Is it safe to disable com.android.systemui?

Question

I have found that Android recent app dialog can be disabled by disabling package com.android.systemui. I want to run my (rooted) device in kiosk mode so it is essential that the recent apps dialog not be shown on long press.

Now, exactly what does com.android.systemui do? I don't need notifications and power indicators and stuff so it is OK if that kind of cosmetic stuff disappears. It is also OK if soft input home buttons disappear because I have replaced them with a software app (Button saviour).

Is it safe to disable com.android.systemui, or do I risk subtle system hangs in certain unclear situations? To put it shortly -is it just another app, or is it absolutely essential to the Android operating system? (I haven't experienced any problems this far!)

Is com.android.systemui available in all Android versions?

Answer 1

I have it disabled on my phone succesfully via removal; gone is the ugly top bar with the notifications and clock.

Drawbacks are that native screenshots won't work nor does the recent apps switcher, but both issues can be fixed via replacements.

Battery life increases slightly due to lower CPU usage.

(I9500 cyanogenmod 11)

Answer 2

If you completely remove SystemUI.apk from the system, your device will hang on start-up and never fully boot again. Tried it before. ;) Framework-res and the system have some dependencies on SystemUI.

The correct, non-invasive way to get rid of SystemUI is to have an application that force-closes it upon BOOT_COMPLETED via am force-stop com.example.systemui or kill <PID>. Depending on device SystemUI restarts itself (not always), if it does you'll have to set a Timer that repeats the kill process. There's an app on Play store that does this, but I can't say for the reliability.

Hope this helps,