Android Question Best way to full screen with no control bar?

almontgreen

almontgreen

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I have experimented with the ICSControls library and can hide the bottom bar but the content does not fill the screen leaving a black bar at the bottom (with controls hidden). I'm trying to figure out how to go truly full screen without having to purchase a $50 software package from 42Gears called SureLock. That software package does work, and it works well, so it must be possible.

I'm currently at a loss to figure it out on my own... Any clues out there? $50 is pretty steep and is more than what I'll be selling my app for.
 
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almontgreen

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Erel said:
Are you referring to the bar at the bottom with the home button? The most you can do is 'dim' it. You cannot draw over it.
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Actually, if you hide the bar while in B4A-Bridge and then launch the application, the bar remains hidden and the screen is full screen. I tried hiding the bar with a B4A app using ICScontrols and then launching my app from within that app, but the bar pops back on as soon as my app starts. I want to start the app with the bar hidden and the screen completely filled. The SureLock software does this - but I have to believe there is another way without having to spend $50 per installation on this software.
 
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almontgreen

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NJDude said:
If you have root then you could try THIS but it's more of a hack than anything else, not elegant, but it seems to work.

I haven't tried it myself, I suggest caution if you use it.
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Doesn't work with Android 4.2 according to what people wrote on that page. I'm not super sure how to implement that code anyway. I tried the $1.75 app on the play store Hide Bottom Bar, and that works after about 30 seconds after system boots up. I'm not sure if it would work with my application set to run at boot - but all of this tells me that there should be some way to do it.

On one message board I read that moving the SystemUI.apk file to another location would make the bar go away. I haven't tried this yet. I've read a fair amount of requests for "kiosk mode" so I would think that this could be supported somehow with Basic4Android? The ICScontrols sort of works except it doesnt' make the whole screen available for the app.

So close... argh!
 
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Informatix

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All solutions to create a Child Lock (by disabling the navigation buttons) or to remove completely the bottom bar (only on rooted devices since JB 4.2) are very technical. They need a solid understanding of how Android works and some ability to write Java code because you won't do anything with B4A only.
During the development of My Playground (soon on the market), I bricked my two tablets more than once. That implied to reinstall an Android system on them each time. So if you do not know how to reinstall a system, don't touch anything, don't move anything!
 
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almontgreen

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Informatix said:
All solutions to create a Child Lock (by disabling the navigation buttons) or to remove completely the bottom bar (only on rooted devices since JB 4.2) are very technical. They need a solid understanding of how Android works and some ability to write Java code because you won't do anything with B4A only.
During the development of My Playground (soon on the market), I bricked my two tablets more than once. That implied to reinstall an Android system on them each time. So if you do not know how to reinstall a system, don't touch anything, don't move anything!
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That's good advice for sure. Fortunately, I do have the ability to reinstall a system (my co-worker updates the firmware for me and installs root) but we are very much in learning mode as opposed to "experts" ;^)

Having said all of that, and understanding the technical nature of this - I am determined to find a solution, given that one does exist with SureLock and perhaps with Hide Bottom Bar... ICScontrols seems to get part of the way there so I'm optimistic (at least for future versions of the OS) that this will be more easily achieved.
 
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Informatix

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almontgreen said:
That's good advice for sure. Fortunately, I do have the ability to reinstall a system (my co-worker updates the firmware for me and installs root) but we are very much in learning mode as opposed to "experts" ;^)
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Good point. And about your Java knowledge?

almontgreen said:
ICScontrols seems to get part of the way
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Definitively not. It defines a system setting and that's all. It does what Android allows anyone to do. If you hope to find a mysterious and magic setting; there's not.
I'm quite sure that SureLock replaces a system part. That's why it needs a rooted device. Until now, no one has found another solution.
For child locks, it's easier and can work on an unrooted device, but it's not exactly what you want.
 
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almontgreen

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SOLUTION THAT WORKS FOR ME!

Here's what I did, I removed the file SystemUI.APK from the /System/Apps folder and re-booted. Bar at the bottom has now been removed on re-boot. To bring the bar back, I simply put the SystemUI.APK file back into the folder.

Now, the trick is to find a way to move it within B4A getting around the file protection built into Android which keeps you from doing that (How we did it was very complicated).
 
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Informatix

Informatix

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Glad to see there's no side effect (a bit surprising being given the number of guys complaining that their device does not work any longer after that). In fact, the most used solution is to mod the SystemUI.apk but, as I said, that needs some Java knowledge and to understand what you do, and I'm not certain that's the case here. If you really want to do things properly, there are many tutorials available on Internet. Just search "mod systemUI.apk".
That being said, if your solution fits your needs and your app will run alone and only on this device, that's great.
 
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