Pixel 3XL - Notch Hiding Question

[Matty]

Good morning everyone, hope you all doing well.

I've recently considered purchasing the Pixel 3XL but I wanted to ask some Pixel owners if they know the answer to this as it's a deal breaker for purchasing.

I'm aware that Google allows you to hide the bath tub notch at the top of the screen from the settings. However, does that "hiding" remain in place when you open apps as well? E.g. playing games, watching moves, opening the camera app?

Is that hiding a permanent feature and blocks all apps from using the "extra" screen restate?

Thank you very much in advance everyone!

 

[eric002]

Good morning everyone, hope you all doing well.

I've recently considered purchasing the Pixel 3XL but I wanted to ask some Pixel owners if they know the answer to this as it's a deal breaker for purchasing.

I'm aware that Google allows you to hide the bath tub notch at the top of the screen from the settings. However, does that "hiding" remain in place when you open apps as well? E.g. playing games, watching moves, opening the camera app?

Is that hiding a permanent feature and blocks all apps from using the "extra" screen restate?

Thank you very much in advance everyone!

Hi, good morning to you! Welcome to the forums! I've never actually tried the display caught out setting on my Pixel 3 XL until now. I'll provide you some screenshots I took of different apps with the setting turned on. However, it does work in all settings and all applications. As far as I can tell. The downside comes as you lose some screen real estate on the very top of the screen. But that's up to your personal preference of course

 

[Matty]

Hi, good morning to you! Welcome to the forums! I've never actually tried the display caught out setting on my Pixel 3 XL until now. I'll provide you some screenshots I took of different apps with the setting turned on. However, it does work in all settings and all applications. As far as I can tell. The downside comes as you lose some screen real estate on the very top of the screen. But that's up to your personal preference of course

Thank you for your reply. You have been quite helpful.

That's good to know. I really dislike the notch but not really concerned with the lost screen space (coming from a smaller phone it's still a upgrade in size)

I really love the phone, 4o if I'm able to hide the notch in ALL applications through the settings then that's perfect and I'll give it a buy.

My only concern was that it would hide the notch certain apps but not all. Thank you again for your assistance.

 

[eric002]

Thank you for your reply. You have been quite helpful.

That's good to know. I really dislike the notch but not really concerned with the lost screen space (coming from a smaller phone it's still a upgrade in size)

I really love the phone, 4o if I'm able to hide the notch in ALL applications through the settings then that's perfect and I'll give it a buy.

My only concern was that it would hide the notch certain apps but not all. Thank you again for your assistance.

Yeah, even when I got My Pixel 3 XL with the notch, I was never too worried about the notch even though everyone else went nuts about it! I honestly don't even notice the notch anymore through YouTube or any other application I use on my phone. The pixel 4 is nice but if you have a pixel 3, there's not much of an upgrade to justify a pixel 4

 

[Lepa79]

Good morning everyone, hope you all doing well.

I've recently considered purchasing the Pixel 3XL but I wanted to ask some Pixel owners if they know the answer to this as it's a deal breaker for purchasing.

I'm aware that Google allows you to hide the bath tub notch at the top of the screen from the settings. However, does that "hiding" remain in place when you open apps as well? E.g. playing games, watching moves, opening the camera app?

Is that hiding a permanent feature and blocks all apps from using the "extra" screen restate?

Thank you very much in advance everyone!

Yes, force hide notch from developers option will force hide EVERYWHERE.

 

[Javier P]

Thank you for your reply. You have been quite helpful.

That's good to know. I really dislike the notch but not really concerned with the lost screen space (coming from a smaller phone it's still a upgrade in size)

I really love the phone, 4o if I'm able to hide the notch in ALL applications through the settings then that's perfect and I'll give it a buy.

My only concern was that it would hide the notch certain apps but not all. Thank you again for your assistance.

You could try the Nacho Notch app.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.xda.nachonotch

I've used it on two different phones (Moto G7+ Android 9 and OnePlus 7 Android 9 and 10) and it works great.

 

[mrpackerguy]

I've found hiding the notch somehow affects performance a titch. Might have something to do with re-canoitering the graphics on every screen.

 

[eric002]

Yes, quite possibly so. like I said, I've never used that setting in developer options so I can't speak to it. But that would make a lot of sense.

 

[mrpackerguy]

Otherwise no noticeable screen appearance difference

 

[TraderGary]

Kate and I both have Pixel 3 XL's. We both found the notch distasteful and we didn't buy until satisfied that the notch could be eliminated through the Developer Option. We've had them for over a year now and never see a notch with any app. We are both quite pleased with our 3 XL's on Google Fi.

 

[mrpackerguy]

If you use dark mode and a dark wallpaper (I do), the notch is not really noticeable

 

[eric002]

If you use dark mode and a dark wallpaper (I do), the notch is not really noticeable

Yep yep, true that! Sometimes that's what I do! And I enjoy my notch. It doesn't bother me whatsoever. But you're right, with a darker wallpaper, you barely see the notch whatsoever!

 

[Jeremy8000]

The one simple thing Google could have done to ease the pain of the notch would have been to, when hiding the notch, used the space left and right of it for the clock, battery, signal, and notification icons. That would have allowed the remaining "non-notched" display to offer slightly more screen real estate for the rest.

 

[Javier P]

The one simple thing Google could have done to ease the pain of the notch would have been to, when hiding the notch, used the space left and right of it for the clock, battery, signal, and notification icons. That would have allowed the remaining "non-notched" display to offer slightly more screen real estate for the rest.

That's exactly what the Nacho Notch app does, as I mentioned above. I agree with you, though, that option should be stock.

 

[Matty]

Kate and I both have Pixel 3 XL's. We both found the notch distasteful and we didn't buy until satisfied that the notch could be eliminated through the Developer Option. We've had them for over a year now and never see a notch with any app. We are both quite pleased with our 3 XL's on Google Fi.

Awesome, thank you for the reply. Everyone's comments have been very helpful. I'll definitely give the phone a purchase!

Just need keep a look out for Black Friday deal and then swoop in.