Status Bar Design Issue on Windows Phone 8

Eagle eyed Adam Z. Lein from Pocketnow recently ran an article which talked about how the re-sizable tiles on Windows Phone 8 ( which is also coming to windows phone 7.8 ) might case some issue for users with how the Status Bar displays the content.

If you are wondering what the status bar is , it’s the top area of the pone which shows you the current time and when you tap on it it drops down for a limited time and shows you various other info including network connectivity, battery strength, signal strength and more. On current Windows Phone build as you can see from the image below , the time is always visible on the top right , even when you scroll down and the icons come up. If the app icons in that area are white the status bar is not clearly visible but the time still shows up.

Windows Phone StatusBar

WP8clock-hidden

On Windows Phone 8 and 7.8 for that matter with the re sizable tiles if a while icons comes up on the top right it might get in the way of time being displayed and you might need to scroll down to look at the time. The way I see it when you pick up the phone to check the time , chances are you are on the lock screen first which will tell you the time but in those occasional situation when you pull up the windows phone on the start screen with a white tile on the top right , you won’t see the time with a quick glance.

Does this bother you ? Personally for me .. Not a bit but we have some picky Windows Phone users out there , are you bothered by this ? Let us know via the comments below. Better yet got a suggestion for the design team on how to overcome this slight design issue ?

UPDATE : See it in action on video ( Thanks Joshua )

http://garen.yondem.com Garen Yöndem

This is a serious design mistake. They will probably fix it by the launch.
Shreyas

It may not be much of an issue while using it, but the whole functionality of the status bar is lost. What the Microsoft team can probably do is, keep the digital clock as it is, but when it comes to tapping on it the clock and bringing down the remaining indicators of the status bar, it should probably change to a contrasting colour, like Black or something. So if the tile at the top right hand corner is white, a tap on the clock and the status bar drops down black in colour thus being visible. [Posted from the 1800PocketPC app]
- Jamieson
  
  can’t really agree with that; everything else on the status bar is already affected by this ‘issue’ as they sit over the tiles. It doesn’t bother me in the slightest that the clock may be covered, but its not the best design, only as the clock is always visible
  - Shreyas
    
    I dont know about the other phones, but im using the Lumia.
    There is a lot of margin and space separating the status bar and the tiles. I dont know if the 7.8/8 update’s homescreen will take up more place than what is being occupied now. If it does, then clearly, it isn’t a well thought out design. But then again, its Microsoft, so I doubt they’d come with this unprepared so im guessing things will be fine.
MdAzrai

They need to fix this. You have a phone with live tile update, just glance for information but need to tap/scroll to see the time… Hmm.. Just think about that. [Posted from the 1800PocketPC app]
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joe_easton3

It won’t bother me but I think it needs to be addressed. I know it will make it “look like other smart phones” but I feel that the status bar should be anchored to the top of the screen making all items visible at all time. This bar would be the opposite of your background color so it would stand out. Tiles would flow under it. This would prevent all issues and then I wouldn’t have to touch the top of the screen to see battery life.
jp

replace with:
clock app with world time, stopwatch timer, clock can have a live tile
battery app with settings for battery saver, and live tile for battery status
ringer app with settings for ringer, volume?
connectivity settings app to set airplane mode, Bluetooth, wi-fi, and live tile for wifi bars and 3G

Phone can start out with these as small icons on top, but user can customize
J

I don’t find it an issue, but for those who do why has nothing been said before?
Since WP7 has been out, if you have a white image in your photos, then it’ll display a white image on the pictures hub therefore blocking out the status bar if the homescreen is scrolled to the right location.
Right?
vmac37

A simple drop down bar revealing the status bar would be the simplest way. While they are at it, allow the user to choose status bar color.
CC

This is a minor issue that only a handful might complain about. The real issue that needs to be fixed is the ability to bring down the status bar while using other third party apps. I hate having to go back to the main screen just to look at the time.
Master Yoshi

The new start screen doesn’t block the status bar. That picture is fake. Look at this video from Microsoft to prove that I’m right. vnd.youtube:L569NikOIag?vndapp=youtube_mobile [Posted from the 1800PocketPC app]
- Fleon
  
  That video doesn’t show anything. In the video you posted, Ben never scrolls the tiles, so the dead space at the top of the list is there. You wouldn’t be able to see the problem unless he’d scrolled down first.
kevgallacher

For al the people who find this a problem, there is an easy fix, just leave the last column empty. You can have a medium tile on the left with 2 small tiles to the right.
JustinVWp7

I don’t think it will be a problem for me [Posted from the 1800PocketPC app]
nlm

1. Allow user in Settings to have Status Bar to be displayed always, on touch (current setting), or never.

1.a if set to Always or On Touch allow user to apply a background fill, whether default is black and/or user specified via the start screen pallette.

1.a.i if allow user to choose a background colour other than black, then user can also choose font colour.

2. (unrelated) in Settings, allow user to swipe right (opposite direction of app list) to bring up Notification centre/list.

2.a include at top of Notification centre/list Delete All notifications

2.b allow user to add Notification count to Status Bar. Notification count on Status Bar resets to zero when ever Notification centre/list has been swiped.
SevenDead1ySinz

This is a non-issue. This only is a problem for those that want to look at the clock while scrolling or halfway down the list, double tap the windows key if you are one of those people.

As it stands with the current start screen, the same thing happens when you scroll and have the other icons showing, so why is it suddenly and issue when it is the clock being obscured?
Iasonilio

Slightly annoying but easily fixed, just allow a black bar at the top like the current UI. As long as the rest of the space is being utilized then I don’t mind. [HTC.titan] [Posted from the 1800PocketPC app]
Victor Roos

Lol, nope.. [Posted from the 1800PocketPC app]
Master Yoshi

It’s not difficult to seehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyjtllCRw0M [Posted from the 1800PocketPC app]
Saurabh

They can add shadow effect to test. Like cleartype display on pc windows [Posted from the 1800PocketPC app]