Demo Mode for the Android System UI

Demo mode for the status bar allows you to force the status bar into a fixed state, useful for taking screenshots with a consistent status bar state, or testing different status icon permutations. Demo mode is available in recent versions of Android.

Enabling demo mode

Demo mode is protected behind a system setting. To enable it for a device, run:

adb shell settings put global sysui_demo_allowed 1

Protocol

The protocol is based on broadcast intents, and thus can be driven via the command line (adb shell am broadcast) or an app (Context.sendBroadcast).

Broadcast action

com.android.systemui.demo

Commands

Commands and subcommands (below) are sent as string extras in the broadcast intent.
Commands are sent as string extras with key command (required). Possible values are:

Command	Subcommand	Argument	Description
`enter`			Enters demo mode, bar state allowed to be modified (for convenience, any of the other non-exit commands will automatically flip demo mode on, no need to call this explicitly in practice)
`exit`			Exits demo mode, bars back to their system-driven state
`battery`			Control the battery display
	`level`		Sets the battery level (0 - 100)
	`plugged`		Sets charging state (`true`, `false`)
	`powersave`		Sets power save mode (`true`, `anything else`)
`network`			Control the RSSI display
	`airplane`		`show` to show icon, any other value to hide
	`fully`		Sets MCS state to fully connected (`true`, `false`)
	`wifi`		`show` to show icon, any other value to hide
		`level`	Sets wifi level (null or 0-4)
	`mobile`		`show` to show icon, any other value to hide
		`datatype`	Values: `1x`, `3g`, `4g`, `e`, `g`, `h`, `lte`, `roam`, any other value to hide
		`level`	Sets mobile signal strength level (null or 0-4)
	`satellite`		`show` to show icon, any other value to hide
		`connection`	`connected`, `off`, `on`, or `unknown` (matches SatelliteConnectionState enum)
		`level`	Sets satellite signal strength level (0-4)
	`carriernetworkchange`		Sets mobile signal icon to carrier network change UX when disconnected (`show` to show icon, any other value to hide)
	`sims`		Sets the number of sims (1-8)
	`nosim`		`show` to show icon, any other value to hide
`bars`			Control the visual style of the bars (opaque, translucent, etc)
	`mode`		Sets the bars visual style (opaque, translucent, semi-transparent)
`status`			Control the system status icons
	`volume`		Sets the icon in the volume slot (`silent`, `vibrate`, any other value to hide)
	`bluetooth`		Sets the icon in the bluetooth slot (`connected`, `disconnected`, any other value to hide)
	`location`		Sets the icon in the location slot (`show`, any other value to hide)
	`alarm`		Sets the icon in the alarm_clock slot (`show`, any other value to hide)
	`sync`		Sets the icon in the sync_active slot (`show`, any other value to hide)
	`tty`		Sets the icon in the tty slot (`show`, any other value to hide)
	`eri`		Sets the icon in the cdma_eri slot (`show`, any other value to hide)
	`mute`		Sets the icon in the mute slot (`show`, any other value to hide)
	`speakerphone`		Sets the icon in the speakerphone slot (`show`, any other value to hide)
`notifications`			Control the notification icons
	`visible`		`false` to hide the notification icons, any other value to show
`clock`			Control the clock display
	`millis`		Sets the time in millis
	`hhmm`		Sets the time in hh:mm

Examples

Enter demo mode

adb shell am broadcast -a com.android.systemui.demo -e command enter

Exit demo mode

adb shell am broadcast -a com.android.systemui.demo -e command exit

Set the clock to 12:31

adb shell am broadcast -a com.android.systemui.demo -e command clock -e hhmm
1231

Set the wifi level to max

adb shell am broadcast -a com.android.systemui.demo -e command network -e wifi
show -e level 4

Show the satellite icon

# Sets mobile to be out-of-service, which is required for satellite to show
adb shell am broadcast -a com.android.systemui.demo -e command network -e mobile show -e level 0
# Sets satellite to be connected
adb shell am broadcast -a com.android.systemui.demo -e command network -e satellite show -e level 4 -e connection connected

Show the silent volume icon

adb shell am broadcast -a com.android.systemui.demo -e command status -e volume
silent

Empty battery, and not charging (red exclamation point)

adb shell am broadcast -a com.android.systemui.demo -e command battery -e level
0 -e plugged false

Hide the notification icons

adb shell am broadcast -a com.android.systemui.demo -e command notifications -e
visible false

Exit demo mode

adb shell am broadcast -a com.android.systemui.demo -e command exit

Example demo controller app in AOSP

frameworks/base/tests/SystemUIDemoModeController

Example script (for screenshotting purposes)

#!/bin/sh
CMD=$1

if [[ $ADB == "" ]]; then
  ADB=adb
fi

if [[ $CMD != "on" && $CMD != "off" ]]; then
  echo "Usage: $0 [on|off] [hhmm]" >&2
  exit
fi

if [[ "$2" != "" ]]; then
  HHMM="$2"
fi

$ADB root || exit
$ADB wait-for-devices
$ADB shell settings put global sysui_demo_allowed 1

if [ $CMD == "on" ]; then
  $ADB shell am broadcast -a com.android.systemui.demo -e command enter || exit
  if [[ "$HHMM" != "" ]]; then
    $ADB shell am broadcast -a com.android.systemui.demo -e command clock -e
hhmm ${HHMM}
  fi
  $ADB shell am broadcast -a com.android.systemui.demo -e command battery -e
plugged false
  $ADB shell am broadcast -a com.android.systemui.demo -e command battery -e
level 100
  $ADB shell am broadcast -a com.android.systemui.demo -e command network -e
wifi show -e level 4
  $ADB shell am broadcast -a com.android.systemui.demo -e command network -e
mobile show -e datatype none -e level 4
  $ADB shell am broadcast -a com.android.systemui.demo -e command notifications
-e visible false
elif [ $CMD == "off" ]; then
  $ADB shell am broadcast -a com.android.systemui.demo -e command exit
fi