Omega StatusBar Brings Extensive Customization To Android Status Bar
Several recent surveys on smartphones show that Android has finally grabbed the number-one spot in the mobiles world. While Google deserves much of the acknowledgement for continuously striving to better its mobile OS, a fair share of credit has to be given to the developer community, too, for letting Android users tinker with their devices’ looks and settings through several robustly built apps. Fresh to the Google Play Store, Omega StatusBar is yet another fine example of the possibilities can be achieved on Android on the customization front. The app is a comprehensive Android status/notification bar replacement and modification tool that lets you download, apply and switch between various flavors of status bars with a mere tap. Whether you fancy giving your Gingerbread-based status bar an ICS/ Jelly Bean style makeover, want to enjoy an iPhone-eque status bar on your Android, or looking forward to applying an altogether fresh complexion of notification bar on your Android without going through the tedious rooting or ROM flashing chores, this app has your back. That being said, Omega StatusBar is not all about UI tweaking, but also providing its users control over selection of status bar content and behavior.
As mentioned above, personalization lies at the heart of Omega StatusBar as it lets you choose from various blends of custom status bar layouts, and allows you to adjust the bar settings accordingly. Once you’ve activated the app’s service and picked your preferred status bar style, you can then decide on what items should feature on the bar. In this regard, the app lets you select from any of the following status bar items:
- Digital clock
- Clock period & Uppercase Style
- 12-Hour Clock
- Battery Indicator & Percentage
- Network Indicator & Type
- Wi-Fi Indicator
- Notification & Notification counters
- USB and/or Headset Connectivity
- GPS
- Volume state
- Animations for Charging and/or System error indicator
- Multiple system errors and alert notification icons
- and more
There is just one caveat in availing Omega StatusBar services on your Android, though; you’re required to enable accessibility settings for the app to let it read incoming notifications for your various apps. On this note, another very useful aspect of the app deserves a mention. Under the Popups tab, you get the chance to specify a blacklist of apps for which you want the notification indicator to be disabled. Multiple apps can be added to the list, and you have the option to exclude the required ones with a tap. Other noteworthy aspects of the app include detection of status bar visibility and screen orientation to auto-adjust layout accordingly, utilization of various sensors to notify users of system errors, auto-launch on device reboot, notification counter indicator and a built-in theme manager.
To download or toggle between various themes, just head over to the Themes tab, hit the Select or Get More Themes button, make your choice, and you’re good to go. As of now, there are just a handful of Omega StatusBar themes available in the Google Play Store, but the team behind the app is encouraging budding developers to come up with their own offerings in terms of layouts, themes, settings and custom other status bar preferences.
Omega StatusBar is available in the Google Play Store as a free and $1.30 variant. The paid version supports several useful performance tweaks and added customizations, including extended ‘ignored apps’ slots, real-time notifications for new content availability, support for Omega add-ons, enhanced performance and plenty more.
Download Omega StatusBar For Android (Free)
Download Omega StatusBar Pro For Android (Paid)
It is pretty good, and works perfectly on my Samsung Z, but I have found that its battery comsumtion is astonishing. My cell says it comsumes even more battery than the screen. Until that issue is resolved i’m not using it.