How to Hide the On-Screen Buttons on Android
Some Android devices have on-screen buttons for home, back and recent apps, as opposed to physical buttons. By default, you cannot hide the on-screen buttons on Android but you can make a few changes to your device so that the buttons can be hidden on command.
Follow this guide to learn how to hide the on-screen buttons on Android below. Whether you’re frustrated with the brightness or want extra screen space, our guide below will help you.
The greatest part about this guide is that it doesn’t require you to root your device. This guide will work with all Android devices that have access to the Google Play Store.
How to Hide the On-Screen Buttons
To begin with, you’ll need to download an app from the Google Play Store.
The app you need to download is called GMD Full Screen Immersive Mode and has been published on the App Store by a developer named Good Mood Droid.
Once you have downloaded the GMD Full Screen Immersive Mode app, simply tap the ‘open’ button to open the app.
The first thing you’ll be presented with when opening the app is a warning message. The message reads as follows:
“Keyboard may not work while navigation bar is hidden. Please restore navigation bar whenever you need to use keyboard!”
It’s very important that you keep this in mind at all times whilst using this app. Fortunately, it’s very easy to disable the app whenever you need to use the keyboard. We’ll explain how to do this later.
For now, let’s explain how to use the app to disable the on-screen buttons on Android. Once the app has been opened, you can minimize it and head to your Android homescreen.
From here, pull down the notification bar and you’ll be given access to a number of controls. The option on the far left will be used to activate the on-screen buttons, the option in the middle will disable the on-screen buttons and the option on the far right will hide the on-screen buttons and the notification bar.
When the on-screen buttons and the notification bar have been disabled, a small strip of color can be seen at the bottom of your display. This will signal that the on-screen buttons are available – all you need to do is swipe up from the bottom of your display to bring the on-screen buttons back.
Further App Settings
If you want to disable the app temporarily, you can do so by tapping the word ‘Immersive’ in your notification panel. Once you have done this, you’ll be taken to the main application menu.
To disable the app, simply tap the switch in the top right corner to the ‘off’ position.
You can also choose a number of settings from within the app. You can decide whether to display the Immersive control panel in your notification bar, you can choose whether to make the notification icon invisible, whether the app starts up when you boot up your phone and whether the app is disabled or enabled in the locked screen.
There are also options for color, positioning and overall appearance. If you’re willing to pay for the pro version you can also set up specific rules for each of your applications.
Hopefully this guide has helped you to hide the on-screen buttons on Android at the tap of a button.
