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[Q] Effective screen size

Hi,
I have just tried a Xoom in a shop. At the bottom and the top of the screen there were status bars. Is it possible to move these bars to the side of the screen or hide them fully? They take a lot of screen area mainly in landscape position. Web browsing does not look comfortable with this screen setup.

No, you cannot hide the status bar in Honeycomb (and neither in ICS iirc) per default: http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=15408
There are apps for that though: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.hanhuy.android.hsbm

This app will not work on ICS
BTW what are the benefits of Honeycomb and ICS over older Android releases? Effective usage of widescreen is not...

The Xoom does run completely in widescreen - it has a 16:10 display, like most laptops, that bottom portion is "extra" space for the status bar, just like on a "Windows" laptop, that bottom space is used to display on-screen controls when watching a movie, etc., so that the actual movies and such are displayed in true 16:9 without any distortion. All "real" Android tablets are like this.

brandogg said:
The Xoom does run completely in widescreen - it has a 16:10 display, like most laptops, that bottom portion is "extra" space for the status bar, just like on a "Windows" laptop, that bottom space is used to display on-screen controls when watching a movie, etc., so that the actual movies and such are displayed in true 16:9 without any distortion. All "real" Android tablets are like this.
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My problem is with web browsing and/or text reading. The status bars leave only a narrow but unnecceassary long bar for reading. Ipad has 4:3 screen without bottom status bar. Much more natural.
Why can not be moved the status bar to the left or right side of the screen like taskbar in windows?

Why not run in portrait mode if needing to scroll much
Sent from my DROID3 using xda premium

I don't think that this newest update was thought through...

Look at the navigation bar in the screenshot attached to this post, the application UI is black, the status bar is black, and the most common color is black. Ignoring all of this, the navigation bar is still white, and this will ironically burn the navigation bar in if you use the application too often.
Why can't the color just automatically match the status bar? It's kind of dumb to always have it as white, in applications with a black UI it looks ugly and ironically burns in. Doing the exact opposite of what the update was made to fix. There is also no way to change this, it's impossible to have any other color than something very light. This isn't a problem for me, because I always hide the bar in use (looks great), but for someone who doesn't want to do it, this will be a huge issue and annoyance.

My thoughs exactly. I have a lot of black apps and themes which frankly now look ridiculous. It is actually off putting having a huge white bar at the bottom when everything else is black or dark (and no, before some smart arse decides to say it, hiding it is NOT the solution).
I have also noticed in pretty much every app I have used that I now have this stupid bar pop up just above the nav bar which says press here to go full screen (which doesn;t actually go full screen anyway, all it does is get rid of the empty gap caused by this message in the first place). I mean WTF? I never had that showing up before and never had any issues before either.

galaxyYtester said:
Look at the navigation bar in the screenshot attached to this post, the application UI is black, the status bar is black, and the most common color is black. Ignoring all of this, the navigation bar is still white, and this will ironically burn the navigation bar in if you use the application too often.
Why can't the color just automatically match the status bar? It's kind of dumb to always have it as white, in applications with a black UI it looks ugly and ironically burns in. Doing the exact opposite of what the update was made to fix. There is also no way to change this, it's impossible to have any other color than something very light. This isn't a problem for me, because I always hide the bar in use (looks great), but for someone who doesn't want to do it, this will be a huge issue and annoyance.
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A "huge" issue is a bit of an overstatement in my opinion. Samsung has done this on purpose to make sure that the pixels that are turned off when the nav bar is black don't burn in slower than all the other pixels on the screen, which would create an even uglier sight if that happens.

MindlessNevada said:
A "huge" issue is a bit of an overstatement in my opinion. Samsung has done this on purpose to make sure that the pixels that are turned off when the nav bar is black don't burn in slower than all the other pixels on the screen, which would create an even uglier sight if that happens.
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But now the navigation bar will burn in faster than the rest of the screen, it is still a huge issue... The issue is still not solved, and it looks even uglier than before. A black navigation bar on a white themed app looks good, because it blends to the black bezel, and doesn't attract attention from the content of the app due to being practically invisible (only the icons to navigate are visible).
White catches the eye, and a white navigation bar on a black app is very distracting from the content you're trying to see. It also breaks the immersion of similar colors being displayed on the entire screen, a uniformity of darkness across the screen looks good, but not, if there is a white bar in the bottom breaking the immersion.
It's beyond me why Samsung hasn't made the navigation bar sync colors with the status bar. The goal to avoid burn-ins is to have a similar brightness / color on the whole display, to avoid differences that add up to burning in over time. The status bar shifts color based on application, this is why it doesn't burn in. It's white on white applications, and black on black applications. Copying this color for the navigation bar would be the perfect fix for burn-ins, but instead Samsung turned the bar bright white under ANY conditions.

ewokuk said:
My thoughs exactly. I have a lot of black apps and themes which frankly now look ridiculous. It is actually off putting having a huge white bar at the bottom when everything else is black or dark (and no, before some smart arse decides to say it, hiding it is NOT the solution).
I have also noticed in pretty much every app I have used that I now have this stupid bar pop up just above the nav bar which says press here to go full screen (which doesn;t actually go full screen anyway, all it does is get rid of the empty gap caused by this message in the first place). I mean WTF? I never had that showing up before and never had any issues before either.
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Here's a fix if you don't mind themes.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s8+/themes/theme-dark-default-t3597615

ggrant3876 said:
Here's a fix if you don't mind themes.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s8+/themes/theme-dark-default-t3597615
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What if I want to keep the default stock look? It's not a proper solution to change the entire device's theme to be black, just to have a black navigation bar. This also brings back the burn-in issue on light themed apps, the navigation bar being black will burn in slower than the rest of the screen.

Nvm

Totally agree. Not only this but the whole software seems like it is not there yet.

I have actually disabled automatic updates on my S8+ both in normal settings and under developer settings after hearing about this update. Shouldn't that be enough? Or can I prevent the update entirely somehow without root?

leeswagger said:
I have actually disabled automatic updates on my S8+ both in normal settings and under developer settings after hearing about this update. Shouldn't that be enough? Or can I prevent the update entirely somehow without root?
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If you want to completely stop system updates, you can do that with a package disabler. There are paid ones that have tons of features like data clearing, but those aren't needed in this case. The Adhell ad blocker has a package disabler built in to it, you can download the Adhell app from here if you want: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.getadhell.androidapp
After downloading and opening the application, it prompts you to give it permissions to enable the Knox service, used for blocking ads and disabling packages (no root needed). After this is done, tap the middle option in the bottom, that says "Package disabler". A list of applications appears, you can just scroll down to find the system update application, and flip the switch on the right to disable it. After this you won't get notifications of system updates anymore, because the application used for them is technically uninstalled. It still is there, but it's not in use anymore.

galaxyYtester said:
If you want to completely stop system updates, you can do that with a package disabler. There are paid ones that have tons of features like data clearing, but those aren't needed in this case. The Adhell ad blocker has a package disabler built in to it, you can download the Adhell app from here if you want: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.getadhell.androidapp
After downloading and opening the application, it prompts you to give it permissions to enable the Knox service, used for blocking ads and disabling packages (no root needed). After this is done, tap the middle option in the bottom, that says "Package disabler". A list of applications appears, you can just scroll down to find the system update application, and flip the switch on the right to disable it. After this you won't get notifications of system updates anymore, because the application used for them is technically uninstalled. It still is there, but it's not in use anymore.
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Ohh, I actually have booth Adhell and Package Disabler (The individual app) I will disable that thanks!

Full Screen Or Hide Notch

What setting do you guys prefer? Notch or notch hidden? I have mine full screen with notch it doesn't bother me and I think it looks pretty nice

Full screen with notch shown. Hidden just looks ugly imo

NateDev said:
Full screen with notch shown. Hidden just looks ugly imo
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Ya I think it looks better with the notch as well I don't mind it without tho it still looks clean

Hiding the notch borks some things like Android Auto. I got used to it very quickly and prefer the full screen.

I have it full screen as well. Also I use Nova launcher and I use the gesture swipe up to toggle/hide the status bar. That also hides the notch on the fly but also hide all the status bar info unless you pull down. Just thought that was an interesting way to hide show the notch on the fly.

I also have full screen with notch. I thought it would bother me but it doesn't.

With notch, like most others, it didn't bother me as much as I thought it would and actually looks nicer than the entire top blacked out.

TechOut said:
What setting do you guys prefer? Notch or notch hidden? I have mine full screen with notch it doesn't bother me and I think it looks pretty nice
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Some of us OnePlus 6 users, who connect to infotainment systems, for Android Auto, have discovered we don't have a choice. If the notch is hidden, the car's touch screen doesn't respond. The image displayed might not even fit.
It's great to have a choice. But, without an update from OnePlus, some of us are finding there's no option.
Before my own hand was forced, I hadn't made up my mind as to which I preferred.
And Nova Launcher provides some extraordinarily useful settings, for making the most of a navigation-button-free landscape, on this device's screen.

Can't believe I'm the only one so far hiding the notch! Not that I hate it or anything, I just think it looks better hidden. It helps balance it with the chin.

I've been switching back and forth...kinda like them both actually...but I mostly leave the notch

Hello, guys!
What does everyone mean by hiding the notch? Just making it black or disabling the notch area completely? Is there any ROM with the ability to turn off the notch area and move notifications beneath the notch so that I could have just a normal status bar with a long row of icons?

vigilante7373 said:
What does everyone mean by hiding the notch? Just making it black or disabling the notch area completely?
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By default, "hiding" the notch, simply turns it to black background. That never made sense to me, so I just left it as is. I'm also interested in an option the move the status bar below the notch, so I can see more notifications.

Black status bar in my op6 - so ntoch hidden. Not bother me at all and there is enough space for icons, and more space on display itself.
OnePlus 6 @ Tapatalk

I'd also like this option.

I really don't mind the notch at all. If anything I wish most apps would allow me to fill it totally when in immersive mode instead of blacking it out. Many apps don't use the space.

Is there a way to force status bar icons to the right?

After days of searching for a way to force proper full screen mode WITHOUT the thick black bar I finally found one. However, it puts all notification/status icons already on the left under the camera. I'm so close to a perfect solution but this one thing is in my way.
Ideally I'd like to move all icons right but messing with the padding might be a good plan B.
Please help. It's driving me mental.

If you are referring to any notification icon and/or the clock, there really isn't any way to move those without doing a bunch of work on a rooted device creating your own theme basically. Also what thick black bar are you talking about for fullscreen? the bars are only present if whatever is being displayed isn't a 20:9 ratio. so any 16:9 (like most 1080p) media will get the bars. but everything else should be full screen by ensuring Setting>Display>Advanced>Front camera display area is on the right setting.

tambukey said:
If you are referring to any notification icon and/or the clock, there really isn't any way to move those without doing a bunch of work on a rooted device creating your own theme basically. Also what thick black bar are you talking about for fullscreen? the bars are only present if whatever is being displayed isn't a 20:9 ratio. so any 16:9 (like most 1080p) media will get the bars. but everything else should be full screen by ensuring Setting>Display>Advanced>Front camera display area is on the right setting.
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That's disappointing.
I have managed to move the clock to the right with edXposed via Gravitybox. It's just notifications now. Don't suppose you'd know if it's possible to disable the icons but still have notifications for those apps show up in the notification drop-down?
And that camera display area, when enabled, is the black bar I'm talking about. It's unsightly and a waste of space. Using the mod I found, all apps but Ookla Speed Test fill the ENTIRE to screen beautifully with no essential UI elements blocked by the camera. Landscape or portrait.

shadowofdeth said:
That's disappointing.
I have managed to move the clock to the right with edXposed via Gravitybox. It's just notifications now. Don't suppose you'd know if it's possible to disable the icons but still have notifications for those apps show up in the notification drop-down?
And that camera display area, when enabled, is the black bar I'm talking about. It's unsightly and a waste of space. Using the mod I found, all apps but Ookla Speed Test fill the ENTIRE to screen beautifully with no essential UI elements blocked by the camera. Landscape or portrait.
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Only thing I can think of for the notifications is make them all "Other" instead of important. you would have to do that per app and per notification type that each app shows. Long clicking them in the drop down gives you the option to change it there. But that also means you need to enable "important and other notifications" on lock screen if you want them to show up there.; however, I can't find a way to allow "other" notifications to display on the Ambient display. I do use the AOD notify app and that could be a nice workaround for that as that will still light up for notifications that are labeled as "other" over the Ambient display and you can then color code each app to what you want.

tambukey said:
Only thing I can think of for the notifications is make them all "Other" instead of important. you would have to do that per app and per notification type that each app shows. Long clicking them in the drop down gives you the option to change it there. But that also means you need to enable "important and other notifications" on lock screen if you want them to show up there.; however, I can't find a way to allow "other" notifications to display on the Ambient display. I do use the AOD notify app and that could be a nice workaround for that as that will still light up for notifications that are labeled as "other" over the Ambient display and you can then color code each app to what you want.
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Thanks for the tip. I changed the media apps I use to not important and that seems to have taken care of my issue for the most part.
Its not a perfect solution but it's the best and most helpful so far. Thank you, mate.

shadowofdeth said:
That's disappointing.
I have managed to move the clock to the right with edXposed via Gravitybox. It's just notifications now. Don't suppose you'd know if it's possible to disable the icons but still have notifications for those apps show up in the notification drop-down?
And that camera display area, when enabled, is the black bar I'm talking about. It's unsightly and a waste of space. Using the mod I found, all apps but Ookla Speed Test fill the ENTIRE to screen beautifully with no essential UI elements blocked by the camera. Landscape or portrait.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey @shadowofdeth, I have bought the OP8 recently and I too wish to reduce the height of the status bar(I don't mind the punch hole using the app space since most apps have the logo only at the top left). You said you have used a mod to reduce the space. Was it the edXposed or is it something else? Thanks in advance

[Feature request] Visual adjustments for Settings UI after 1.34.7 update

My app just updated with some pretty significant changes for how the app's settings are laid out.
Overall I like it, but I have some suggestions that would improve my personal experience, and hopefully some other users feel the same way.
The pane for Playback Speed is huge, and the original one was small and unobtrusive. I use this feature a lot, so this is the biggest issue for me after these updates. I like the +/- buttons, the bar for adjusting speed, and the bigger number, but it takes up half the screen and I can't see the video behind it. If the speed multiplier was placed above the slider bar it could still be pretty big and would free up 2/3 of the space it's currently taking up.
The background appears completely black on my phone. Reviewing the screenshots, there seems to be some level of translucency, but I would like to be able to adjust how translucent it is, down to 50% opacity or less. It's extremely useful to be able to still see the whole video while I'm adjusting settings.
The gradient on the left side of the settings UI goes out pretty far. To close the settings pane I usually tap the video, and with this big gradient it's hard to tell where I can tap to dismiss it.
My phone has a thick case, and some settings UI elements go really close to the edge. Some extra padding or margins on elements near the bottom would be appreciated. ("More" checkbox on Information is hard for me to hit)
The shortcut buttons go all the way to the left edge. A bit more space on the left would be nicer to interact with, and would match up better with the amount of space between the shortcut buttons.
The UI elements at the bottom are pretty close to the corners and the bottom of the screen as well. I think these would benefit from some extra space too.
Hopefully some of these can be considered, especially those first three.
[Edit: The video I'm watching doesn't seem to perfectly match my aspect ratio (I've got it set to Fit To Frame) and those last 2 points aren't as much of an issue when the entire frame is filled. There is still a big gap between the playback bar and the buttons that I find peculiar though.]
[Edit: Actually, scratch those last 2 entirely. The big gap between the playback buttons and bar is helpful to avoid accidental navigation in the video.]