How to auto-hide soft keys?

[Arghzz]

I remember when i was playing games on my Z3 the soft keys hides but now its taking up space on my xz n making the screen smaller.

is there a setting for it?

[_alexdon_]

@Arghzz Yes, the apps you are using have to support immersive mode.

[Arghzz]

hmm but its the same app as i was playing on z3 but on xz it doesnt hide

[Uliwooly]

That's something the app developer have to address. 

[Arghzz]

so who can name some app that cause the soft key to hide? even popular app like pogo or tsum tsum doesnt hides it

[Rickard · Accepted solution]

You mean an app that can force immersive mode for other apps? There are some 3:rd party apps for this on Google Play if you search for "immersive mode" there but it's not something i've tested myself.

To the best of my knowledge, pogo does not use immersive mode.

If you open a picture in the Album app you can see immersive mode. If you want to try it with a 3:rd party app you could open a video in VLC or try a game like this one: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jyaif.pewpew

[Arghzz]

ok my z3 came back from servicing and has been updated by them and now its like the xz the games i play like Summones War and PoGo shows the button.

so its just weird now sighz.... why cant the os for sony just hides the button whenever an apps open~

now i feel abit sad buying xz having a 5.2 screen but feels like my old iphone 5 screen when playing games. maybe should have gotten a samsung with hard buttons instead~

[Rickard]

I'm sorry to hear that you feel that way.

I'm not sure if that's possible but i'll forward your feedback. Android is designed to let the app developers decide if they want to show the soft keys or not in their app by using immersive mode.

I checked some other forums and seems Summoners War doesn't use immersive mode either. Not sure why you see a difference but perhaps you had an app to force immersive mode before in your Z3.

[Inma_81]

It would be nice if Sony could provide the option to make the soft keys transparent and keep them always on top of the app. The space the soft keys take from the screen wouldn't be in the use of the app, but the content would be visible on the screen.