A battery life indicator for Bluetooth-connected gadgets has been an inexplicable and annoying absentee from stock Android for years.
The likes of OnePlus, LG and Samsung have added their own versions, but the raw brand of the operating system simply refuses to tell you how long it’ll be until your speaker conks out.
This can be highly frustrating when many of these Bluetooth devices don’t have displays and only offer low battery warnings through light or audio cues.
Thankfully, the company could soon be moving to rectify this.
The XDA Developers have spotted the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) now includes support for “[retrieving] battery level information of [a] remote device.”
Related: Best wireless headphones
Judging by the code, this request will “return [the] battery level in percents from 0 to 100,” while the device is actively connected.
This could also enable users to receive a notification when the battery is running low or place a widget on the homescreen showing the battery level.
Given it seems that Google is going to remove the headphone jacks from the Pixel 2 range, we hope this change comes sooner rather than later.
Whether this feature will be here in time for Android O, or added shortly thereafter remains to be seen.
Last week Google released the final version of the developer preview. The firm said it was a release candidate, meaning few (if any changes) are planned before the final version arrives.
Perhaps this is one for Android 8.1?
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
