Android status bar - can it be transparent?

Question

Can Android status bar be transparent like in iOS? I want it to blend into activity like on iOS. Can it be done and if yes - how?

EDIT: Just to clarify I need to make status bar transparent, not action bar, and yes I know I can completely hide it - but that's not what I'm asking.

Answer 1

No you can't make the system status bar transparent, and shouldn't try to do so in an attempt to mimic iOS :

Don't mimic UI elements from other platforms

Answer 2

Android 4.4 KitKit now allows translucent status and navigation bars:

http://developer.android.com/about/versions/android-4.4.html#UI

For example, you can set the theme as Theme.Holo.NoActionBar.TranslucentDecor.

Answer 3

You can make your activity fullscreen so you won't see the status bar.

Like this :

 requestWindowFeature(Window.FEATURE_NO_TITLE);
 getWindow().setFlags(WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_FULLSCREEN,
 WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_FULLSCREEN);

 setContentView(R.layout.main);

Or set a theme like this

android:theme="@android:style/Theme.NoTitleBar.Fullscreen"

Answer 4

It can be done.

Take a look at the following library which basically implements a fading action bar, starting from fully transparent.

https://github.com/ManuelPeinado/FadingActionBar