I have tried many approaches suggested on the internetz:

• upgraded to Ionic 1.0.0-beta-11
• installed cordova plugin add org.apache.cordova.device plugin
• calling fullScreen

$ionicPlatform.ready(function () {
  $ionicPlatform.fullScreen();
}

None of these approaches helped - note: I was debugging just leveraging [PhoneGap Developer App](http://app.phonegap.com/PhoneGap) since I don't have access to Mac/XCode