hidden setting that will allow you to enable battery percentage in the battery indicator icon. It’s a simple set of commands in ADB — so simple, in fact, that an app has been written to allow users to toggle the setting at a moment’s notice.
So if it’s so simple, why didn’t Google include a setting for it? Probably because it flat-out sucks. The problem is that the battery percentage text is the same color as the battery, so you won’t be able to see the percentage until your battery has already drained quite a bit. It kind of defeats the purpose, no?
While it’s possible to decompile the APK and change the text color yourself, developer Kroegerama notes that this particular APK is not worth touching. He’s referring to SystemUI.apk. That’s pretty serious business there, so we agree with his cautious stance.
That said, if you’re not bothered by such an incomplete experience you can download the app over at XDA and enable it for yourself. Let’s just hope this is something Google is actively working on and looking to bring in future upgrades to Android 4.4 KITKAT.
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