Simple trick to increase coverage: Lying to users about signal strength

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Real-world signal experiences

  • Many commenters do see “1 bar” regularly, especially in rural areas, big-box stores (Home Depot/Costco), hollow spots in cities, and weaker networks in countries like Germany, Italy, Australia, and on reservations.
  • Several say usability is effectively binary: either things work “well enough” or not at all, regardless of bars.
  • Others report cases of full bars with unusable data, often attributed to tower congestion, especially with 4G/5G in dense areas and certain UK networks.

Deception, ethics, and regulation

  • Some interpret the Android inflate_signal_strength flag as straightforward deception to reduce complaints or make networks look better.
  • Others argue it might be a UI/UX hack (e.g., users assuming 0 bars means “disconnected” when there is still a marginal link) or to align different bar scales.
  • There are calls for regulation of signal presentation (like RF emissions), while others doubt regulators care about icon accuracy.
  • Debate arises over whether this is the mechanism carriers would use to deceive, or just a crude, too-public knob.

Technical nuances: bars vs actual quality

  • Multiple comments stress: signal strength ≠ throughput. Interference, congestion, backhaul, frequency band choice, and network mode (2G/3G/4G/5G NSA/SA) matter more.
  • Dual-SIM behavior, frequency reselection, and different radio chains can explain why two SIMs or phones show different bars on the same network.
  • Engineers mention better radios and DSP can make weaker signals usable, possibly justifying shifted thresholds, but others note the parameter is literally called “INFLATE”.

Evidence from configs and git

  • People track down the original Android commit adding the “inflate bars” config and show how it increments both level and number of bins.
  • Other carrier flags show similar “marketing” tweaks: e.g., showing 3G as 4G, LTE as 4G, or network-sent overrides that make LTE display as 5G.
  • A few carriers actually tighten RSRP thresholds, making their reported strength worse than the Android default.

UX and alternatives

  • Some compare this to Apple’s “fake-feeling” countdown timers: fudging numbers to match user expectations.
  • Several wish the UI showed effective connectivity instead (speed, latency, or an explicit “internet unavailable” indicator) rather than abstract bars.
  • Power users note ways to see real dBm (Android hidden menus, field-test mode on iOS, diagnostic apps).