Database Users

Black bar on the top?

Now as many of you have seen, the stock wallpapers appear without the black bar (where you battery, time, etc. is).
But once you use a wallpaper that is not stock, the black bar appears so the wallpaper is black on the top. I tried to search for the place where you can save the stock wallpapers and tried to add mine there. But I couldn't find the place where the Samsung stock wallpapers are stored.
Do you know to make the black top bar disappear? I thought that was one of the improvements from the S3 but nothing has changed (unless you use the stock wallpapers)..

plus 1 on this one
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

I personally see this as a good thing. The lack of Black background for the status bar looked absolutely disgusting.

I personally don't like it. And I thought Samsung promised to change that (to make the bar transparent). Does anyone know how to do that?

samose said:
I personally don't like it. And I thought Samsung promised to change that (to make the bar transparent). Does anyone know how to do that?
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+1. I 'm trying to figure that out, too...

What I don't understand (actually I don't understand most of the gaudy crap they've shoved into touchwiz)
is why they've made the status bar (when you CAN see it) this bizarre very dark red/charcoal esque colour, and not just pure black. At least with pure black you could completely hide it or meld it with a dark/nighttime wallpaper or something.
This one is just an eyesore.
WHY samsung WHY????!?! (first world problems.....)

paddylaz said:
What I don't understand (actually I don't understand most of the gaudy crap they've shoved into touchwiz)
is why they've made the status bar (when you CAN see it) this bizarre very dark red/charcoal esque colour, and not just pure black. At least with pure black you could completely hide it or meld it with a dark/nighttime wallpaper or something.
This one is just an eyesore.
WHY samsung WHY????!?! (first world problems.....)
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Click to collapse
this not a problem just a bit tiny thing m8! problem a very big is the lag that this has and will fixed soon enough in all countries.. focus at more vital staff. just a friendly advice!

Update: If you get the Nova Launcher 2.1 Beta version you'll actually be able to make the status bar transparent. Plus with Nova Launcher the S4 gets less laggy. Hope that helps!

Look in themes and apps, there is a blue theme with transparent statusbar.

samose said:
Update: If you get the Nova Launcher 2.1 Beta version you'll actually be able to make the status bar transparent. Plus with Nova Launcher the S4 gets less laggy. Hope that helps!
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How do you do this? I have nova 2.1 and I don't see a setting for transparent status bar.

New update is annoying

I just have updated the new software today. The good news is that we can hide the navigation bar. The bad news is we only have 7 colors for the navigation bar to choose from, and there is no dark color. I use to have the black navigation bar so I found this update terrible
Is anyone share the same opinion??

This is probably to stop people from using a black background which will cause uneven wear of the display.

Minh225_ said:
I just have updated the new software today. The good news is that we can hide the navigation bar. The bad news is we only have 7 colors for the navigation bar to choose from, and there is no dark color. I use to have the black navigation bar so I found this update terrible
Is anyone share the same opinion??
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Click to collapse
Maybe not the answer everyone wants but this: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jaouan.skinnednavbar&hl=en works great for bringing back the black navbar. And you can use this without any of the emoji's on it; just plain black navbar.

I don't see that hide nav bar feature...

gc180 said:
This is probably to stop people from using a black background which will cause uneven wear of the display.
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Click to collapse
I'm a little confused, black pixels are costly?

keemyb said:
I'm a little confused, black pixels are costly?
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Click to collapse
Google it. It's not difficult.
Black nav bar will result in uneven screen wear. I didn't say cost, I said screen wear.

I have a black navbar. I have always had a black navbar. It actually helps preserve battery life. A black navbar has never caused me issues.

mtweisenbarger777 said:
Maybe not the answer everyone wants but this: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jaouan.skinnednavbar&hl=en works great for bringing back the black navbar. And you can use this without any of the emoji's on it; just plain black navbar.
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Click to collapse
This app does bring back the black bar but it keeps the phone awake. So the lock screen doesn't time out in the normal way. It times out after the same amount of time you set the system time out to. This has caused major battery drain when it turns on in my pocket from the virtual home button being so easy to push (even at the least sensitive setting) has anyone else found an alternative app that solves the problem in the same way but doesn't keep the phone from sleeping?

Latest S8 Update: Navbar colors

Hi guys,
So I've just installed the latest S8 update, which killed the color picker for the navbar and essentially gives you all white colors (Screenshot attached). Even if I use "Apply current theme", it's still white in some apps (e.g. Play Store, Instagram, Snapchat, Whatsapp many more). So I've downloaded "Navbar Apps" and it does the job of getting my navbar to a full black, but only sometimes. Im using a dark theme and have been using black navbars since they existed (why does Samsung even have white ones lolol) and navbar apps doesn't work 50% of the time and doesn't have the "ripple" animation when pressed, so I would really like a stable, solid black navbar. Any ideas? Thanks!

Same thing here...
The best thing would be to make it translucent IMO.

exxeHR said:
Same thing here...
The best thing would be to make it translucent IMO.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol, thanks that actually worked (although I had to sacrifice the ripple animation). Still looking for a more seamless way to fix this though. To anyone interested: here's how I set it up (Screenshot attached). Can't really notice the translucency, but it looks black and that's what I'm going for.
Cheers!

Samsung new update

What are you guys thoughts on samsung navigation bar update?? For me its so inconvience to use and everything it is just seems so bad

The color - eww
Extra feature - that's cool

turned off the option to hide the bar. Was too irritating to use and added nothing to my use.

I missed it i guess - what does it do?

I like it, works better than the ADB edit method.

Waiting for the update on the unlocked model. I use an app to force immersive mode now to utilize the while screen and avoid burn in so this will be a welcome addition.
I don't care about the color of the navigation bar. On the unlocked firmware it seems to be transparent in many situations anyway.

I'll find out after VZW pushes it out.

What happened to the nav bar? Was using an app navbar apps to keep it black all the time. I was using Nova launcher and nav bar is now white with no option to change.

dbizzy said:
What happened to the nav bar? Was using an app navbar apps to keep it black all the time. I was using Nova launcher and nav bar is now white with no option to change.
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Click to collapse
The nav bar should stay black after the update unless you go and change the color, then the black color is lost forever. I still haven't gotten that update but i think android police mentioned this in an article a week or so ago.

Casualsamsunguser said:
What are you guys thoughts on samsung navigation bar update?? For me its so inconvience to use and everything it is just seems so bad
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Click to collapse
For stock users that features will never return
But for rooted users editing settings apk brings back old nav bar

I actually like it
Sent from my SM-G955F using XDA-Developers Legacy app

Is this for the unlocked U1 firmware? When this update come out, and how do I determine if it was downloaded and installed on my phone? I had automatic updates enabled, but I would assume that I would have received some notification that it was installed, but I don't recall seeing anything like that.

monkey39 said:
Is this for the unlocked U1 firmware? When this update come out, and how do I determine if it was downloaded and installed on my phone? I had automatic updates enabled, but I would assume that I would have received some notification that it was installed, but I don't recall seeing anything like that.
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No.
It hasn't yet.
You can always check About Phone in settings.

Mr. Orange 645 said:
No.
It hasn't yet.
You can always check About Phone in settings.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alright, thanks! Was just wondering - I flashed from the AT&T to the XAA U1 firmware and wanted to confirm whether or not I was receiving OTA updates. Although, now that I think about it, I flashed the U1 AQDC firmware and received the AQE3 firmware OTA.
What security patch are you guys on? I'm showing June 1, 2017.
Sent from my SM-G955U1 using Tapatalk

I'm on a 955U1 running the stock unlocked firmware and I'm still on the June 1st security patch. I may end up flashing the T-Mobile firmware since it's been getting updates pretty regularly.

[DISCUSS] What are you doing to improve your Pixel 2XL

Hi all crazy people dishing out enough to buy a used car for a shiny new phone!!!
So...this thread is for ideas on how to improve (make as it should be) your Pixel 2XL...I'll start.
I enabled Developer options and set animations to 0.5X.
I enabled systemui tuner to turn off some icons in that cluttered status bar.
Why put an LED capable of so many colors on a phone and only have it blink green occasionally? Madness Google!!!
Light Manager went on first so I could have a charging and charged light as well as different colors for different apps.
Ooo...Google added a hidden trick that if you have black wallpaper (edges at least) then the app drawer background will also black out....what about all the other system apps Google?!!! And what? We have to add photos to black borders if we want them as wallpaper? I say thee NAY!
Rootless substratum - Andromeda to the rescue! Most themes work well on Oreo and you can have your dark UI back on everything...which as a side note blue tint does not show up on!
Once you get that up and running, I put Pitch Black theme on and also grabbed a center clock mod that works great!
Looking around for a circle battery mod that works and some way to mod the colors of the status bar icons. Oreo is being a pain for some themers.
A little more work and who needs root?
Anyone find a good mod to fix the color saturation? Or at least make Vivid Color switch do something?
So...what have you done? :highfive:

Great idea for a thread.
I had Nova Prime on mine with the Google Companion plug in to enable the Google swipe and it worked great to hide the dock at the bottom. Hopefully I will get nice one from Google tomorrow that's defect free.

How do you get rid of the notification for light manager?

AndrasLOHF said:
How do you get rid of the notification for light manager?
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Like any notification, just long press (hold on notification) and then choose block all notifications from this app.

KennyG123 said:
Like any notification, just long press (hold on notification) and then choose block all notifications from this app.
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Click to collapse
Cool. In the past that would kill the LED as well if I remember. Guess that got that figured out.

Cool thread. And the light manager idea is great. I don't understand why Google doesn't have a charging LED.
Sent from my Google Pixel 2 XL using XDA Labs

Nova Prime.
Substratum and a dark theme
Changed the navbar icons to hollow ones to help with burn in
icon pack
light manager
super thin case with my metal plate for my magnet mount in the car

Anyone having memory management issues? And has done something to improve it? Frequently getting redraws with only 6-10 apps open. :|
I originally had andromeda and substratum setup, naptime x (via adb), was using sprite to get center clock and colour options for the status and nav bars. Of course opted for nova launcher over pixel launcher!

OK, had the Oreo colorizer installed to improve the colors but then seen it using 2% battery after a full day...saw there was an update and after mashing update phone a 100 times finally sideloaded it! The saturated option is what I am used to and I think are great! I see some prefer just boosted...a compromise between boosted and saturated would be great.
Have gotten 3 days without charging the phone whereas at best I could make it 2 on the 6P! I may just stay unrooted if Substratum Andromeda would work a little better...takes like 10 tries sometimes to connect the ADB Andromeda script. And Pitch Black seems to update the theme almost everyday!
Loving this phone now!

Magisk 14.4
Substratum - Swift Black
Nova Prime
Tapet - Black Wallpaper
Removed Nav Bar - Using Swift Navigation instead.

KennyG123 said:
I say thee NAY! Rootless substratum - Andromeda to the rescue! Most themes work well on Oreo and you can have your dark UI back on everything...which as a side note blue tint does not show up on!
Once you get that up and running, I put Pitch Black theme on and also grabbed a center clock mod that works great!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's great to hear!
KennyG123 said:
Looking around for a circle battery mod that works and some way to mod the colors of the status bar icons. Oreo is being a pain for some themers.
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Click to collapse
As far as I know, the battery is completely drawn in Java so overlays are mods won't work, unless you do rooted mods
KennyG123 said:
A little more work and who needs root?
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Click to collapse
I've been running rootless for nearly a whole year and it's been great!

KennyG123 said:
I may just stay unrooted if Substratum Andromeda would work a little better...takes like 10 tries sometimes to connect the ADB Andromeda script. And Pitch Black seems to update the theme almost everyday!
Loving this phone now!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Usually we don't like telling people this but the connection of the phone to their Oreo device is based on the computer they used, for example, some of the Macs I tried kept disconnecting the ADB shell/disabling USB debugging and thus, disables the app - which gets understandably annoying.
I usually test on my main rig regarding Andromeda, and it's been running great with 5 devices attached at all times, including when they are disconnected.

nicholaschum said:
That's great to hear!
As far as I know, the battery is completely drawn in Java so overlays are mods won't work, unless you do rooted mods
I've been running rootless for nearly a whole year and it's been great!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nicholaschum said:
Usually we don't like telling people this but the connection of the phone to their Oreo device is based on the computer they used, for example, some of the Macs I tried kept disconnecting the ADB shell/disabling USB debugging and thus, disables the app - which gets understandably annoying.
I usually test on my main rig regarding Andromeda, and it's been running great with 5 devices attached at all times, including when they are disconnected.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Nicholas for all you do!!! I am sure Andromeda will only get better and it has been a blessing!!!
Thanks for the tip about the connection. My desktop is ancient...maybe I will try my new laptop and see how it works.

KennyG123 said:
OK, had the Oreo colorizer installed to improve the colors but then seen it using 2% battery after a full day...saw there was an update and after mashing update phone a 100 times finally sideloaded it! The saturated option is what I am used to and I think are great! I see some prefer just boosted...a compromise between boosted and saturated would be great.
Have gotten 3 days without charging the phone whereas at best I could make it 2 on the 6P! I may just stay unrooted if Substratum Andromeda would work a little better...takes like 10 tries sometimes to connect the ADB Andromeda script. And Pitch Black seems to update the theme almost everyday!
Loving this phone now!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How are you getting 3 days on a charge? I'm getting just under 2. Not that I'm complaining, but 3 would be badass.

Awesome thread idea -- was tired seeing so many negative threads concerning this phone. This phone has been nothing but great to me.
Here's what I did!
- Global full immersive mode (did this AS SOON as i unboxed it, after unlocking bootloader)
- Completely disabled the nav bar (never pops up)
- LMT Pie Controls
- Dropped down the animations to .5x
- Nova Prime
- Light Flow/Manager
- Substratum (pitch black theme)
- Disabled apps I dont use (uninstalled the ones i could)
After applying Nov. update, I decided to Root for a few reasons:
- Complete removal of the nav bar (editing the build.prompt)
- Got tired of seeing ads in Chrome Beta
- Completely removed apps within the system I dont use instead of just disabling them (nice and slim)
This phone has been absolutely incredible - insanely smooth with zero lag. No burn-in (obviously due to my set up) or anything negative about this phone that has been reported.
More than likely going to be on the Nov. build until ROMs start come rolling in -- until then, im completely satisfied.

gettinwicked said:
How are you getting 3 days on a charge? I'm getting just under 2. Not that I'm complaining, but 3 would be badass.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nothing special at all! I am using it the same as I did my 6P. I do clear all recents 2 or 3 times a day to make sure nothing is running in the background. Have brightness about 40% with adaptive brightness on. Am on Google Fi so make sure to be on wifi most of the day....from experience poor signal is a big drain. I keep location on battery saving which really helps Google Fit and my smartwatch be more accurate. Probably could get even more out of it if I did not play a battery hog called Dice with Buddies.

Dumped the Oreo Colorizer app for sideloading the November update...Saturated is my lobster!!!!
Anyone find a circle battery mod that works yet?

Loving my 2xl so far, aside from not being able to find a glass screen protector that lasts more than 2 days without dust under it!
Running sideloaded Nov. update,
Magisk 14.4 rooted
light manager is a must! (different color leds for work/personal app notifications)
substratum swift black
and good ol adaway to keep the ads at bay.
Would love a circle clock mod
and would KILL for a volume adjustment mod (set notification and ringtone to separate levels)

mnrivera210 said:
Magisk 14.4
Substratum - Swift Black
Nova Prime
Tapet - Black Wallpaper
Removed Nav Bar - Using Swift Navigation instead.
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Click to collapse
what is swift navigation?

byproxy said:
what is swift navigation?
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Think he meant Swipe Navigation : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.suphi.swipenavigation&hl=en