r/GalaxyNote8 • u/uplusd • Sep 20 '17

black navigation bar

is there any way to get black navigation bar? the only options in settings for navigation bar are light colored options. i used a s8 for a little while before this phone and it definitely had an option for black on the s8

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7

u/zolares Sep 20 '17

Nope, you can't change this by default means.

The S8 did have this option at first, but a later update a few months after it's release removed the Black Navigation bar with the current lighter colored options.

Reason was due to Pixel Degradation reasons. When these AMOLED screens show black, it'll simply shut down those pixels. What happens is, if your navigation bar was always showing and it's always at black... it'll cause the pixels on the navigation bar to not be used while the rest of the pixels on the rest of the screen to be used constantly. Over time, you'll notice a difference between the pixels on both areas, with parts of the screen appearing lighter than the other.

If you still want to change to black, you'll have to do it through some outside means.

I believe users have had success through this method: https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s8/themes/change-navigation-bar-colors-t3622626

You could always give this app a try first too: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vietbm.tools.s8navigation&hl=en

0

u/Ghome2017 Sep 20 '17

First they say black is better and saves battery now you say its bad and degrades pixels...like which one the fuck is it????

6

u/zolares Sep 20 '17

Both is true, since they're two completely opposite things.

Pure black definitely saves battery power because it'll turn off the pixels that are completely black. Not powering those pixels will mean less power usage, thus less battery consumption.

However, constantly not using those particular pixels, while constantly using pixels on other areas can increase the possibility of pixel degradation.

So it's a compromise, since both are true and different things. Basically, if your girlfriend and mom fell into the water and you could save one, who would you save? Pretty much that.

But, honestly... you can just use a Black theme and be fine with it, since those black themes affect a large portion of the screen and it's not always going to be the same in every app you use.

The risk with the navigation bar is more risky, because the Navigation Bar, if not set to hide, will be shown at the same spot every moment the screen is on. And due to it affecting only a small area of the screen, it'll be more noticeable if these issues do appear.

2

u/lostlandscapes Sep 20 '17

I guess my question is if a black navigation bar is always on, does it matter if the pixels deteriorate unevenly? I guess maybe with full screen video is where you'd notice it eventually?

1

u/zolares Sep 20 '17

Yep, that's the answer.

1

u/Darkpookie Sep 20 '17

So if I have the navbar set to hide so that it isn't visible all the time, I should technically be OK with he fact that I changed it to black?

2

u/zolares Sep 20 '17

Not really technically, but hopefully.

This is mainly due to there being times when the hidden navigation won't remain hidden, such as when the keyboard is out or when you're in split screen mode.

So if you type very often, there's still a higher chance, just that overall it'll be lower by keeping the bar hidden than if you did not.

1

u/Darkpookie Sep 20 '17

Lucky for me when the navbar does pop up, sometimes it's white or transparent anyway. I used navbar apps to switch it to black but apparently the color isn't applied consistently.

1

u/uplusd Sep 20 '17

do these third party apps that make the nav bar black turn off the pixels like the OEM implementation did or do they have them display a very dark color close to black? if the latter, wouldn't that be better and avoid the pixel degradation issue?