Question

Some apps (notably Lookout Mobile Security) show a text describing action done
for a short time (maybe 1 sec only) on the top (status) bar and then the display
goes back to the regular status bar (with a nice animation effect at least on HTC phones).
How is this done ?
I am not talking about notifications !

Answer 1

This is actually part of the Notification. It is called the tickerText.
See:

http://developer.android.com/reference/android/app/Notification.html#tickerText

And, if developing on HoneyComb:

http://developer.android.com/reference/android/app/Notification.html#tickerView

You can also pass the tickerText into the constructor of the Notification.