StatusbarVolume is a another type of Status Bar-based volume HUD

StatusbarVolume Indicator

Why deal with an ugly and obtrusive volume HUD on your iOS devices when you don’t have to?

If you have a jailbreak, there are tons of jailbreak tweaks you can use to relocate the volume HUD to the Status Bar. But perhaps one of my favorites as of late is one called StatusbarVolume.

Perfect for minimalists

This tweak is perfect for minimalists because it’s compact and keeps the details down to just the essentials. Without a bulky interface like the stock volume HUD has, StatusbarVolume is both out-of-the-way and aesthetically pleasing.

It also works in a functional way; after the HUD shows up on your screen, you don’t have to continue pressing the volume buttons to make volume adjustment. Instead, you can tap and drag on the volume indicator on the HUD to adjust the volume if you prefer.

After seeing this tweak for the first time, its styling reminded me a lot of the volume indicator that you see in Google’s YouTube app when you are in landscape mode and watching a video in full-screen.

Despite the resemblance, you’ll quickly see that StatusbarVolume is superior because it works everywhere in iOS, not just in one designated app.

Some important notes

The tweak is designed only to adjust the media volume, and not the ringer volume, so this is something to keep in mind. We learned early on it’s necessary to disable the Change with Buttons option under Settings > Sounds in order for the volume buttons to properly change the volume level while StatusbarVolume is installed.

Sounds Change With Buttons

One thing we can say is a downside about this tweak is it only works appropriately with portrait orientation. If you rotate your device into landscape mode, the volume HUD still spans across the “true” top of the display, not the rotated top of the display. This behavior is slightly awkward and takes some getting used to.

Adding to that, StatusbarVolume doesn’t come with any options to configure, so unfortunately this means you can’t really customize it. You’re going to be stuck with the black-on-white color scheme. Personally, I think a way to invert that color scheme might look a little cooler, so I would hope a future update adds this option.

Compared to Amalthea and StatusHUD 2, StatusbarVolume has a very different look and feel to it. Personally, I think StatusHUD 2 has a more Apple-esque look and feel to it while StatusbarVolume has a more Google-esque look to it. Of course, to each their own, you would just need to pick the style you like more for your device.

StatusbarVolume is available free of cost in Cydia’s BigBoss repository on your jailbroken devices and works with iOS 8 and later, so if you like the new aesthetic it has to offer, check it out.