Hide or not to hide the system tray in a Windows Phone 7 application?

Question

I am debating whether to hide or not to hide the system tray in a Windows Phone 7 application. I\'ve not found any general suggestions on this issue -the official Windows Phone

Answer 1

I think its best to use the tray in applications that are tools or utilities. Typically these users would prefer more info than less when they're using applications on the phone (battery, network, time).

Also adding the tray in there tends to make the application look more native on the phone (according to me and others I've asked), which is a big plus because the user associates your app as if it was built with the phone OS.

But if the application is a game, media, etc. type of application I recommend you take it off, especially on panorama because it takes away from the intended design. Also these types of applications focus on the content and seeing multiple little icons at the top can take away from the experience.

Really to me the space it occupies isn't really THAT much, so that shouldn't be too much of an issue. But rather the purpose of the app as stated above.

I do like the suggestions that have been given as far as giving the user the choice. Check out this code:

        bool ShowTray;

        //ASK USER WHAT THEY WANT
        //ShowTray = true or false;

        SystemTray.IsVisible = ShowTray;