When we had described some of the 100 new features in iPhone OS 3.0, we had mentioned that users will get the option to see the remaining battery power in percentage.
But when iPhone OS 3.0 was released, we found out that this feature was strangely available only to iPhone 3GS users and not to iPhone 3G or first generation iPhone (iPhone 2G) users.
Thankfully like MMS and tethering, some clever folks have figured out a simple way to enable this minor but nice feature for iPhone 3G and iPhone 2G users.
Before we start, please take a backup of your iPhone. Please refer to this post for more details. Please proceed with caution and at your own risk. I have tested this only on iPhone 3G but it should work with iPhone 2G based on user feedback.
There are two methods to enable the feature, however like most hacks you will need a jailbroken iPhone to enable it.
SBSettings:
You can enable the numeric battery indicator via SBSettings. SBSettings is a jailbreak application that brings various toggle
switches directly to iPhone's home screen that are available in the
Settings app. You can read our post about SBSettings to get more details on how it works.
- After launching SBSettings, tap on the More button. This will take you to the settings screen of SBSettings.
- Then tap on "Extra & Options" at the bottom of the screen.
- Here tap on the toggle button to enable Numeric Battery.
- I had to reboot my iPhone to see the battery indicator in percentage.
asBattery:
You need to install asBattery developed by Andre Sendowski using Cydia on your jailbroken iPhone for which you might have to first install the relevant repository. To install it following these steps:
- Launch Cydia.
- Tap on Manage tab at the bottom.
- Then tap on Sources.
- Tap on the "Edit" button on the top right corner.
- Tap on the "Add" button to add the repository.
- Tapping on add will open a pop-up where you need to enter the URL of the repository. Please enter http://apt.iphone-storage.de and tap on the "Add Source" button. Please wait for the repository to be installed.
- Then tap on the Search tab at the bottom right corner of Cydia and search for asBattery.
- Tap on the "Install" button on the top right corner.
- Then tap the "Confirm" button. This will install asBattery on your jailbroken iPhone.
- After asBattery is successfully installed, reboot your iPhone.
- You should now be able to enable the battery percentage indicator via the Settings App (General->Usage->Battery Percentage) just like iPhone 3GS users.
I prefer this method over SBSettings as it gives you the same option available to iPhone 3GS users to enable or disable the battery percentage indicator.
Sendowski has achieved this by adding the string gas-gauge-battery to a file called M68AP.plist (iPhone 2G), N82AP.plist (iPhone 3G), N45AP.plist (1st-generation iPod touch), or N72AP.plist (2nd-generation iPod touch).
Please don't forget to drop us a line to tell us how it goes in the comments section below.
