Sunday, January 29, 2017
How To Customize the Status Bar Notification Panel On Android
How To Customize the Status Bar Notification Panel On Android
Have you ever thought of the possibility to customize your android phone (kitkat or jellybean) status bar to look classic just like that of lollipop and marshmallow devices?. Or perhaps you want to feel how the interface of your jellybean or kitkat phone will look like when tinkered into lollipop. Whatever your reasons might be, we are here to guide you. After the android lollipop 5.0 was launched, it came with a total system UI which from every notch differs from that of android kitkat and jellybean device. Whenever the word "Customize" is been mentioned, the first thing that tends to pop into our mind is Root Access. However you dont have to worry about that now, because we are going to tinker/customize your android phone from all notch without your device having a root access.
Also Read: How To Launch Your Favorite Apps From The Notification Panel On Android.The guide we are going to share wont involve any Xposed Modules since it doesnt require root access. To customize your android phone, we are going to use an app know as "Material Status Bar". I came across this app when I was researching for a way to enable dynamic status bar on any android phone which i will certainly post later. However you can use this app (material design) to tinker and make your status bar auto-match with any current app youre running.
Material Status Bar was developed with the aim of giving you a lollipop/marshmallow status bar with material design look and feel. The app has been bombarded with many features which we are going to unveil as this article unmask itself. With material status bar, you can enable heads up notifications, change the color of your status bar and make it blend with any running app, and also material status bar is capable of modding your notification bar to look like lollipop/marshmallow. Enough said already, lets get down to the main business.
#1. Download & Install Material Status Bar
Firstly you need to download and install Material Status Bar from the Google play store, the app has both free version and the pro version which cost a token, apart from the full screen ads integrated in the free version, the app are almost identical. So download or purchase whichever one you prefer and install it.
Now locate material status bar from your app drawer and tap on it to open. From the home screen of the app you will see some options, however, toggle the icon at the top right corner of your phone screen a popup will emerge.
Now you need to enable the services presented to you in other to allow material status bar work correctly. There are two shortcut namely Notification & Accessibility. Firstly tap on notification and it will take you to another home screen as shown below.
Now from the screen presented to you, tap on "Material Status Bar". Then toggle the "OFF" icon. A popup will again emerge asking if you want to use the app since it will observer your actions, just tap OK to grant it permission.
Now use your back button and return to material status bar home screen, select Notifications this time around and a new home screen will emerge, tick material status bar and from the popup, tap OK to allow material status bar read all your system notifications.
#2. Customize The Status Bar
Once youve done the steps above, then youre almost there. As said earlier, the main menu of the app has some few options, so lets run through them individually. Make sure the toggle icon at the upper right corner is enable. Under theme, you have four options & by default its in Lollipop, but you can choose the one you desire.
Now if youve selected any option from the theme, it will automatically change the colors of the status bar according to any running app just like Dynamic Status Bar Feature on Lollipop. Now head over to Transparent status bar and select your default launcher, in other to make your status bar transparent when youre on the home screen. Make sure youre using a non-scrollable wallpaper in other for this to work.
However if it fails to change the color of any running app, tap on App List and select any app you which to set its custom color, a popup will emerge, you can drag the scroll bar to choose your desired colour or simple search for the color palette of that particular app. Example Facebook colour palette is #3b5998, copy it and paste it on the color picker box from the emerge popup then tap Set. Open the app (Facebook) & you will see that the status bar matches with the Facebook color.
Now the next option remaining is the "Color Picker", its main function is to get color from screenshot. Tap on it and on the next click "Select Image" from the upper right corner, your gallery will be launched, select any image. Now once you tap on any part of the selected image, the action bar color will change or blend with the selected image color. Tap "Copy Color" at the upper right corner & youre done.
Now go back to the App list and choose any app you which to change its custom color, for instance I selected my default launcher. Paste the color you copy earlier on in the color picker box and tap Set. Locate and open the app you tinkered with its color and see the result. Below is my default launcher home screen. (Note the transparent status bar can do this work better).
Now if you swipe from the left of material status bar or tap the three horizontal line icon in the upper left, you will see some options which you can tinker with. So lets have a glimpse at some of its function.
Under customize, you can see about five options, you can tick the box available and see there function on the status bar. This looks cool, as it helps to set a center clock and shows battery percentage. Make sure "Autonomous start" us enabled, in other to auto start this feature when your phone boots up.
Now under the notifications panel, you can change how the notification panel looks when you pull it down from the status bar. Toggle the notification panel and make sure other boxes are ticked (optional).
Now once the notification panel is ticked, toggle the status bar again and pull down the notification panel to see changes. You can upgrade to the pro version to get more themes and features.
The heads up notifications is one of the best features that was launched on every android lollipop, however material status bar can enable it right from the heads up option. Under the Heads Up option, make sure its toggled and from the style option you can select either light or dark. Also you can choose your heads up position to appear either below status bar, over status bar or bottom of screen.
The backup & Restore option can come in handy when you want to save your color codes and also import them (color code) from previous backups.
What To Gain With The Pro Version Of Material Status Bar
The Pro version of material status bar comes with lots of features and themes that can completely change the experience of your android phone. However it cost only a token but you can purchase it to unlock most of the restricted features and themes. Below is one of the themes and features you can unlock once you purchase the pro version.
Guess this is it, N465.00 or $1.50 cant restrict you from laying your hands on material status bar Pro. If you can stomach the price, then youre good to go. Customizing your status bar can never be easy without a rooted android phone and some few xposed modules, but material status bar made it 100% easy for us. Enjoy your new transformed kitkat/jellybean device.
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