What does a gray dot to the left of time mean?

[Vadym]

As you can see in the attached screenshot, there is a gray dot to the right of the time in the status bar. It shows up when an app is in full screen and I have intentionally swiped down and made the status bar visible.

I am using a Samsung Galaxy A53 smartphone with the follow system specifications:

• OneUI 4.1
• Android 12
• Security Patch June 1 2022
• System update June 1, 2022

[CynicalJerk84]

Is it the proximity sensor maybe.

[Vadym]

Hi. Thank you for your reply.

Do you mean the hardware proximity sensor? Or some indicator to show that it is in use?

[CynicalJerk84]

I was reading about the device. Said it just has a virtual sensor. It could be a sensor of some kind. Maybe search for a legend map of your device.

[Vadym]

This isn't a virtual sensor. The proximity sensor is located near the camera hole punch. This gray dot only shows up when I pull down the status bar during a full screen activity e.g. watching a YouTube video in landscape.

[CynicalJerk84]

No clue what that is. Was just a suggestion.

[Axton]

Hi Vadym, we would like to inform you that the Grey dot could be a notification number (if there are any numbers inside the circle) Since the dot is not clearly visible to us we are unable to find out. It could also be a notification from a specific application.
We kindly request you to check it if it is showing up while accessing a specific app or another application in the full screen mode.

[Vadym]

Hi there,

There are no numbers in the circle. It shows up to the left of the time, whereas the notification icons show up to the right of the clock.

The dot is visible whenever I have an app in full screen and the status bar is not visible, but I have purposely swiped down to make it visible. I tried playing a video in Samsung internet app and the gray dot showed up as well.

[RedDogRabbit]

Usually the dots, are Notification Dots, informing you that an app is accessing the Camera, Microphone etc.

However, normally these Notification Dots appear on the right side of the Status Bar.

You could check in Settings > Notifications to view the recent Notifications, or try using Good Lock's NotiStar to see if there's any Notification for the dot. 

[Vadym]

I have checked NotiStar and it says there are no notifications associated with the dot. If there were, they would be displayed to the right of the time like this: