Develop Reference

Full screen TYPE_ACCESSIBILITY_OVERLAY

I'm new to the accessibility stuff on Android. While going through the classes and documentation I came across TYPE_ACCESSIBILITY_OVERLAY inside the WindowManager class.
The documentation says (only the relevant text)
For example, if there is a full screen accessibility overlay that is
touchable, the windows below it will be introspectable by an
accessibility service even though they are covered by a touchable
window.
So I set out to achieve just that, a full screen accessibility overlay and try to introspect the windows below it
Extended AccessibilityService and added my full screen overlay when onServiceConnected is called (the inspiration for adding overlay came from here)
#Override
protected void onServiceConnected() {
WindowManager wm = (WindowManager) getSystemService(WINDOW_SERVICE);
FrameLayout mLayout = new FrameLayout(this);
WindowManager.LayoutParams lp = new WindowManager.LayoutParams();
lp.type = WindowManager.LayoutParams.TYPE_ACCESSIBILITY_OVERLAY;
lp.format = PixelFormat.TRANSLUCENT;
lp.flags |= WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_FULLSCREEN;
lp.width = WindowManager.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT;
lp.height = WindowManager.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT;
lp.gravity = Gravity.TOP;
wm.addView(mLayout, lp);
mLayout.setOnTouchListener(new View.OnTouchListener() {
#Override
public boolean onTouch(View v, MotionEvent event) {
// Here I'm getting the touch events on the overlay I added
return false;
}
});
}
Now, the question is, how do I introspect or find the windows below this overlay? Even in the onAccessibilityEvent callback I get just this overlay window. getWindows() always has a size of 1. Doesn't it refute the assertion made above for TYPE_ACCESSIBILITY_OVERLAY?
Relevant info: To receive the touch events on the overlay I have disabled touchExplorationMode in the service settings
android:canRequestTouchExplorationMode="false"

What you seem to be missing is flagRetrieveInteractiveWindows on your configuration. These properties and window layout paremeters configuration should work, without requiring for you to disable canRequestTouchExplorationMode in order to get the events and having getWindows return the AccessibilityWindowInfo instances underneath yours:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<accessibility-service xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:packageNames="test.demo.com.tests"
android:accessibilityEventTypes="typeAllMask"
android:accessibilityFlags="flagRetrieveInteractiveWindows|flagReportViewIds|flagIncludeNotImportantViews"
android:accessibilityFeedbackType="feedbackAllMask"
android:notificationTimeout="100"
android:canRetrieveWindowContent="true"
/>
And on service connected:
#Override
protected void onServiceConnected() {
WindowManager windowManager = (WindowManager) getSystemService(WINDOW_SERVICE);
FrameLayout layout = new FrameLayout(this);
WindowManager.LayoutParams params = new WindowManager.LayoutParams(WindowManager.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT,
WindowManager.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT, WindowManager.LayoutParams.TYPE_ACCESSIBILITY_OVERLAY,
WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_NOT_FOCUSABLE| WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_FULLSCREEN |
WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_NOT_TOUCHABLE|
WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_DRAWS_SYSTEM_BAR_BACKGROUNDS|
WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_WATCH_OUTSIDE_TOUCH,
PixelFormat.TRANSLUCENT);
params.gravity = Gravity.TOP;
windowManager.addView(layout, params);
layout.setOnTouchListener(new View.OnTouchListener() {
#Override
public boolean onTouch(View v, MotionEvent event) {
//You can either get the information here or on onAccessibilityEvent
return false;
}
});
}
EDIT:
Added FLAG_DRAWS_SYSTEM_BAR_BACKGROUNDS to accomplish full screen and removed canRequestTouchExplorationMode since the flag associated to this property should not be included and, therefore, of no use.

How to hide the Navigation bar using a system overlay window

LockScreenReceiver.java
public class LockScreenReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver {
#Override
public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {
String action = intent.getAction();
//If the screen was just turned on or it just booted up, start your Lock Activity
if(action.equals(Intent.ACTION_SCREEN_OFF) || action.equals(Intent.ACTION_BOOT_COMPLETED))
{
//Create a window manager params
WindowManager.LayoutParams params = new WindowManager.LayoutParams(
WindowManager.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT,
WindowManager.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT,
WindowManager.LayoutParams.TYPE_SYSTEM_ALERT,
WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_NOT_FOCUSABLE
| WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_NOT_TOUCH_MODAL
| WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_WATCH_OUTSIDE_TOUCH,
PixelFormat.TRANSLUCENT);
//makeFullScreen((Activity) context);
WindowManager wm = (WindowManager) context.getSystemService(context.WINDOW_SERVICE);
LayoutInflater inflater = (LayoutInflater) context.getSystemService(context.LAYOUT_INFLATER_SERVICE);
final View myView = inflater.inflate(R.layout.my_view, null);
myView.setOnTouchListener(new View.OnTouchListener() {
#Override
public boolean onTouch(View v, MotionEvent event) {
Log.d("TAG", "touch me");
myView.setVisibility(View.GONE);
return true;
}
});
// Add layout to window manager
wm.addView(myView, params);
}
}
}
What i am having:
I have output as shown below, which is a view on click of it, its visibility is gone
What i am trying to do:
I want to hide the bar that has back,center button when the above view is loaded.
How to achieve this?

WindowManager.LayoutParams lp = new WindowManager.LayoutParams();
lp.format = PixelFormat.RGBA_8888;
lp.flags = WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_SHOW_WHEN_LOCKED
| WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_LAYOUT_IN_SCREEN
| WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_FULLSCREEN;
lp.screenOrientation = ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_PORTRAIT;
lp.height = ViewGroup.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT;
lp.width = ViewGroup.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT;
int flag = View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_IMMERSIVE_STICKY
| View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_LAYOUT_FULLSCREEN
| View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_HIDE_NAVIGATION;
mRootView.setSystemUiVisibility(flag);
mWindowManager.addView(mRootView, getLayoutParams());
Don not use WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_NOT_FOCUSABLE， this flag will make navigation bar always show. I don't kown why.

You can hide the navigation bar on Android 4.0 and higher using the SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_HIDE_NAVIGATION flag. This snippet hides both the navigation bar and the status bar:
View decorView = getWindow().getDecorView();
// Hide both the navigation bar and the status bar.
// SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_FULLSCREEN is only available on Android 4.1 and higher, but as
// a general rule, you should design your app to hide the status bar whenever you
// hide the navigation bar.
int uiOptions = View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_HIDE_NAVIGATION
| View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_FULLSCREEN;
decorView.setSystemUiVisibility(uiOptions);
source: here

Starting from Android 4.4 KitKat, you can use "immersive" full-screen mode. Here's the detail and some sample codes.
https://developer.android.com/training/system-ui/immersive.html

try with Immersive mode -SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_IMMERSIVE flag for setSystemUiVisibility()

Prevent status bar for appearing android (modified)

I am implementing a kiosk mode application and i have successfully made the application full-screen without status bar appearance post 4.3 but unable to hide status bar in 4.3 and 4.4 as status-bar appears when we swipe down at the top of the screen.
I have tried to make it full screen by
speciflying the full screen theme in manifest
setting window Flags ie setFlags
setSystemUiVisibility
Possible duplicate but no concrete solution found
Permanently hide Android Status Bar
Finally the thing i want is, how to hide status bar permanently in an activity?? in android 4.3,4.4,5,6versions

We could not prevent the status appearing in full screen mode in kitkat devices, so made a hack which still suits the requirement ie block the status bar from expanding.
For that to work, the app was not made full screen. We put a overlay over status bar and consumed all input events. It prevented the status from expanding.
note:
customViewGroup is custom class which extends any
layout(frame,relative layout etc) and consumes touch event.
to consume touch event override the onInterceptTouchEvent method of
the view group and return true
Updated
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW"/>
customViewGroup implementation
Code :
WindowManager manager = ((WindowManager) getApplicationContext()
.getSystemService(Context.WINDOW_SERVICE));
WindowManager.LayoutParams localLayoutParams = new WindowManager.LayoutParams();
localLayoutParams.type = WindowManager.LayoutParams.TYPE_SYSTEM_ERROR;
localLayoutParams.gravity = Gravity.TOP;
localLayoutParams.flags = WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_NOT_FOCUSABLE|
// this is to enable the notification to recieve touch events
WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_NOT_TOUCH_MODAL |
// Draws over status bar
WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_LAYOUT_IN_SCREEN;
localLayoutParams.width = WindowManager.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT;
localLayoutParams.height = (int) (50 * getResources()
.getDisplayMetrics().scaledDensity);
localLayoutParams.format = PixelFormat.TRANSPARENT;
customViewGroup view = new customViewGroup(this);
manager.addView(view, localLayoutParams);

In Android M you have to get an extra permission for making overlays. android.permission.SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW is not enough! So I used the code from the answer of Abhimaan within disableStatusBar() and had to make an intent to open the right settings dialog. I also added removing view in onDestroy() in order to enable status bar when the app exits. I also reduced the overlay height to 40 as it seems to be enough. Code works with 5.1 and 6.0 here.
public static final int OVERLAY_PERMISSION_REQ_CODE = 4545;
protected CustomViewGroup blockingView = null;
#Override
protected void onDestroy() {
super.onDestroy();
if (blockingView!=null) {
WindowManager manager = ((WindowManager) getApplicationContext().getSystemService(Context.WINDOW_SERVICE));
manager.removeView(blockingView);
}
}
#Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
if (android.os.Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.M) {
if (!Settings.canDrawOverlays(this)) {
Toast.makeText(this, "Please give my app this permission!", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
Intent intent = new Intent(Settings.ACTION_MANAGE_OVERLAY_PERMISSION,Uri.parse("package:" + getPackageName()));
startActivityForResult(intent, OVERLAY_PERMISSION_REQ_CODE);
} else {
disableStatusBar();
}
}
else {
disableStatusBar();
}
}
#Override
protected void onActivityResult(int requestCode, int resultCode, Intent data) {
super.onActivityResult(requestCode, resultCode, data);
if (requestCode == OVERLAY_PERMISSION_REQ_CODE) {
if (!Settings.canDrawOverlays(this)) {
Toast.makeText(this, "User can access system settings without this permission!", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
}
else
{ disableStatusBar();
}
}
}
protected void disableStatusBar() {
WindowManager manager = ((WindowManager) getApplicationContext().getSystemService(Context.WINDOW_SERVICE));
WindowManager.LayoutParams localLayoutParams = new WindowManager.LayoutParams();
localLayoutParams.type = WindowManager.LayoutParams.TYPE_SYSTEM_ERROR;
localLayoutParams.gravity = Gravity.TOP;
localLayoutParams.flags = WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_NOT_FOCUSABLE |
// this is to enable the notification to receive touch events
WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_NOT_TOUCH_MODAL |
// Draws over status bar
WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_LAYOUT_IN_SCREEN;
localLayoutParams.width = WindowManager.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT;
localLayoutParams.height = (int) (40 * getResources().getDisplayMetrics().scaledDensity);
localLayoutParams.format = PixelFormat.TRANSPARENT;
blockingView = new CustomViewGroup(this);
manager.addView(blockingView, localLayoutParams);
}

For a project I worked on I had found a solution for this but it took a long time. Various threads on Stackoverflow and elsewhere helped me to come up with it. It was a work around on Android M but it worked perfectly. As someone asked for it so I thought I should post it here if it can benefit anyone.
Now that its been a while, I don't remember all the details, but the CustomViewGroup is the class which overrides the main ViewGroup, and detects that a user has swiped from top to show the status bar. But we didn't want to show it, so the user's intercept was detected and any further action was ignored, i.e. Android OS won't get a signal to open the hidden status bar.
And then the methods to show and hide the status bar are also included which you can copy/paste as is in your code where you want to show/hide the status bar.
/**
* This class creates the overlay on the status bar which stops it from expanding.
*/
public static class CustomViewGroup extends ViewGroup {
public CustomViewGroup(Context context) {
super(context);
}
#Override
protected void onLayout(boolean changed, int l, int t, int r, int b) {
}
#Override
public boolean onInterceptTouchEvent(MotionEvent ev) {
Log.v("customViewGroup", "********** Status bar swipe intercepted");
return true;
}
}
public static void allowStatusBarExpansion(Context context) {
CustomViewGroup view = new CustomViewGroup(context);
WindowManager manager = ((WindowManager) context.getApplicationContext()
.getSystemService(Context.WINDOW_SERVICE));
manager.removeView(view);
}
// Stop expansion of the status bar on swipe down.
public static void preventStatusBarExpansion(Context context) {
WindowManager manager = ((WindowManager) context.getApplicationContext()
.getSystemService(Context.WINDOW_SERVICE));
Activity activity = (Activity) context;
WindowManager.LayoutParams localLayoutParams = new WindowManager.LayoutParams();
localLayoutParams.type = WindowManager.LayoutParams.TYPE_SYSTEM_ERROR;
localLayoutParams.gravity = Gravity.TOP;
localLayoutParams.flags = WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_NOT_FOCUSABLE |
// this is to enable the notification to receive touch events
WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_NOT_TOUCH_MODAL |
// Draws over status bar
WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_LAYOUT_IN_SCREEN;
localLayoutParams.width = WindowManager.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT;
//http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1016896/get-screen-dimensions-in-pixels
int resId = activity.getResources().getIdentifier("status_bar_height", "dimen", "android");
int result = 0;
if (resId > 0) {
result = activity.getResources().getDimensionPixelSize(resId);
}
localLayoutParams.height = result;
localLayoutParams.format = PixelFormat.TRANSPARENT;
CustomViewGroup view = new CustomViewGroup(context);
manager.addView(view, localLayoutParams);
}

Android 4.4 hide navbar/statusbar using Accessibility service & service

I have implemented some features by integrating accessibility service for my application.
I currently have a 'system overlay' ImageView that can detect TouchEvent's. however i have seen it done that immersive mode, hiding the statusbar or navbar is possible without root.
i need to beable to access the view of my touch detection window in order to process any accessibility
My Accessibility service contains:
...
#Override
public void onServiceConnected() {
serviceInstance = this;
}
...
my touch detector:
...
WindowManager wm;
private MyAccessibilityService myAccessibilityService;
private ImageView mTouchDetector;
#Override
public void onCreate() {
super.onCreate();
myAccessibilityService = MyAccessibilityService.getSharedInstance();
WindowManager.LayoutParams params = new WindowManager.LayoutParams(
100,
100,
0, 0,
WindowManager.LayoutParams.TYPE_PHONE,
WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_NOT_FOCUSABLE, debugMode());
params.gravity = Gravity.CENTER_HORIZONTAL | Gravity.BOTTOM;
wm = (WindowManager) getSystemService(WINDOW_SERVICE);
wm.addView(mTouchDetector, params);
}
...

I have partially solved this problem, however having some trouble with the back button, check here to see if it gets resolved.
create the service as normal but add these flags to the overlay:
to the window manager:
TYPE_PRIORITY_PHONE, FLAG_FULLSCREEN |
FLAG_NOT_TOUCH_MODAL
to the view:
int uiOptions = View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_FULLSCREEN;
FloatingView.setSystemUiVisibility(uiOptions);
Android floating window with hidden statusbar Accessibility problems

Display view above status bar?

I recently saw an image of an app that was capable of displaying a view above the status bar and was also able to cover it with a view.
I know you can get a view right below the status bar from a view with align parent top. But how would you get a view on top of the status bar??
Example

Disable the System Status Bar - Without Root
After two full days of searching through SO posts and reading the Android docs over and over.. Here is the solution that I came up with. (tested)
mView= new TextView(this);
mView.setText(".........................................................................");
mLP = new WindowManager.LayoutParams(
WindowManager.LayoutParams.MATCH_PARENT,
100,
// Allows the view to be on top of the StatusBar
WindowManager.LayoutParams.TYPE_SYSTEM_ERROR,
// Keeps the button presses from going to the background window
WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_NOT_FOCUSABLE |
// Enables the notification to recieve touch events
WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_NOT_TOUCH_MODAL |
// Draws over status bar
WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_LAYOUT_IN_SCREEN,
PixelFormat.TRANSLUCENT);
mLP.gravity = Gravity.TOP|Gravity.CENTER;
mWindowManager = (WindowManager) getSystemService(WINDOW_SERVICE);
mWindowManager.addView(mView, mLP);
Dont forget the permissions:
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.SYSTEM_OVERLAY_WINDOW" />
Note:
Tested upto kitkat.

The answer by #Sadeshkumar is incorrect for ICS and above (perhaps GB as well).
A view created with TYPE_SYSTEM_ALERT and FLAG_LAYOUT_IN_SCREEN is covered by the StatusBar.
To get an overlay on top of the StatusBar, you need to use TYPE_SYSTEM_OVERLAY instead of TYPE_SYSTEM_ALERT.
The problem being then, how to get clicks/touches?

A view created with TYPE_SYSTEM_ERROR and FLAG_LAYOUT_IN_SCREEN is covered by the StatusBar.

int statusBarHeight = (int) Math.ceil(25 * getResources().getDisplayMetrics().density);
View statusBarView = new View(MyActivity.this);
statusBarView.setBackgroundColor(Color.GREEN);
WindowManager.LayoutParams params = null;
params = new WindowManager.LayoutParams(WindowManager.LayoutParams.FILL_PARENT,statusBarHeight,WindowManager.LayoutParams.TYPE_SYSTEM_ALERT,WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_NOT_TOUCH_MODAL |WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_LAYOUT_IN_SCREEN, PixelFormat.TRANSLUCENT);
params.gravity = Gravity.RIGHT | Gravity.TOP;
WindowManager wm = (WindowManager) getSystemService(WINDOW_SERVICE);
wm.addView(statusBarView, params);