How To: Give Your Status Bar Stock Android's Material Design Icons & Matching Colors

How To: Give Your Status Bar Stock Android's Material Design Icons & Matching Colors
These days, the user experience on stock Android is a lot more refined and polished than manufacturer skins like Samsung's TouchWiz or HTC's Sense. This is mostly due to Material Design, the look and feel that Google implemented back in Android Lollipop, which has finally started to give Android a unified appearance with its sleek icons and abundant use of colors.To notice the difference, you needn't look any further than the status bar at the top of your screen. With stock Android, the icons are subtle and understated, while the background of the status bar matches the color of the app you're currently using. Manufacturer-skinned versions of Android, on the other hand, continue to use cartoonish icons here, and the status bar may or may not be color-matching, even if you're running Lollipop or higher.Luckily, though, developer James Fenn has come up with an ingenious way to get stock Android's status bar on almost any device. His latest app simply overlays a color-matching status bar on top of your existing one, complete with Material Design icons and theming. To top that all off, the app doesn't even require root, so this is one that anybody can try.

Step 1: Install StatusTo update your ugly old status bar with Material Design, start by installing Fenn's app, which is simply called Status.Install Status for free from the Google Play Store

Step 2: Grant PermissionsWhen you first launch Status, there are a handful of additional permissions that you'll have to grant so that the app can overlay your screen, display notification icons, and keep your connectivity indicators accurate. The app has a set-up screen that will walk you through this part, so it's pretty easy.To start, tap the "Grant Access" button beneath the first permission, then select the "Status Service" entry on the next screen. Next, simply enable the permission with the switch at the top of the screen, then confirm your choice on the popup. From there, press your device's back button to head back to the Status app. Next, just repeat this same process with the other two permissions, then press the check mark in the bottom-right corner of the screen when you're done.

Step 3: Adjust OptionsOnce you make it to the app's main menu, start by enabling the "Status Bar Service" switch. From here, make sure the "Status Bar Coloring" option is also enabled if you want your new status bar to match the color of the app you're using. In the event that the automatic color-matching fails or the app you're using has no color, you can set a default color with the "Status Bar Color" option, and this will be used as a fallback of sorts. The app does a good job of automatically matching the color of any app you're using, but occasionally, this can be off. If you notice any apps with mismatching status bar colors in the future, come back to the app's main menu, then tap the "Add Apps" button. From here, enable the switch next to any troublesome app, then use the sliders on the popup to manually adjust the status bar coloring for that particular app.

Step 4: Get a Color-Matching Material Design Status BarFrom now on, your status bar will be using Material Design, so you'll get the sleek icons and indicators, plus the color will match the app you're currently using. This only applies to the status bar itself, so when you expand your notification tray, you'll still see the stock interfaceĆ¢€”but, at the very least, you've finally gotten rid of that ugly old status bar. Follow Gadget Hacks on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and YouTube Follow Android Hacks on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest Follow WonderHowTo on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google+
Cover photo and screenshots by Dallas Thomas/Gadget Hacks



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Google's been using their "Material Design" look in Android for years now, but a change is coming up with "Material Design 2," their updated version focusing on new colors, icons, and spacing. Whether it'll be called "Material Design 2" or not remains to be seen, but you can try it out right now in Google Chrome on your Android device right now.
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The Material Design color system supports alternative colors, which are colors used as alternatives to your brand's primary and secondary colors (they constitute additional colors to your theme). Apps can use alternative colors to establish themes that distinguish different sections.
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Not every mod you add to your Android will revolutionize the way you use it, but many of them can make things a little more simple and convenient for you on a regular basis, like sliding across the status bar to adjust brightness or swiping the screen to put your display to sleep.
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Update: Lollipop: public abstract void setStatusBarColor (int color) Added in API level 21. Android Lollipop brought with it the ability to change the color of status bar in your app for a more immersive user experience and in tune with Google's Material Design Guidelines.
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For the unaware, System UI Tuner let you choose which icons to show in the status bar. For the majority of the icons, you can simply turn it off or on, but there are some additional controls for time and battery. It is a great tool to give you a bit more customization, and it cleans up unnecessary icons which crowd your status bar.
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The horizontal dotted icon in your iPhone's status bar serves as an indicator of your device's network strength. And while it does help provide an approximation of how strong your signal is, swapping it out to display an actual numeric value is a lot more precise and can change up the look of your iPhone (or at least the status bar).

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