How to set the root view controller's status bar to be hidden?

Question

I am trying to show an Open Ad from Google Admob in my SwiftUI app. I am not too familiar with UIKit and stuff...

I am keep getting this error in my console: " Status bar could not be hidden for full screen ad. Ensure that your app is configured to allow full screen ads to control the status bar. For example, consider whether you need to set the childViewControllerForStatusBarHidden property on your ad's rootViewController."

How do I solve this?

// Extending Application to get RootView..
extension UIApplication {
    func getRootViewController() -> UIViewController {

        guard let scene = self.connectedScenes.first as? UIWindowScene else {
            return .init()
        }
                                    
        guard let root = scene.windows.first?.rootViewController else {
            return .init()
        }
                
        return root
    }
}

final class OpenAd: NSObject, GADFullScreenContentDelegate {
    var appOpenAd: GADAppOpenAd?
    var loadTime = Date()
    
    
    func currentDeviceOrientation() -> UIInterfaceOrientation {
        let currentOrientation = UIDevice.current.orientation
        
        switch currentOrientation {
        case .unknown:
            return .unknown
        case .portrait:
            return .portrait
        case .portraitUpsideDown:
            return .portraitUpsideDown
        case .landscapeLeft:
            return .landscapeLeft
        case .landscapeRight:
            return .landscapeRight
        case .faceUp:
            return .portrait
        case .faceDown:
            return .portrait
        @unknown default:
            return .unknown
        }
    }
    
    func showAdForFirstLaunch() {
        let request = GADRequest()
        GADAppOpenAd.load(withAdUnitID: "ca-app-pub-3940256099942544/5662855259",
                          request: request,
                          orientation: UIInterfaceOrientation.portrait,
                          completionHandler: { (appOpenAdIn, _) in
            self.appOpenAd = appOpenAdIn
            self.appOpenAd?.fullScreenContentDelegate = self
            self.loadTime = Date()
            
            self.appOpenAd?.present(fromRootViewController: UIApplication.shared.getRootViewController())
        })
    }
    
    func requestAppOpenAd() {
        let request = GADRequest()
        GADAppOpenAd.load(withAdUnitID: "ca-app-pub-3940256099942544/5662855259",
                          request: request,
                          orientation: UIInterfaceOrientation.portrait,
                          completionHandler: { (appOpenAdIn, _) in
            self.appOpenAd = appOpenAdIn
            self.appOpenAd?.fullScreenContentDelegate = self
            self.loadTime = Date()
            print("[OPEN AD] Ad is ready")
        })
    }
    
    func tryToPresentAd() {
        if let gOpenAd = self.appOpenAd, wasLoadTimeLessThanNHoursAgo(thresholdN: 4) {
            gOpenAd.present(fromRootViewController: UIApplication.shared.getRootViewController())
        } else {
            self.requestAppOpenAd()
        }
    }
    
    func wasLoadTimeLessThanNHoursAgo(thresholdN: Int) -> Bool {
        let now = Date()
        let timeIntervalBetweenNowAndLoadTime = now.timeIntervalSince(self.loadTime)
        let secondsPerHour = 3600.0
        let intervalInHours = timeIntervalBetweenNowAndLoadTime / secondsPerHour
        return intervalInHours < Double(thresholdN)
    }
    
    func ad(_ ad: GADFullScreenPresentingAd, didFailToPresentFullScreenContentWithError error: Error) {
        print("[OPEN AD] Failed: \(error)")
        requestAppOpenAd()
    }
    
    func adDidDismissFullScreenContent(_ ad: GADFullScreenPresentingAd) {
        requestAppOpenAd()
        print("[OPEN AD] Ad dismissed")
    }
}

Answer 1

I recently had the same problem and I solved it by hiding the status bar myself while the ad is displayed. Here is an excerpt from my root view controller, which is also the GADFullScreenContentDelegate:

private var adShown = false

override var prefersStatusBarHidden: Bool {
    return adShown
}

func adWillPresentFullScreenContent(_ ad: GADFullScreenPresentingAd) {
    adShown = true
    setNeedsStatusBarAppearanceUpdate()
}

func adDidDismissFullScreenContent(_ ad: GADFullScreenPresentingAd) {
    adShown = false
    setNeedsStatusBarAppearanceUpdate()
}

Note that UIViewControllerBasedStatusBarAppearance must be set to true in your info.plist for this to work.