[android] How to hide navigation bar permanently in android activity?

I want to hide navigation bar permanently in my activity(not whole system ui). now i'm using this piece of code

getWindow().getDecorView().setSystemUiVisibility(View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_HIDE_NAVIGATION);

It hides the bar but when user touches the screen it showing again. is there any way to hide it permanently until activity onStop();

Its a security issue: https://stackoverflow.com/a/12605313/1303691

therefore its not possible to hide the Navigation on a tablet permanently with one single call at the beginning of the view creation. It will be hidden, but it will pop up when touching the Screen. So just the second touch to your screen can cause a onClickEvent on your layout. Therefore you need to intercept this call, but i haven't managed it yet, i will update my answer when i found it out. Or do you now the answer already?

I think the blow code will help you, and add those code before setContentView()

getWindow().setFlags(WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_DRAWS_SYSTEM_BAR_BACKGROUNDS, WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_DRAWS_SYSTEM_BAR_BACKGROUNDS);

Add those code behind setContentView() getWindow().getDecorView().setSystemUiVisibility(View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_LOW_PROFILE);

It's my solution:

First, define boolean that indicate if navigation bar is visible or not.

boolean navigationBarVisibility = true //because it's visible when activity is created

Second create method that hide navigation bar.

private void setNavigationBarVisibility(boolean visibility){
    if(visibility){
        View decorView = getWindow().getDecorView();
        int uiOptions = View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_HIDE_NAVIGATION
                | View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_FULLSCREEN;
        decorView.setSystemUiVisibility(uiOptions);
        navigationBarVisibility = false;
    }

    else
        navigationBarVisibility = true;
}

By default, if you click to activity after hide navigation bar, navigation bar will be visible. So we got it's state if it visible we will hide it.

Now set OnClickListener to your view. I use a surfaceview so for me:

    playerSurface.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
        @Override
        public void onClick(View v) {
            setNavigationBarVisibility(navigationBarVisibility);
        }
    });

Also, we must call this method when activity is launched. Because we want hide it at the beginning.

        setNavigationBarVisibility(navigationBarVisibility);

The other answers mostly use the flags for setSystemUiVisibility() method in View. However, this API is deprecated since Android 11. Check my article about modifying the system UI visibility for more information. The article also explains how to handle the cutouts properly or how to listen to the visibility changes.

Here are code snippets for showing / hiding system bars with the new API as well as the deprecated one for backward compatibility:

/**
 * Hides the system bars and makes the Activity "fullscreen". If this should be the default
 * state it should be called from [Activity.onWindowFocusChanged] if hasFocus is true.
 * It is also recommended to take care of cutout areas. The default behavior is that the app shows
 * in the cutout area in portrait mode if not in fullscreen mode. This can cause "jumping" if the
 * user swipes a system bar to show it. It is recommended to set [WindowManager.LayoutParams.LAYOUT_IN_DISPLAY_CUTOUT_MODE_NEVER],
 * call [showBelowCutout] from [Activity.onCreate]
 * (see [Android Developers article about cutouts](https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/display-cutout#never_render_content_in_the_display_cutout_area)).
 * @see showSystemUI
 * @see addSystemUIVisibilityListener
 */
fun Activity.hideSystemUI() {
    if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.R) {
        window.insetsController?.let {
            // Default behavior is that if navigation bar is hidden, the system will "steal" touches
            // and show it again upon user's touch. We just want the user to be able to show the
            // navigation bar by swipe, touches are handled by custom code -> change system bar behavior.
            // Alternative to deprecated SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_IMMERSIVE.
            it.systemBarsBehavior = WindowInsetsController.BEHAVIOR_SHOW_TRANSIENT_BARS_BY_SWIPE
            // make navigation bar translucent (alternative to deprecated
            // WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_TRANSLUCENT_NAVIGATION)
            // - do this already in hideSystemUI() so that the bar
            // is translucent if user swipes it up
            window.navigationBarColor = getColor(R.color.internal_black_semitransparent_light)
            // Finally, hide the system bars, alternative to View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_HIDE_NAVIGATION
            // and SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_FULLSCREEN.
            it.hide(WindowInsets.Type.systemBars())
        }
    } else {
        // Enables regular immersive mode.
        // For "lean back" mode, remove SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_IMMERSIVE.
        // Or for "sticky immersive," replace it with SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_IMMERSIVE_STICKY
        @Suppress("DEPRECATION")
        window.decorView.systemUiVisibility = (
                // Do not let system steal touches for showing the navigation bar
                View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_IMMERSIVE
                        // Hide the nav bar and status bar
                        or View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_HIDE_NAVIGATION
                        or View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_FULLSCREEN
                        // Keep the app content behind the bars even if user swipes them up
                        or View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_LAYOUT_HIDE_NAVIGATION
                        or View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_LAYOUT_FULLSCREEN)
        // make navbar translucent - do this already in hideSystemUI() so that the bar
        // is translucent if user swipes it up
        @Suppress("DEPRECATION")
        window.addFlags(WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_TRANSLUCENT_NAVIGATION)
    }
}

/**
 * Shows the system bars and returns back from fullscreen.
 * @see hideSystemUI
 * @see addSystemUIVisibilityListener
 */
fun Activity.showSystemUI() {
    if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.R) {
        // show app content in fullscreen, i. e. behind the bars when they are shown (alternative to
        // deprecated View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_LAYOUT_HIDE_NAVIGATION and View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_LAYOUT_FULLSCREEN)
        window.setDecorFitsSystemWindows(false)
        // finally, show the system bars
        window.insetsController?.show(WindowInsets.Type.systemBars())
    } else {
        // Shows the system bars by removing all the flags
        // except for the ones that make the content appear under the system bars.
        @Suppress("DEPRECATION")
        window.decorView.systemUiVisibility = (
                View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_LAYOUT_HIDE_NAVIGATION
                        or View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_LAYOUT_FULLSCREEN)
    }
}

According to Android Developer site

I think you cant(as far as i know) hide navigation bar permanently..

However you can do one trick. Its a trick mind you.

Just when the navigation bar shows up when user touches the screen. Immediately hide it again. Its fun.

Check this.

void setNavVisibility(boolean visible) {
int newVis = SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_LAYOUT_FULLSCREEN
        | SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_LAYOUT_HIDE_NAVIGATION
        | SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_LAYOUT_STABLE;
if (!visible) {
    newVis |= SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_LOW_PROFILE | SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_FULLSCREEN
            | SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_HIDE_NAVIGATION;
}

// If we are now visible, schedule a timer for us to go invisible.
if (visible) {
    Handler h = getHandler();
    if (h != null) {
        h.removeCallbacks(mNavHider);
        if (!mMenusOpen && !mPaused) {
            // If the menus are open or play is paused, we will not auto-hide.
            h.postDelayed(mNavHider, 1500);
        }
    }
}

// Set the new desired visibility.
setSystemUiVisibility(newVis);
mTitleView.setVisibility(visible ? VISIBLE : INVISIBLE);
mPlayButton.setVisibility(visible ? VISIBLE : INVISIBLE);
mSeekView.setVisibility(visible ? VISIBLE : INVISIBLE);
}

See this for more information on this ..

Hide System Bar in Tablets

For people looking at a simpler solution, I think you can just have this one line of code in onStart()

  getWindow().getDecorView().setSystemUiVisibility(
            View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_HIDE_NAVIGATION|
            View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_IMMERSIVE_STICKY);

It's called Immersive mode. You may look at the official documentation for other possibilities.

Do this.

public void FullScreencall() {
    if(Build.VERSION.SDK_INT > 11 && Build.VERSION.SDK_INT < 19) { // lower api
        View v = this.getWindow().getDecorView();
        v.setSystemUiVisibility(View.GONE);
    } else if(Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= 19) {
        //for new api versions.
        View decorView = getWindow().getDecorView();
        int uiOptions = View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_HIDE_NAVIGATION | View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_IMMERSIVE_STICKY;
        decorView.setSystemUiVisibility(uiOptions);
    }
}

This works 100% and you can do same for lower API versions, even if it's a late answer I hope it will helps someone else.

If you want this to be permanent, just call FullscreenCall() inside your onResume() method.

Use:-

view.setSystemUiVisibility(View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_HIDE_NAVIGATION);

In Tablets running Android 4+, it is not possible to hide the System / Navigation Bar.

From documentation :

The SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_HIDE_NAVIGATION is a new flag that requests the navigation bar hide completely. Be aware that this works only for the navigation bar used by some handsets (it does not hide the system bar on tablets).

I think this code will resolve your issue. Copy and paste this code on your MainActivity.java

@Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {                          
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

    View decorView = getWindow().getDecorView();
    decorView.setOnSystemUiVisibilityChangeListener
    (new View.OnSystemUiVisibilityChangeListener() {
        @Override
        public void onSystemUiVisibilityChange(int visibility) {

            if ((visibility & View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_FULLSCREEN) == 0) {
                hideNavigationBar();
            } 
        }
    });
}



private void hideNavigationBar() {
   getWindow().getDecorView().setSystemUiVisibility(
        View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_HIDE_NAVIGATION|
        View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_IMMERSIVE_STICKY);
}

It will works on Android-10. I hope it will helps.

Try this:

View decorView = getWindow().getDecorView();
int uiOptions = View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_HIDE_NAVIGATION
          | View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_FULLSCREEN;
decorView.setSystemUiVisibility(uiOptions);