--- title: "Refining the battery status menu\n | Ubuntu" description: As part of the notification area transition, we’re adapting the Gnome Power Manager item to be a system status menu. We’re interested in your feedback on the design and any improvements we can make. […] url: https://ubuntu.com/blog/battery?format=md keywords: index, follow --- 1. [Blog](https://ubuntu.com/blog) 2. Article --- [Matthew Paul Thomas](https://ubuntu.com/blog/author/matthew-paul-thomas "More about Matthew Paul Thomas") 23 April 2010 # Refining the battery status menu [Design](https://ubuntu.com/blog/tag/design) --- Share the article As I explained on Wednesday, [we’re replacing Ubuntu’s notification area with a consistent set of menus](https://ubuntu.com/2010/04/notification-area/). As part of that transition, we need to adapt system components that have previously been using the notification area. One of the simplest of these belongs to [Gnome Power Manager](http://projects.gnome.org/gnome-power-manager/), and displays the charge status for the batteries in devices connected to your computer — the computer itself, any wireless mouse, phone, and so on. In Ubuntu 10.04, Gnome Power Manager has already been patched to use a custom status menu (“application indicator”). So, probably, not much will change when it shuffles over to the system area. But we’re still interested in feedback on the design and any improvements we can make. Once you’ve checked out the full [battery status menu specification](https://wiki.ubuntu.com/BatteryStatusMenu), we’d be glad to have your comments either here or on [the Ayatana mailing list](https://launchpad.net/~ayatana). [Get in touch Interested in running Ubuntu in your organization?](https://ubuntu.com/about/contact-us/form) ## Newsletter signup Get the latest Ubuntu news and updates in your inbox. Work email: \*I agree to receive information about Canonical's products and services. By submitting this form, I confirm that I have read and agree to [Canonical's Privacy Policy](https://canonical.com/legal/data-privacy). Sign up ## Share on --- ## Related posts [### Challenges designers face in open source (and how to fix them)](https://ubuntu.com/blog/challenges-designers-face-in-open-source-and-how-to-fix-them) Open source powers up to 90% of modern software, yet many projects lack usability. Canonical’s Design team surveyed 115 cross-functional professionals to uncover the 4 core... [Kola Ojoodide](https://ubuntu.com/blog/author/kola-ojoodide) 26 June 2026 [### Template: Streamlining open source design contributions](https://ubuntu.com/blog/template-streamlining-open-source-design-contributions) As designers working at Canonical, we’re always thinking about open source. We believe that encouraging more designers to contribute to open source benefits everyone, from the... [Nina Rojc](https://ubuntu.com/blog/author/ninarojc) 16 June 2026 [### Decoding design: How design and engineering thrive together in open source](https://ubuntu.com/blog/decoding-design-how-design-and-engineering-thrive-together-in-open-source) Open source thrives on engineering-driven processes. Fast feedback loops, terminal tools, Git workflows: they’re the lifeblood of how we build software in the open. But for... [Miguel Divo](https://ubuntu.com/blog/author/mdivo) 22 May 2026 [### Why web engineering is great](https://ubuntu.com/blog/why-web-engineering-is-great) Hi, I’m Johann! I’m an engineering manager in Canonical’s web team. For the larger part of my 15 years of work experience as engineer, I’ve been working in web development.... [Johann Wolf](https://ubuntu.com/blog/author/johannwolf) 27 April 2026