Android ‘immersive mode’ apps and games

By Victor H.

Nov 21, 2013, 6:58 AM

Android 4.4 KitKat brings a new feature called ‘Immersive mode’ that developers can enable so their apps take over the whole screen, hiding the notification bar and on-screen buttons out of the way. Let’s make it clear - the feature is not something that users can enable, it’s purely a developer optimization. There are a few apps that already support it and the list will likely snowball in the near future, and a list of all apps we know to have it is right below.

Android ‘Immersive mode’ made a debut on the Google Play Books app in Android 4.4, and since then some developers have added support for the new feature in their apps.

Update: This list of apps is being continuously updated. Last update: 9-Dec-2013.

Immersive mode apps and games make a lot of sense when you want to have an experience free of distractions and fully concentrate on what you are doing. The benefit is biggest on devices with on-screen buttons like Nexus phones, LG’s, Sony’s and Motorola’s latest devices as the new immersive mode actually frees up a fairly large chunk of the screen. Previously, the on-screen buttons would only black out but still occupy screen space.

What are the best app candidates? Games are a no-brainer, but other types of apps like reading and browsers would also look great in full-screen immersive mode.

Apart from the games listed below, we’re all looking forward to the hottest games to get that support, but right now it’s not yet there. We’ve reached out to Gameloft and EA asking them when we can expect their games to support the new Immersive mode and we’ll update this post as soon as we get an answer.

Right now, this handful of apps all support the new immersive mode, they are listed in alphabetical order below, clicking on any of the titles will take you to the Google Play store download page: