IPhone: Ever feel tricked by your phone's signal bars into thinking you have a better reception that you actually do? This simple hack will transform those bars to show the actual signal in. Recently, many iPhone X owners have reported a weak signal issue on their devices. They complain that iPhone X receives a very poor signal strength. Some compared it to the older iPhone 7 model, and the outcome is staggering. While iPhone 7 shows a full signal strength, iPhone X exhibits significant signal drops.
If you are a numbers person, you may like this iPhone hack that replaces the five dots in the upper-left corner of your iPhone that indicate the strength of your cellular signal with a numerical value. It does not require you to jailbreak your phone -- all you need to do is jump in and out of the hidden Field Test mode. Here's how:
1. Open the Phone app and from the keypad dial *3001#12345#* and then tap the call button. This will take you into Field Test mode.
2. Once in Field Test mode, you will see a negative number instead of the five dots in the upper-left corner. The closer to zero, the stronger your signal. As a rule of thumb, according to CNET's own Marguerite Reardon, 'around -113 decibels is on the low end of the signal bar range, and around -50 decibels is on the high end.' When I tested this hack, I had three dots for signal strength, which equated to a -100 decibels.
If you press the Home button to exit Field Test mode normally, the dots will return. We want to keep the numbers around, so instead of hitting the Home button, hold down the power button until the Slide to power off message appears and then release the power button.
3. From the power off screen, hold down the Home button for roughly 5 seconds until you exit Field Test mode. The signal strength numbers will remain and you can toggle between the numbers and the dots by tapping on them.
To reverse course and get rid of the signal strength numbers, go back into Field Test mode as you did in step 1 above and then simply hit the Home button to exit Field Test mode. When you return to your home screen, the familiar five dots will greet you.
Editors' note: This story was originally published on August 7, 2015, and has since been updated.
(Via WonderHowTo)
Press the Home button to launch the phone's home screen. As you know, the dots on the top left corner of the screen indicate signal strength.
Tap on Phone > Keypad > Dial *3001#12345#* and tap on Call.
As soon as you tap the Call button, the Field Test app will open. You’ll notice that instead of the dots, you’ve got a negative number in its place.
While in the Field Test app, hold down the 'Sleep/Turn Off' button until the 'Slide to Power Off' screen shows up.
Now, instead of turning the phone off, release the 'Sleep/Turn Off' button and hold the 'Home' button for a couple of seconds till the Field Test exits and it returns you to the Home Screen.
There you have it! The signal will be displayed as a number. In my case it is -83dBm.
Reading the display: -50dBm to -60dBm = Strongest signal strength. Greater than -95dBm = Satisfactory signal. Less than -110dBm = Call-dropping bad signal reception.
To switch back to bars/dots, repeat Steps 2 - 4. Now, tap on the numeric signal strength to change it back to bars/dots. Then press the Home button to exit Field Test mode, and that's that!
Supplies
An iPhone running iOS 4.1+ |