• amphy

    • Post #1

    Automod on reddit recommended I post here as well 🙂

    Hi all, I'm new to GrapheneOS on the Pixel 9 and it's great so far. There's a bit of a learning curve, but all in all, it's not bad.

    I'm not big on customization - the most of my "flow" comes from my home launcher, which is easy enough to configure how I need it. I miss being able to just touch the in-screen fingerprint reader to wake + unlock my phone all at once, but that's easy enough to get used to... and there are some other quirks that I'm happy to work around.

    But, one thing stands out like a sore thumb: the status bar.

    Is there any way to make some apps always full screen, and/or make the status bar smaller? The status bar is twice as tall as it needs to be. I know the front-facing camera is pretty far down on this phone, but the status bar extends past it, likely for aesthetic reasons. I have small hands, I'm not complaining - that means less reaching with my thumbs. But, while a little ridiculous in portrait mode (though something I can get used to with time), it's egregious in landscape since most apps just give up on that space entirely.

    I keep finding myself wishing I had gone with another OS entirely because of this status bar issue. I know that seems a little extreme - and don't get me wrong, I know I made the right choice - but the "Aspect Ratio" setting being removed from GrapheneOS feels kind of unnecessary. I tried accessing it using apps like Hidden Settings (since it shows up when searching) though they just cause the Settings app to do nothing but force-close.

    Ultimately, I think my questions here are:

    • Is there any way to reactivate/reinstall the Aspect Ratio setting?
    • Is it possible to disable/remove the black overlay created by the "Display cutout" setting in Developer Options? I found that setting it to "Narrow cutout" is great, I lose a little bit of the screen behind the camera cutout but nothing crazy... though the black overlay is of course a nuisance.
    • Would it be insane to root the device just to get a fix in place, then un-root? Is that even possible?

    Sorry if this all seems absurd. I really am flexible, but the status bar of all things is driving me absolutely crazy. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I know I can submit bugs/issues/etc on Github, and I'll gladly do that if needed, but I'm sure the devs have lots on their plate and this sort of thing likely wouldn't be worth their time. Thanks in advance!

    • amphy

      • Post #2

      Just wanted to add that I found kind of a workaround:

      1. In Developer Options, set "Display cutout" to "Waterfall cutout".
      2. Set "Display cutout" to "Narrow cutout".

      This will cause it to update the currently-chosen option's simulated cutout, but use the previously-chosen option's overlay. Not sure why this causes it to make the status bar slimmer without an overlay, but it makes things completely bearable for both portrait & landscape.

      The process has to be repeated on each reboot. I've never used Tasker but I plan on seeing if that will automate that process... I could live with that as a workaround until the situation gets addressed.

      • amphy

        • Post #3

        Looks like I can't edit, which is fine - just wanted to add that step 2 should be either "Tall cutout" (to make the status bar only be as tall enough to cover the bottom edge of the camera hole)... or, "Narrow cutout" or "Wide cutout" (makes the status bar slim or very slim, respectively).

        Welcome to GrapheneOS!

        It is important to keep in mind that GrapheneOS is focused on security and privacy, and the developers are quite busy keeping up with Google's security and feature updates plus maintaining existing GrapheneOS features. This means that many people would like many non-security/non-privacy tweaks to be made that there isn't developer time for.

        Also it is useful to keep in mind that Google does not ship features that they believe are solidly working and are secure hidden away in the developer settings. Some items in the developer settings weaken the security model, and other developer settings are hidden there because they mostly work but contain genuine bugs. Some of those bugs are surprising. Recently a user found that disabling animations caused the lock screen to not work in some circumstances(!!!), and the GrapheneOS developers traced this back to AOSP code shipped by Google. So every developer option should be regarded as experimental and for use only on non-production devices, meaning devices without private data or data that it is important not to lose.

        At present the increased security and privacy of GrapheneOS has actual costs. It runs on only some devices, and GrapheneOS support is dropped for a device soon after Google ends firmware support. Also, various UI tweaks and convenience features are not available on GrapheneOS, at least without using developer options, which are distinctly not recommended due to being unsafe and/or unstable. That can be frustrating at times, but it can also be frustrating to have one's data stolen.

        Please note that I do not speak for the GrapheneOS project.

          de0u 'Please note that I do not speak for the GrapheneOS project.'

          Still well spoken. Maybe the Graphene team should consider hiring a spokesperson.

          I mean, considering how much they have to do in this forum and elsewhere.