- A flag in Android’s Carrier Config Manager allows cellular carriers to artificially inflate the number of bars shown on your phone.
- Google explains that the majority of carriers require this option, and its addition to the Android codebase dates back to 2017.
- Android artificially inflates network signal strength to appear as a five-bar scale, rather than the original four-bar scale.
Network carriers aren’t afraid to use clever names and marketing to make their cellular performance appear better than it actually is. A prime example is AT&T’s use of the 5GE badge, which is 4G LTE rather than 5G. The truth is, many carriers use similar strategies to market their cellular networks. A flag in the Android codebase that’s recently been getting a lot of attention has led some to believe Google was colluding to artificially inflate signal strength, but the true purpose of the flag appears to be much simpler.
A report by Nick vs Networking from last month highlighted a flag named KEY_INFLATE_SIGNAL_STRENGTH_BOOL in Android’s Carrier Config Manager. The Carrier Config Manager explains this flag as determining if the Android system “should interpret all signal strength as one bar higher.” Naturally, this raised a few eyebrows, as Nick vs Networking confirmed at least Verizon and AT&T enabled the flag on their networks.