3 secrets to a smarter Android status bar

I don’t want to embarrass you, but the top of your phone’s screen is, like, totally a waste of space.

For years now, y’see, Android device-makers have been designing devices with a circular cutout along the display’s upper edge. It’s an awkward workaround that allows ’em to keep the bezels around the screen smaller, since they don’t have to squeeze the front-facing camera into that area.

But it also puts a glaringly blacked-out dead zone right smack dab in the center of your screen, in the middle of the Android status bar — thus creating a pointless void in an area that’s otherwise packed with power.

Here’s an eye-opening revelation for ya, though: It doesn’t have to be that way. You can’t do much about the existence of that camera cutout, of course, but with a teensy bit of barely-there effort, you can transform your phone’s status bar black hole into a genuinely useful advantage — an extra source of efficiency that actually makes your phone even more well-suited for on-the-go productivity.

Let me show you three different ways you can inject a hearty helping of extra intelligence into your Android status bar and turn that space-wasting liability into a brain-aiding asset.

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Android status bar secret #1: The notification station

Our first Android status bar power-up takes inspiration from the other side of the mobile-tech reservoir — with a feature that may be making its way to at least some Android devices natively before long.

It’s a clever little setup that lets you implement something similar to Apple’s Dynamic Island on any Android device this instant. And with Samsung supposedly lookin’ at cookin’ up something similar for its Galaxy gadgets, it couldn’t be a more timely twist to consider.

The secret lies within a thoughtfully crafted app called, fittingly enough, dynamicSpot. And — well, here’s what it looks like in action:

JR Raphael, IDG

In short, dynamicSpot shows a pill-like shape around your phone’s camera cutout whenever a new notification arrives. You can then tap that shape to expand and interact with the notification or long-press it to jump directly into the associated app.

And the specifics of exactly how it works are entirely up to you. You can set how long the pill remains in place after a notification arrives, with a default of 20 seconds but a possible value as high as 24 hours — if you really want to make sure something important catches your eye. And you can select exactly which apps cause the dynamicSpot alert to appear, so you could conceivably use the tool only for important, high-priority notifications, if you were so inclined.

The app can also show pop-ups for important system events, like when your battery is low or your internet connection is unavailable — a handy little touch that makes those types of alerts even more prominent and likely to be noticed.

JR Raphael, IDG

Last but not least, in an extra-nifty touch, you can enable an on-demand pop-up menu of shortcuts to specific apps that shows up anytime you tap the camera cutout in your Android device’s status bar (when a notification isn’t actively present).

JR Raphael, IDG

The dynamicSpot app is free with an optional pro upgrade that unlocks some of its more advanced features. It does require a fair amount of system-level access in order to operate — including an accessibility control setting that looks more than a little daunting when you first enable it — but that access is legitimately required for what the app needs to do. The tool comes from a known and trusted Android developer, too, and it’s extremely clear about the fact that it doesn’t collect or share any sort of personal info.

Android status bar secret #2: The shortcut summoner

If you aren’t into the whole Dynamic Island concept but do appreciate the idea of being able to turn your Android device’s status bar camera cutout into a shortcut-summoning step-saver, this next power-up is precisely the path for you.

It’s an app I’ve described before as an Android shortcut genie — and while it hasn’t come up in conversation in quite a while now, it’s every bit as impressive as when I first mentioned it a year ago.

The app is called, rather tantalizingly, Touch the Notch. (Oh, yes.)

Unlike our first selection, Touch the Notion is completely invisible most of the time. You won’t even know it’s there, visually speaking.

But when you touch your finger to that status bar area of yours, you’ll activate an app or function of your choosing — a whole bunch of ’em, in fact, depending on how exactly you caress that comely camera cutout.

You can set separate actions for:

• A single touch
• A long-press
• A double-tap
• A right-to-left swipe
• And a left-to-right swipe

And the available actions include some seriously powerful possibilities. You can set any manner of notch fondling to accomplish feats like:

• Opening a specific app
• Opening a custom menu of apps
• Toggling your phone’s flashlight
• Capturing a screenshot
• Toggling do-not-disturb mode
• Controlling audio playback
• Adjusting your screen’s brightness
• Turning your screen off

JR Raphael, IDG

And again, any of those things happen simply as a result of your tapping your favorite fingie to that otherwise useless camera cutout at the top of your device’s display. Not bad, right?

Just like with our last Android status bar enhancer, this app does require a handful of pertinent permissions — including the ability to act as a system accessibility service, which may sound scary but, again, is actually needed for the app to be able to operate. It’s also worth noting that this app doesn’t require any lower-level system permissions, meaning it couldn’t even access the internet or do anything with your data if it wanted to. And that aside, its privacy policy is clear about the fact that it doesn’t store or share any manner of personal data.

Touch the Notch is free to use, with an optional donation if you want to support its developer.

Android status bar secret #3: The at-a-glance alerter

Last but not least in our collection of Android status bar superchargers is a splendidly subtle addition for your top-of-screen area — a zesty little nugget that introduces a major upgrade to the way your notifications, erm, notify you.

It’s called AodNotify, and it turns your Android camera cutout into an intelligent alert board that lets you learn about pending notifications without having to activate your display or allow yourself to be distracted by an info-dense always-on-display interface.

The specific version of AodNotify you need depends on what type of phone you’re using:

• This version is for Pixel devices
• This one is for Samsung phones
• This one is for any OnePlus doodad
• And this one is a catch-all for most other Android models

AodNotify can light up your Android status bar to indicate new notifications in all sorts of interesting ways. You can have incoming notifications from certain apps create a ring of light around the camera cutout at the top of your screen so you’ll always see ’em, for instance, even if you don’t hear the initial ding — or you can create a small LED-style dot at the top of your screen for specific types of incoming alerts. You can even set up an unmissable full-screen outline light in any color and style to associate with certain notifications, if you really want to get wild and make sure something catches your attention.

JR Raphael, IDG

What makes the setup especially useful is the fact that you can specify which exact apps will cause a notification light to appear — so, for instance, you could have important work-related apps like Slack or Gmail trigger an eye-catching light-up effect but not have that happen with less pressing alerts from LinkedIn or Google Photos.

AodNotify can light up your Android camera cutout for significant system events, too, like a low battery — and it can use specific colors mapped to each app or event so it’s easy to know what any effect means even with the most cursory of glances.

AodNotify is free with an optional $5 upgrade for some of its more advanced features. The app doesn’t require any permissions beyond what’s needed for its operation, and its developer (a well-known and widely trusted Android mainstay) says the software doesn’t collect, store, or share any manner of user data.

So there you have it: three supremely useful Android status bar enhancements. Pick the one that feels most helpful for you and your own style of getting stuff done — and watch that awkward camera cutout compromise morph into an indispensable efficiency advantage.

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