System Status Lite 5.2.2

iOS is a brilliant piece of work, but it’s hardly flawless. In fact, one of the major things it lacks is a tool to give you a bird’s eye view of your system. OS X has it (Activity Monitor), so why doesn’t iOS?

No one knows for sure why Apple refuses to bundle a system monitoring utility with iOS, despite the software being a stripped down version of OS X at its core. Maybe the Cupertino giant doesn’t want people freaking out that their battery levels aren’t accurate. Or that their cellular signal is weak. Or that the processor is working overtime when, in fact, it isn’t.

Luckily we have a thing called the App Store for stuff like that. It holds not one but countless of system utilities that monitor your iDevice, though few of them actually deliver on their promise. In our testing, we’ve discovered that System Status, even in its Lite form, fits the bill.

An neat-looking monitoring tool

Since there’s not much to actually do with the Lite version of System Status, its interface revolves around displaying stuff, rather than to allow you to tamper with settings. It’s got pretty graphics, including a minimalistic representation of your device’s battery, and colorful gauges for disk usage and CPU workload.

Disk usage is broken down by used and free, and there’s even a total disk space indicator showing you exactly how much you get from Apple, compared to the advertised capacity. For example, the 16-gig iPhone 5 actually offers 13.2 GB storage.

The CPU usage gauge is live, meaning whatever happens in the background gets shown as a spike in activity. For example, if you take a screenshot of the app, it will immediately show that the CPU is working on extra tasks. Even scrolling shows increased CPU activity.

Not many uses

In addition to monitoring the battery and updating CPU usage in real time, System Status Lite displays the average load over the last 1, 5 and 15 minutes, system boot time and uptime, as well as cell & network monitoring, including 3G and Wi-Fi network connection information, the IP address of the current connection, your network provider and MCC/MNC codes, and more.

One thing many users will be ticked off by is the constant presence of the ads at the bottom of the screen. Speaking of which, there’s an About screen that advertises other apps by developer Techet, including the Pro version of System Status. The About section further includes documentation, support, a link to the developer’s home page, an option to review the app, and other details about System Status.

Copy paste support allows you to grab information from the app and save it or send it somewhere, such as to a technician if you’re troubleshooting an issue with your device.

The iPad build displays in both landscape and portrait mode. In landscape, the app’s interface goes two-pane, putting the tabs on the left and the system info on the right. There’s a glitch with the iPad version that prevents the tabs from showing because of the ads.

Add to watchlist:

System infoCache cleaner / optimizer / task managerBattery

• Relative Benchmark 2.45
• SYS Activity Manager 5.0
• Battery Doctor - Must-have Battery Management App 2.4
• Battery Power Free 1.1.0