Develop Reference

Hiding the Status Bar under Android 4.2.2 (SDK 17)

Is it possible to permanently hide Navigation/Status Bar under Android 4.2.2
This solution seems not working under Jelly Bean.
I have GalaxyTab 3 (10.1) and hidding of Status Bar has no effect.
It's hidden on application Start on every screens, but i can expand it.
Problem occurs also after rooting device.
Somebody has faced it before (there is also video how to fix it):
forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=37466852
So my question is:
Is there any way to do this on application level?

Chris Banes and Roman Nurik have develop this usefull tool to controls the System UI easily
https://gist.github.com/chrisbanes/73de18faffca571f7292

No, it seems like there is no way to do this for your entire application on tablets running 4.+. Also, fully disabling it so it never appears is NOT possible.
However, the solution you linked does sort of work for Android 4.2.2, (tested on Nexus S and 10 inch tablet on emulator) but even when it works it reloads the status bar if certain user interactions occur to allow navigation (for example, pressing the menu button on a phone). So this means you should plan on spamming the flag every now and then.
I personally tried with this code in my oncreate:
View decorView = getWindow().getDecorView();
int uiOptions = View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_FULLSCREEN;
decorView.setSystemUiVisibility(uiOptions);
// Remember that you should never show the action bar if the
// status bar is hidden, so hide that too if necessary.
ActionBar actionBar = getActionBar();
actionBar.hide();
Which resulted in:
With the 4.2.2 phone the actionBar below also disappears, this does not seem to be possible for tablets.
Coming from the Android documentation about hiding the status bar, it seems that on Android 4.0 or lower, you would be able to set the fullscreen flag for the entire application and be done with it, but this has been changed to the piece of code above.
Next, the UI documentation has this to say:
The SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_LOW_PROFILE flag replaces the STATUS_BAR_HIDDEN flag. When set, this flag enables “low profile" mode for the system bar or navigation bar. Navigation buttons dim and other elements in the system bar also hide. Enabling this is useful for creating more immersive games without distraction for the system navigation buttons.
So I guess it could be that the galaxy tab 3 requires some playing around with these kinds of flags and does not support actually hiding the status bar but rather prefers making it "less visible" ...
Finally, the setSystemUiVisibility method has some great examples if you're still interested in making sure the status bar stays hidden throughout your application.

Please note, that the status bar and the navigation bar are two completely different things. The navigation bar contains the back, home, and recent apps buttons, while the status bar contains the notifications, clock, battery, etc... The status bar can be easyly hidden with flags like SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_FULLSCREEN, but more convenient, using this as your app base theme:
android:theme="#android:style/Theme.NoTitleBar.Fullscreen"
In tablets, the navigation bar often consists the status bar, so if the navbar is visible, the status bar will be too. You can't just hide the status bar, because then you would have to hide the nav bar too.
The purpose of you can't hide the navigation bar forever, is that the user must be able to control his device and navigate as he wants to.
You can't hide the navigation bar before 4.0, and as in the developer guide says, you can hide the nav bar with the SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_HIDE_NAVIGATION flag, however, it won't stay hidden once the user touches the tablet. More explanation here: Android Developers - Hiding the Navigation Bar
In 4.4 KitKat, a new API was introduced, the immersive mode, with that you can hide the navigation bar and still make the user to be able to interact with your app, without the navigation bar revealing itself. The user can swipe down from the bottom of his screen to make it visible again, this clears the SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_IMMERSIVE flag. If you want to make the navigation bar disappear when the user doesn't interact with it, then you can use the SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_IMMERSIVE_STICKY flag, so it will disappear if the user finishes with it. More explanation here: Android Developers - Android 4.4 API
Also immersive tutorial: Android Developers - Using Immersive Full-Screen Mode
Also, make sure you are targetting the API 19, and only use this flag, when your app runs on API 19 or later. More on checking API version: Here (StackOverflow)

Hiding the Status Bar under Android 4.2.2 (SDK 17)
This solution worked for me.
getWindow().getDecorView().setSystemUiVisibility(8);

try this..its working for me..
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
getWindow().setFlags(WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_FULLSCREEN,windowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_FULLSCREEN);
this.requestWindowFeature(Window.FEATURE_NO_TITLE);
setContentView(R.layout.about_app_phone);
}

Android Tablet - hiding/displaying of status bar on touch

I have been searching high and low how to hide the status bar on the Android tablet.
I know it is not possible to do so unless you root the tablet.
The main pain I have is when I write on my App, the wi-fi section pops-up.
I know of the flags View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_HIDE_NAVIGATION or SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_LOW_PROFILE
that hide navigation / dim navigation.
What I need is :
There is a feature in the the Gallery Application (in-built in android) that lets you traverse through the images and only pops the navigation on single touch and hides on single touch. No other gesture triggers this bar.
I need some way to implement something similar.
I'd be much obliged if someone can point me in the right direction.
Details :
Tablet :Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1
Android Version : 4.1.2

Actually in the Tablets with 4+ Android versions there is not possible to hide it, but you can try to do it like this:
The SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_LOW_PROFILE flag replaces the STATUS_BAR_HIDDEN flag. When set, this flag enables “low profile" mode for the system bar or navigation bar. Navigation buttons dim and other elements in the system bar also hide. Enabling this is useful for creating more immersive games without distraction for the system navigation buttons.
The SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_VISIBLE flag replaces the STATUS_BAR_VISIBLE flag to request the system bar or navigation bar be visible.
The SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_HIDE_NAVIGATION is a new flag that requests the
navigation bar hide completely. Be aware that this works only for the
navigation bar used by some handsets (it does not hide the system bar
on tablets). The navigation bar returns to view as soon as the system
receives user input. As such, this mode is useful primarily for video
playback or other cases in which the whole screen is needed but user
input is not required. You can set each of these flags for the system
bar and navigation bar by calling setSystemUiVisibility() on any view
in your activity. The window manager combines (OR-together) all flags
from all views in your window and apply them to the system UI as long
as your window has input focus. When your window loses input focus
(the user navigates away from your app, or a dialog appears), your
flags cease to have effect. Similarly, if you remove those views from
the view hierarchy their flags no longer apply.
Another solution that I found was to ser the view of your layout like this:
yourView.setSystemUiVisibility(8);
They say it works on tablets but I haven't really try it on.
Another one is adding this method and just pass a True or False according to what you want to show:
void setNavVisibility(boolean visible) {
int newVis = mBaseSystemUiVisibility;
if (!visible) {
newVis |= SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_LOW_PROFILE | SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_FULLSCREEN;
}
final boolean changed = newVis == getSystemUiVisibility();
// Unschedule any pending event to hide navigation if we are
// changing the visibility, or making the UI visible.
if (changed || visible) {
Handler h = getHandler();
if (h != null) {
h.removeCallbacks(mNavHider);
}
}
// Set the new desired visibility.
setSystemUiVisibility(newVis);
mTitleView.setVisibility(visible ? VISIBLE : INVISIBLE);
mSeekView.setVisibility(visible ? VISIBLE : INVISIBLE);
}

Dismiss or remove System Navigation Bar

I want to dismiss bottom Navigation bar for one particular screen.
I tried using
setSystemUiVisibility(HorizontalScrollView.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_HIDE_NAVIGATION);
I have put this in Onscroll of my scrollView, ontouch of my views.
but the issue is its comes back and the screen gets resize.
Any suggestions by which I can completely remove the NAVIGATION BAR.

Check out SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_HIDE_NAVIGATION, this flag hides the navigation bar until the user interacts with the device. It's new in Android 4.0. You can enable this flag for example like this:
getWindow().getDecorView()
.setSystemUiVisibility(View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_HIDE_NAVIGATION);
Note that the navigation won't disappear again automatically, you have to set it every time after the user interacted with the device.
Alternatively you can make the navigation less obtrusive by using SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_LOW_PROFILE, this changes the buttons into small dots (e.g. like the camera app).

Android Layout does not allow user to pull down notification bar

I am writing an App using MonoDroid and for some reason I cannot pull down the notification bar from the top of the screen. I am thinking this has to do with my layout, but I am not sure. I also notice that when my App is running I do not have the bar at the top showing the battery, time, signal strength, etc.
So, my question is, what do I need to do to allow the user to pull the notification bar down? And how to show the info at the top of the screen?

I suspect you have done something to make your app appear in "Full Screen" mode (this will turn the home, menu and back buttons on the bottom of the screen to dots, and hide the navigation bar.
I believe this is called "lights out mode". Here is one SO question asking how to turn it on (maybe it will help you turn it off as well): Hide ICS back home task switcher buttons

Maybe your theme is
android:theme="#android:style/Theme.NoTitleBar.Fullscreen" ?
It hides the notification bar. Change to a non-fullscreen theme to make the the notification bar visible.

Is there a way to hide the system/navigation bar in Android ICS

I'd like to extend the discussion regarding hiding of the system/navigation bar at the bottom of the screen on Android Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0 and up) tablet devices.
There's already a thread ( Is there a way to hide the system bar in Android 3.0? It's an internal device and I'm managing navigation ) about hiding the bar on Honeycomb devices. My clients, however, will be using the newest Ice Cream Sandwich devices and are very keen on hiding the bar at the bottom the screen. Their application is not for regular consumer use and it's very important for them to take over the whole screen to provide their experience. How possible is it to hide this bar -- or at least, override the behaviour of all the buttons -- without rooting the devices or rewriting its firmware?

Check out SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_HIDE_NAVIGATION, this flag hides the navigation bar until the user interacts with the device. It was introduced in Android 4.0. You can enable this flag for example like this:
getWindow().getDecorView()
.setSystemUiVisibility(View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_HIDE_NAVIGATION);
Note that the navigation won't disappear again automatically, you have to set it every time after the user interacted with the device.
Alternatively you can make the navigation less obtrusive by using SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_LOW_PROFILE, this changes the buttons into small dots (e.g. like the camera app).

on rooted devices, i use the following adb command
adb shell pm disable com.android.systemui
to hide navigation bar permanently. To show it again, run
adb shell pm enable com.android.systemui
so far it's working fine for me

Using the below code is one way of doing it to hide navigation
getWindow().getDecorView()
.setSystemUiVisibility(View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_HIDE_NAVIGATION);
But the problem with the above is that it becomes visible as soon as user touches the screen.
In Android Kitkat there is a feature called as IMMERSIVE which hides the notification bar and the navigation. It does not show even if the user interacts with the screen. However the user can make it visible by swiping it from top of the screen to bottom. Below is the code to achieve it
//Initializew this in onCreate()
View mDecorView = getWindow().getDecorView();
//Then call this function
private void hideSystemUI() {
mDecorView.setSystemUiVisibility(View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_LAYOUT_STABLE
| View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_LAYOUT_HIDE_NAVIGATION
| View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_LAYOUT_FULLSCREEN
| View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_HIDE_NAVIGATION
| View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_FULLSCREEN
| View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_LOW_PROFILE
| View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_IMMERSIVE);
}
However in my case I never wanted the navigation and notification bar to be visible even if the user swipes from top of the screen to bottom. I gave it a try and I was able to achieve it partially. What I did was I implemented a CountDownTimerwhich would call hideSystemUI() every second or so. I know it is not the best way of doing it. But I did not get any other solution to do it.
If someone gets any then please let me know on how to permanently hide navigation and notification bar :) Hope this answer helps some one in future :)
Watch this video to better understand about this feature.

Update - there is a work around which can be used for such cases (manually setting up the app for the client). Indeed, the navigation bar can't be removed within the given framework.
However, there is a solution to hide the navigation bar if rooting the device is an option for you. Here is how:
Root device
Install and run Busybox
Install HideBar
In HideBar there is an option to run in 'Kiosk' mode, in which there is no way to re-display the navigation bar. Needless to say, you really need to be careful with this.
Risks involved:
bricking the device
getting the installation of BusyBox wrong, which could get things a bit tricky, although is very unlikely to cause loss of information.
getting into a stalemate where you can't quit your app. For example if 1 your GUI doesn't provide a close option, 2 your app start automatically on start-up, 3 HideBar doesn"t allow any way of re-displaying the navigation bar and 4 HideBar hids the navigation bar on startup. However this can be overcome by simply stopping/uninstalling your app from adb.
Here are other identical questions:
Android tablet navigation bar won't hide
How to remove system bars on Android, I mean, all
Android tablet navigation bar won't hide
Is there a way to hide the system/navigation bar in Android ICS
Hide Tablet system bar
Real Fullscreen with Android 4 Tablets
Easy way to hide system bar on Android ICS

Although it's a hacky solution, I think it deserves attention because does not require rooting the device:
getWindow().getDecorView().setSystemUiVisibility(8);.

To hide status bar and navigation bar in android ics use
LinearLayout layout = (LinearLayout)findViewById(R.id.layout);
layout.setSystemUiVisibility(View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_HIDE_NAVIGATION);

EDIT: As of 4.4 (19) you can use the following to enable what is called "IMMERSIVE MODE". It was introduced for Google's Cardboard vrtoolkit, but can be used generally.
setSystemUiVisibility(View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_IMMERSIVE)
https://developer.android.com/training/system-ui/immersive.html
From my efforts, it seems that:
setSystemUiVisibility(View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_HIDE_NAVIGATION)
does not work on tablets.
It does work on smartphones (tested with a Nexus 4 Mako), but it will reappear on a touch/click event.
This also seems to capture focus to the bar, forcing you to click twice to regain focus to the view.
I have been trying to find a way to trap the event that actually redisplays the bar. No luck.
Being stubborn, I am going to download the android os code, fire up the eclipse debugger and go a-huntin. This is not a bug - the nav bar is crucial to app lifecycle.
I have seen apps do it (games and such) so there is a way without rooting.

place this code in your application tag in manifest file to hide default tab bar
<Application
android:theme="#android:style/Theme.Black.NoTitleBar.Fullscreen" <!--
other parameters of application tag-->
>
and the then make a linear or relative layout and place it in your activity layout.

You can not hide it unless you have rooted the device. But of course there is a workaround which might not fit with your requirement but several well known apps in the market at the moment using this strategy to achieve this disable menu bar feature for their apps.
Grant admin privilege.
Set password & lock the device using device admin profile api
Then load what ever the UIs on top of the native lock screen. (Of course this will show background lock screen whenever a transition happens between activities. But if logic is organized well, then it will be smooth & less noticed by the user)
When need to enable back, reset password to "" using resetPassword("", 0) of device policy manager object.

may be is the button behavor is enought you can have a look in my answer here
you still have the bar but you can't exit app without reboot tablet

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
See the following: Hiding the Navigation Bar

If your device is rooted this code will help you to hide system bar on ICS (I tested it on Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 and it works excellent):
ArrayList<String> list = new ArrayList<String>();
Map<String, String> env = System.getenv();
for (String envName : env.keySet()) {
list.add(envName + "=" + env.get(envName));
}
// Array containing the environment to start the new process in
String[] envp = (String[]) list.toArray(new String[0]);
String hidingCommand = "while [ true ]\n" + "do\n" + "killall com.android.systemui\n" + "done\n";
Runtime.getRuntime().exec(new String[] { "su", "-c", command }, envp);
myContext.sendBroadcast(new Intent("com.mycompany.myapp.ACTION_BARHIDDEN"));