In some applications, such as the popular Letterpress
[color:273f=blue !important][color:273f=blue !important]word [color:273f=blue !important]game pictured above, the Status Bar is not visible because the application
is intended to fill up the entire screen. Some people like how the
application fills the screen and some people don’t like not being able
to see the time, signal strength, and battery percentage while using
applications.
A new free jailbreak tweak
[color:273f=blue !important][color:273f=blue !important]dubbed ForceStatusBar by iOS hacker and developer Ryan Petrich
now gives the user the ability to show the Status Bar in any
application they want to. As shown above, the tweak will just show the
Status Bar in any application.
One thing you will notice right off the bat is that the application
interface isn’t compressed to make room for the Status Bar. Instead, the
Status Bar is just put on top of the interface. In most cases this
won’t be a problem because the Status Bar is so small that it really
can’t even get in the way of important controls and buttons.
In the event that it does become a problem, Ryan Petrich gives us the
option to disable the tweak for specific applications. Just head over to
the Settings application to check those settings out:
The tweak intelligently categorizes your full-screen applications and
your ordinary applications. Any application with the switch turned on
will show the Status Bar when the application is open. If you turn the
switch off, the Status Bar will disappear from these full-screen
applications. Hiding the Status Bar only works for full-screen
applications, since ordinary applications will show the Status Bar
anyway. The tweak requires no respring to save your settings.
ForceStatusBar can only be obtained on Ryan Petrich's beta repository on
Cydia. You can add it by opening Cydia, tapping on Manage, then tapping
on Sources, then tapping Edit, then tapping on Add, and adding the
following repository URL:
PHP Code:
http://rpetri.ch/repo/
The tweak can certainly be useful. Check it out if you feel like
you need to see your Status Bar in full-screen applications more often.