Bringing additional functionalities on our devices through third-party apps is something Android enthusiasts have been doing for a while. Power users are always trying to find ways to customize things on top of the regular offerings on OEM skins. This is why we came across innovative apps like Access Dots and Energy Ring that brought a whole new angle to Android UI enhancement. Now, the developer behind these two apps has come up with another useful piece of software named Media Bar that adds a media playback controller and a progress indicator to the status bar on your Android smartphone.

Media Bar from XDA Recognized Developer jagan2 allows users to see media progress — be it a podcast, locally stored music, or video stream — using a thin bar at the top or the bottom section of the status bar. It also lets users scrub through the media by swiping left/right on the status bar.

You can further color-code the bar corresponding to the progress of the playback. For example, the whole bar can gracefully change its color as it progresses from one segment of the media playing to another, or you can just opt for a set of predefined color blocks.

The app offers plenty of customization options, such as configuring the thickness of the bar, setting up the background style, and hiding for full-screen apps, while a handful of features can be unlocked via in-app purchases. Apart from the playback progress indicator, Media Bar features three invisible buttons, which can be assigned to perform specific actions upon single tap, double-tap, and long press.

Keep in mind that the app requires Android's Accessibility Service and Notification Access permissions to work properly. The developer mentions Media Bar is in the beta stage of development, which means the app might exhibit random glitches in certain scenarios. Users are invited to send their suggestions and ideas as well as report bugs for the app in the forum thread linked below.

Media Bar — XDA Discussion Thread

You can download Media Bar from the Google Play Store.

[appbox googleplay "apps.ijp.mediabar"]