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Even while Android no longer allows for as much in-depth customization, you can still make a tonne of amazing modifications without rooting. One of these includes the System UI Tuner tool, which is concealed.
But what exactly is System UI, and how can you take advantage of it? Let's look at it.
What Does Android's SystemUI Mean?
On your Android device, a crucial background system process goes by the moniker of SystemUI. Unless something goes wrong, it starts up with your device and runs in the background while it is turned on.
Everything you see in Android that isn't an app is part of the process, according to the ReadMe file for SystemUI provided by Google. The lock screen, navigation buttons, status bar, volume dialogue, and other features of your phone are all powered by SystemUI.
You'll probably find a few entries that begin with com.android.systemui if you look through all the installed apps on your Android smartphone, including system apps. All of them are components of the SystemUI process, which manages this crucial element of your device.
The System UI Tuner: What Is It?
A secret tool called System UI Tuner was incorporated by Google into Android 6 Marshmallow and Android 7 Nougat. This gave you the ability to change a few features of your phone's status bar, such as rearrange the Quick Settings tiles (which was previously possible) and remove some status bar icons.
Even though the System UI Tuner is still a feature of Android, the old approach no longer works. Now, in order to reach this menu, you must use an application or ADB commands. Fortunately, installing an app and exploring the System UI Tuner's features are simple—we'll show you how.
Remember that your success will depend on your device maker and Android version, as it does with the majority of Android tutorials.
How to Use Android's System UI Tuner
Download the free System UI Tuner app from the Play Store to test out the system UI tuner on your device. The only function of this app is to open the phone's menu when it is launched.
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The following categories are accessible in the System UI Tuner on our Pixel 4 running Android 12:
Status bar Ambient Display Plugins Do Not Disturb
Be careful that these options, as the menu indicates, are experimental, and Google may decide to eliminate them in the future. Use them with caution and don't rely on anything lasting a lifetime.
To see what you can do with each of these, let's look at them individually.
Progress Bar
You can choose which icons show up in the status bar at the top of your screen on this page. Most of these are often set to be enabled.
Here is a quick rundown of the possibilities, along with justifications for the less obvious ones. See our explanation of the Android status bar symbols if you require additional details.
When auto-rotate is disabled, a warning icon will appear on the screen.
When you connect a headset with a microphone or a standalone microphone, an icon for the headset appears.
Work Profile: Indicates when your device is using the enterprise-specific work profile.
Hotspot for Screen Casts
Bluetooth Camera Access: This crucial privacy feature appears when an app is actively accessing your camera.
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Volume Not to Be Disturbed
Ethernet Wi-Fi mobile data
Flying Mode
Battery: Select from Show percentages at all times. When charging, display the percentage, or Please hide this icon.
Alarm Time: Optional Indicate the hours, minutes, and seconds; the time in hours and minutes; or Please hide this icon.
displaying low-importance notification icons By default, low-priority notifications don't show up in the top-left corner of your screen.
You are free to adjust any of these selections. This is a useful approach to reclaim screen space if there are particular capabilities you use frequently, like Bluetooth, and don't want their icons to take up space.
Do Not Interrupt
Volume buttons shortcut is the only option under this topic, however it's unclear what it performs. Do Not Disturb mode was activated in earlier versions of Android by holding down the Volume button when the volume was already at zero. But with Android 12, this isn't the case.
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This means that your findings may vary depending on your device. Don't worry; in addition to this option, Android offers a variety of other controls for Do Not Disturb.
On Android 12, you can still switch between silent, ring, and vibrate modes by tapping the icon located at the top of the volume slider.
Background Display
Enabling this option allows you to view basic information even when the Android device is not in use if it has an AMOLED screen. This includes the time and date, the current weather, and recent notification icons on our Pixel 12.
The AMOLED screen technology, which can turn off all pixels except for those that are in use, is used effectively despite the potential minor increase in battery consumption. It can be used as a nightstand clock, for checking notifications when your device is on a table, and for other similar purposes.
Plugins This menu is currently empty on our device as of the time of writing. Although plugins for this menu are mentioned in Google's documentation, they are intended more for developers than for casual users.
SystemUI plugins might be found elsewhere, but we advise caution until you know exactly what they do.
Advanced SystemUI Options Access
If you like fiddling with these obscure settings and want to do more, try Zachary Wander's software with the same name, SystemUI Tuner. This provides more choices, but accessing it requires ADB or a rooted device. As a result, it requires a little bit more setup but is worthwhile if you want greater customisation. You will receive instructions on how to use the app from the app.
Not all of the features offered by the app will be compatible with all phones, and changing some settings may result in issues, as stated in the app's warnings. Attempt this at your own risk.
Advanced Modifications Using SystemUI Tuner
The hidden SystemUI Tuner provides useful choices for customising your phone even though SystemUI is a system process that runs without your input. Try it out to get rid of the bothersome status bar icons and discover more options for your device.
