[GUIDE][4.2+] Replace your statusbar clock with a styled TextClock

Spannaa · Apr 11, 2014

This guide assumes that you can decompile & recompile apks.

Whilst theming my statusbar clock and running into a couple of smali problems, @Ticklefish suggested I look at TextClock - an extension to TextView that was introduced in Android 4.2

TextClock can display the current time and/or date as a formatted string using both 12-hour and 24-hour modes and makes a great drop-in replacement for the normal statusbar clock.

The statusbar clock code is contained in the com.android.systemui.statusbar.policy.Clock code block in SystemUI.apk\res\layout\status_bar.xml and we can replace this with a TextClock code block:

Code:

<TextClock android:format12Hour="EEE h:mm a" android:format24Hour="EEE HH:mm" android:textAppearance="@style/TextAppearance.StatusBar.Clock" android:id="@id/clock" android:paddingLeft="3.0dip" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:layout_gravity="bottom" android:singleLine="true" />

The important bits here are the format strings:

Code:

android:format12Hour="EEE h:mm a"

which shows as Fri 8:26 PM

Code:

android:format24Hour="EEE HH:mm"

which shows as Fri 20:26

You can use a combination of the options below to create your preferred format:

d.............Day Of Month (single digit) 7
dd.......... Day Of Month (double digit) Zero, 07
EEEE......Day Of Week (Full) Monday
EEE........Week Day (Short) Mon
MMMM....Month (Full) AUGUST
MMM.......Month (Short) AUG
MM..........Month (double digit) 08
M............Month (Single digit) 8
yyyy........Year (Full) 2013
yy............Year (Short) 13
h..............Hour (12 hour, single digit) 8
hh............Hour (12 hour, double digit) 08
H.............Hour (24 hour, single digit) 8 20
HH...........Hour (24 hour, double digit) 08 20 (Note: some roms use kk instead)
m.............Minute (single digit) 9
MM..........Minute (double digit) 09
s..............Second (single digit) 9
ss............Second (double digit) 09
a..............Marker AM/PM

One advantage of using TextClock is that if you move the android:format strings into string resources, you can embed simple HTML into the strings to enhance the result

So replace:

Code:

android:format12Hour="EEE h:mm a" android:format24Hour="EEE HH:mm"

with:

Code:

android:format12Hour="@string/status_bar_clock_12hr_format" android:format24Hour="@string/status_bar_clock_24hr_format"

and add two strings to the bottom of SystemUI.apk\res\values\strings.xml,

Code:

	<string name="status_bar_clock_12hr_format">EEE h:mm a</string>
	<string name="status_bar_clock_24hr_format">EEE HH:mm</string>

these can then be styled using HTML

... ..................................makes the the enclosed text bold
... ...................................makes the the enclosed text italic
... ............sets the font size of the enclosed text to X.0dip
...</> ........sets the foreground colour of the enclosed text
...</> .sets the background colour of the enclosed text

Example:

Code:

<string name="status_bar_clock_12hr_format"><font size="12">EEE </font>h:mm<font size="12"> a</font></string>

which shows as

as the base font size was 18.0dip

Code:

<string name="status_bar_clock_24hr_format"><font size="12">EEE </font>HH:mm</string>

which shows as

as the base font size was 18.0dip

Other styling is handled normally, either in-line or in an external style resource in SystemUI.apk\res\values\styles.xml

Code:

android:textAppearance="@style/TextAppearance.StatusBar.Clock"

Embedding HTML in string resources will also work in a normal TextView and there are a few additional tags you can use. REFERENCE

Note: Setting android:textAllCaps="true" inline or <item name="android:textAllCaps">true</item> in your external style resource will break the HTML embedded in the XML strings as this HAS to be in lowercase for it to be parsed.

_Sale_ · Apr 12, 2014

Nice work Spannaa :thumbup:

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

avirk · Apr 12, 2014

Great guide mate. Just missed the 4.1+ version.

ICS_XD · Apr 13, 2014

Nice Guide Bro :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

Sent from my GT-I9500 using Tapatalk 2

Spannaa · Apr 15, 2014

_Sale_ said:
Nice work Spannaa :thumbup:

ICS_XD said:
Nice Guide Bro :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

avirk said:
Great guide mate. Just missed the 4.1+ version.

Thanks.

Unfortunately, it won't work on 4.1.2 NeatROM for the S2 as Google only introduced the code in v4.2

glfsd · Apr 28, 2014

thanks Spannaa, great guide

please a helping hand. where am I doing wrong?

this is my clock line

Code:

<com.android.systemui.statusbar.policy.Clock android:textAppearance="@style/TextAppearance.StatusBar.Clock" android:gravity="center" android:id="@id/clock" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="fill_parent" android:singleLine="true" android:shadowColor="#ff000000" android:shadowDy="2.0" android:shadowRadius="2.0" />

and I replaced it with

Code:

<TextClock android:format24Hour="@string/status_bar_clock_24hr_format" android:textAppearance="@style/TextAppearance.StatusBar.Clock" android:gravity="bottom" android:id="@id/clock" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="fill_parent" android:singleLine="true" android:shadowColor="#ff000000" android:shadowDy="2.0" android:shadowRadius="2.0" />

and in strings.xml I added

Code:

	<string name="status_bar_clock_24hr_format">EEE HH:mm</string>

I'd like it to be like your example

and I wish it was Lun and no lun

ps. sorry for my poor english

Spannaa · Apr 28, 2014

glfsd said:

thanks Spannaa, great guide

please a helping hand. where am I doing wrong?

this is my clock line

Code:

<com.android.systemui.statusbar.policy.Clock android:textAppearance="@style/TextAppearance.StatusBar.Clock" android:gravity="center" android:id="@id/clock" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="fill_parent" android:singleLine="true" android:shadowColor="#ff000000" android:shadowDy="2.0" android:shadowRadius="2.0" />

and I replaced it with

Code:

<TextClock android:format24Hour="@string/status_bar_clock_24hr_format" android:textAppearance="@style/TextAppearance.StatusBar.Clock" android:gravity="bottom" android:id="@id/clock" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="fill_parent" android:singleLine="true" android:shadowColor="#ff000000" android:shadowDy="2.0" android:shadowRadius="2.0" />

and in strings.xml I added

Code:

	<string name="status_bar_clock_24hr_format">EEE HH:mm</string>

I'd like it to be like your example

and I wish it was Lun and no lun

ps. sorry for my poor english

To display the correct hour, try changing the HH to kk (something to do with SimpleDateFormat)

I'm pretty sure that the capitalisation of the day is controlled by your timezone and locale settings so I don't think that's changeable.

glfsd · Apr 28, 2014

Spannaa said:
To display the correct hour, try changing the HH to kk (something to do with SimpleDateFormat)

THANK YOU VERY MUCH! with "kk"

Spannaa said:
I'm pretty sure that the capitalisation of the day is controlled by your timezone and locale settings so I don't think that's changeable.

Spannaa · Apr 28, 2014

glfsd said:
THANK YOU VERY MUCH! with "kk"

Since you're not using HTML tags in your string, you could set android:textAllCaps="true" inline or <item name="android:textAllCaps">true</item> in your external style resource to change lun to LUN

glfsd · Apr 28, 2014

Spannaa said:
Since you're not using HTML tags in your string, you could set android:textAllCaps="true" inline or <item name="android:textAllCaps">true</item> in your external style resource to change lun to LUN

i had understood this, i would have wanted to try "Lun"

anyway, thanks again!

glfsd · Apr 29, 2014

sorry Spannaa, one last thing.
I can not change the font size of the "LUN"

I put it in strings.xml, this

Code:

    <string name="status_bar_clock_24hr_format"><font size="8">EEE </font>kk:mm</string>

is that right? but does not change

this is my styles.xml

Code:

    <style name="TextAppearance.StatusBar.Clock" parent="@*android:style/TextAppearance.StatusBar.Icon">
        <item name="android:textSize">16.0dip</item>
        <item name="android:textStyle">normal</item>
        <item name="android:textColor">#ffffffff</item>
    </style>

Spannaa · Apr 29, 2014

glfsd said:
sorry Spannaa, one last thing.
I can not change the font size of the "LUN"

I put it in strings.xml, this

Code:

<string name="status_bar_clock_24hr_format">EEE kk:mm</string>

is that right? but does not change

this is my styles.xml

Code:

<style name="TextAppearance.StatusBar.Clock" parent="@*android:style/TextAppearance.StatusBar.Icon"> <item name="android:textSize">16.0dip</item> <item name="android:textStyle">normal</item> <item name="android:textColor">#ffffffff</item> </style>

Have you capitalised the string in your TextClock xml?

Now you're using HTML in your string, you can't set android:textAllCaps="true" as the embedded HTML has to be in lowercase for it to be parsed.

Vivek_Neel · Apr 29, 2014

Hey mate.
Fantastic.

Simple guide to follow.

Signature under construction.

yeshwanthvshenoy · May 2, 2014

Spannaa said:
This guide assumes that you can decompile & recompile apks.

The statusbar clock code is contained in the com.android.systemui.statusbar.policy.Clock code block in SystemUI.apk\res\layout\status_bar.xml and we can replace this with a TextClock code block:

Code:

<TextClock android:format12Hour="@string/status_bar_expanded_clock_12hr_format" android:format24Hour="@string/status_bar_expanded_clock_24hr_format" android:textAppearance="@style/TextAppearance.StatusBar.Expanded.Clock" android:id="@id/clock" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:layout_gravity="bottom" android:layout_marginTop="-3.0dip" android:layout_marginLeft="@dimen/notification_panel_header_clock_margin_left" android:singleLine="true" />

sir this is the error i get :

Code:

I: Building resources...
C:\apktool\systemui\res\layout\status_bar.xml:19: error: Error: No resource foun
d that matches the given name (at 'layout_marginLeft' with value '@dimen/notific
ation_panel_header_clock_margin_left').
aapt: warning: string 'compat_mode_help_body' has no default translation in C:\a
pktool\systemui\res; found: et hy ka km lo ms
aapt: warning: string 'compat_mode_help_header' has no default translation in C:
\apktool\systemui\res; found: et hy ka km lo ms
aapt: warning: string 'done_button' has no default translation in C:\apktool\sys
temui\res; found: mn
aapt: warning: string 'jelly_bean_dream_name' has no default translation in C:\a
pktool\systemui\res; found: et hy ka km lo mn ms
aapt: warning: string 'quick_settings_wifi_display_label' has no default transla
tion in C:\apktool\systemui\res; found: et hy ka km lo mn ms
aapt: warning: string 'quick_settings_wifi_display_no_connection_label' has no d
efault translation in C:\apktool\systemui\res; found: et hy ka km lo mn ms
aapt: warning: string 'ssl_ca_cert_dialog_title' has no default translation in C
:\apktool\systemui\res; found: mn
aapt: warning: string 'ssl_ca_cert_info_message' has no default translation in C
:\apktool\systemui\res; found: mn
aapt: warning: string 'ssl_ca_cert_settings_button' has no default translation i
n C:\apktool\systemui\res; found: mn
aapt: warning: string 'ssl_ca_cert_warning_message' has no default translation i
n C:\apktool\systemui\res; found: mn
aapt: warning: string 'status_bar_help_text' has no default translation in C:\ap
ktool\systemui\res; found: et hy ka km lo mn ms
aapt: warning: string 'status_bar_help_title' has no default translation in C:\a
pktool\systemui\res; found: et hy ka km lo mn ms
Exception in thread "main" brut.androlib.AndrolibException: brut.androlib.Androl
ibException: brut.common.BrutException: could not exec command: [aapt, p, --min-
sdk-version, 19, --target-sdk-version, 19, -F, C:\Users\Home\AppData\Local\Temp\
APKTOOL2380618344831959179.tmp, -I, C:\Users\Home\apktool\framework\1.apk, -S, C
:\apktool\systemui\res, -M, C:\apktool\systemui\AndroidManifest.xml]
        at brut.androlib.Androlib.buildResourcesFull(Androlib.java:358)
        at brut.androlib.Androlib.buildResources(Androlib.java:283)
        at brut.androlib.Androlib.build(Androlib.java:206)
        at brut.androlib.Androlib.build(Androlib.java:176)
        at brut.apktool.Main.cmdBuild(Main.java:228)
        at brut.apktool.Main.main(Main.java:79)
Caused by: brut.androlib.AndrolibException: brut.common.BrutException: could not
 exec command: [aapt, p, --min-sdk-version, 19, --target-sdk-version, 19, -F, C:
\Users\Home\AppData\Local\Temp\APKTOOL2380618344831959179.tmp, -I, C:\Users\Home
\apktool\framework\1.apk, -S, C:\apktool\systemui\res, -M, C:\apktool\systemui\A
ndroidManifest.xml]
        at brut.androlib.res.AndrolibResources.aaptPackage(AndrolibResources.jav
a:357)
        at brut.androlib.Androlib.buildResourcesFull(Androlib.java:336)
        ... 5 more
Caused by: brut.common.BrutException: could not exec command: [aapt, p, --min-sd
k-version, 19, --target-sdk-version, 19, -F, C:\Users\Home\AppData\Local\Temp\AP
KTOOL2380618344831959179.tmp, -I, C:\Users\Home\apktool\framework\1.apk, -S, C:\
apktool\systemui\res, -M, C:\apktool\systemui\AndroidManifest.xml]
        at brut.util.OS.exec(OS.java:89)
        at brut.androlib.res.AndrolibResources.aaptPackage(AndrolibResources.jav
a:355)
        ... 6 more

C:\apktool>

all i did was replaced the clock line with :

Code:

<TextClock android:format12Hour="EEE h:mm a" android:format24Hour="EEE HH:mm" android:textAppearance="@style/TextAppearance.StatusBar.Expanded.Clock" android:id="@id/clock" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:layout_gravity="bottom" android:layout_marginTop="-3.0dip" android:layout_marginLeft="@dimen/notification_panel_header_clock_margin_left" android:singleLine="true" />

Spannaa · May 2, 2014

yeshwanthvshenoy said:

sir this is the error i get...

all i did was replaced the clock line with :

Code:

<TextClock android:format12Hour="EEE h:mm a" android:format24Hour="EEE HH:mm" android:textAppearance="@style/TextAppearance.StatusBar.Expanded.Clock" android:id="@id/clock" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:layout_gravity="bottom" android:layout_marginTop="-3.0dip" android:layout_marginLeft="@dimen/notification_panel_header_clock_margin_left" android:singleLine="true" />

No need to quote the whole of the first post

There's only one error in your log, the rest are warnings.

C:\apktool\systemui\res\layout\status_bar.xml:19: error: Error: No resource found that matches the given name (at 'layout_marginLeft' with value '@dimen/notification_panel_header_clock_margin_left').

which tells you that there is no value called "notification_panel_header_clock_margin_left" in SystemUI.apk\res\values\dimens.xml
so you either need to add this dimen to dimens.xml

Code:

<dimen name="notification_panel_header_clock_margin_left">4.0dip</dimen>

or change the TextClock xml from

Code:

android:layout_marginLeft="@dimen/notification_panel_header_clock_margin_left"

to

Code:

android:layout_marginLeft="4.0dip"

Ticklefish · May 2, 2014

yeshwanthvshenoy said:

sir this is the error i get :

Code:

I: Building resources...
C:\apktool\systemui\res\layout\status_bar.xml:19: error: Error: No resource foun
d that matches the given name (at 'layout_marginLeft' with value '@dimen/notific
ation_panel_header_clock_margin_left').
aapt: warning: string 'compat_mode_help_body' has no default translation in C:\a
pktool\systemui\res; found: et hy ka km lo ms
aapt: warning: string 'compat_mode_help_header' has no default translation in C:
\apktool\systemui\res; found: et hy ka km lo ms
aapt: warning: string 'done_button' has no default translation in C:\apktool\sys
temui\res; found: mn
aapt: warning: string 'jelly_bean_dream_name' has no default translation in C:\a
pktool\systemui\res; found: et hy ka km lo mn ms
aapt: warning: string 'quick_settings_wifi_display_label' has no default transla
tion in C:\apktool\systemui\res; found: et hy ka km lo mn ms
aapt: warning: string 'quick_settings_wifi_display_no_connection_label' has no d
efault translation in C:\apktool\systemui\res; found: et hy ka km lo mn ms
aapt: warning: string 'ssl_ca_cert_dialog_title' has no default translation in C
:\apktool\systemui\res; found: mn
aapt: warning: string 'ssl_ca_cert_info_message' has no default translation in C
:\apktool\systemui\res; found: mn
aapt: warning: string 'ssl_ca_cert_settings_button' has no default translation i
n C:\apktool\systemui\res; found: mn
aapt: warning: string 'ssl_ca_cert_warning_message' has no default translation i
n C:\apktool\systemui\res; found: mn
aapt: warning: string 'status_bar_help_text' has no default translation in C:\ap
ktool\systemui\res; found: et hy ka km lo mn ms
aapt: warning: string 'status_bar_help_title' has no default translation in C:\a
pktool\systemui\res; found: et hy ka km lo mn ms
Exception in thread "main" brut.androlib.AndrolibException: brut.androlib.Androl
ibException: brut.common.BrutException: could not exec command: [aapt, p, --min-
sdk-version, 19, --target-sdk-version, 19, -F, C:\Users\Home\AppData\Local\Temp\
APKTOOL2380618344831959179.tmp, -I, C:\Users\Home\apktool\framework\1.apk, -S, C
:\apktool\systemui\res, -M, C:\apktool\systemui\AndroidManifest.xml]
        at brut.androlib.Androlib.buildResourcesFull(Androlib.java:358)
        at brut.androlib.Androlib.buildResources(Androlib.java:283)
        at brut.androlib.Androlib.build(Androlib.java:206)
        at brut.androlib.Androlib.build(Androlib.java:176)
        at brut.apktool.Main.cmdBuild(Main.java:228)
        at brut.apktool.Main.main(Main.java:79)
Caused by: brut.androlib.AndrolibException: brut.common.BrutException: could not
 exec command: [aapt, p, --min-sdk-version, 19, --target-sdk-version, 19, -F, C:
\Users\Home\AppData\Local\Temp\APKTOOL2380618344831959179.tmp, -I, C:\Users\Home
\apktool\framework\1.apk, -S, C:\apktool\systemui\res, -M, C:\apktool\systemui\A
ndroidManifest.xml]
        at brut.androlib.res.AndrolibResources.aaptPackage(AndrolibResources.jav
a:357)
        at brut.androlib.Androlib.buildResourcesFull(Androlib.java:336)
        ... 5 more
Caused by: brut.common.BrutException: could not exec command: [aapt, p, --min-sd
k-version, 19, --target-sdk-version, 19, -F, C:\Users\Home\AppData\Local\Temp\AP
KTOOL2380618344831959179.tmp, -I, C:\Users\Home\apktool\framework\1.apk, -S, C:\
apktool\systemui\res, -M, C:\apktool\systemui\AndroidManifest.xml]
        at brut.util.OS.exec(OS.java:89)
        at brut.androlib.res.AndrolibResources.aaptPackage(AndrolibResources.jav
a:355)
        ... 6 more

C:\apktool>

all i did was replaced the clock line with :

Code:

<TextClock android:format12Hour="EEE h:mm a" android:format24Hour="EEE HH:mm" android:textAppearance="@style/TextAppearance.StatusBar.Expanded.Clock" android:id="@id/clock" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:layout_gravity="bottom" android:layout_marginTop="-3.0dip" android:layout_marginLeft="@dimen/notification_panel_header_clock_margin_left" android:singleLine="true" />

Please don't quote the entire OP. It's one of the few cardinal sins in xda as it clutters up the screen and makes reading threads a nightmare.

Anyway, your error is basically this:

Code:

C:\apktool\systemui\res\layout\status_bar.xml:19: error: Error: No resource foun
d that matches the given name (at 'layout_marginLeft' with value '@dimen/notific
ation_panel_header_clock_margin_left').

There's also some translation warnings which you can safely ignore and a load of aapt error messages which you can ignore as well. Once you get the hang of reading compiling errors like these, you'll realise that they do actually give you enough information to fix the issue.

Your apk won't recompile because you don't have a dimension called 'notific
ation_panel_header_clock_margin_left'. You can either edit your dimens.xml to put it in or it might be easier to just delete that attribute:

Code:

<TextClock android:format12Hour="EEE h:mm a" android:format24Hour="EEE HH:mm" android:textAppearance="@style/TextAppearance.StatusBar.Expanded.Clock" android:id="@id/clock" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:layout_gravity="bottom" android:layout_marginTop="-3.0dip" android:singleLine="true" />

---------- Post added at 05:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:31 PM ----------

Spannaa said:
No need to quote the whole of the first post

There's only one error in your log, the rest are warnings.

which tells you that there is no value called "notification_panel_header_clock_margin_left" in SystemUI.apk\res\values\dimens.xml
so you either need to add this dimen to dimens.xml

Code:

<dimen name="notification_panel_header_clock_margin_left">4.0dip</dimen>

or change the TextClock xml from

Code:

android:layout_marginLeft="@dimen/notification_panel_header_clock_margin_left"

to

Code:

android:layout_marginLeft="4.0dip"

You beat my reply by six whole minutes. Sigh...you're just too fast for me!

Spannaa · May 2, 2014

Ticklefish said:
You beat my reply by six whole minutes. Sigh...you're just too fast for me!

Maybe, but you added a bit more detail - thanks

Huncriter · May 2, 2014

I get large font on my defy

Spannaa · May 3, 2014

Huncriter said:
I get large font on my defy

I'll need a lot more detail than that if you need help

Post your TextClock code and any associated lines from strings.xml styles.xml and dimens.xml

Sent from my GT-I9300...

Huncriter · May 3, 2014

Spannaa said:
I'll need a lot more detail than that if you need help

Post your TextClock code and any associated lines from strings.xml styles.xml and dimens.xml

Sent from my GT-I9300...

this is my code

Code:

<TextClock android:format12Hour="EEE h:mm a" android:format24Hour="EEE HH:mm" android:textAppearance="@style/TextAppearance.StatusBar.Expanded.Clock" android:id="@id/clock" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:layout_gravity="bottom" android:layout_marginTop="-3.0dip" android:singleLine="true" />

styles.xml

Code:

<style name="TextAppearance.StatusBar.Expanded.Clock" parent="@style/TextAppearance.StatusBar.Expanded">
        <item name="android:textSize">32.0dip</item>
        <item name="android:textStyle">normal</item>
        <item name="android:textColor">#ffffffff</item>
        <item name="android:fontFamily">sans-serif-light</item>
    </style>

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