So I have been reading a few theming guides but haven't been able to really understand them. It looks like with KB1, there is nothing but .xml files in the drawable folder. Am I only needing to edit these .xml's? Or is there somewhere I am not finding the .png's?
If anyone knows how to create custom themes please let me know, or direct me to a guide that will give me more information specifically for the Vibrant.
Strericsons guide is good, but it is old and outdated.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=667951 this guide is good too but I there aren't any theme files to start off with.
Any help will be appreciated, thanks!
I also plan on sharing the themes I create. They will be good
jzero88 said:
So I have been reading a few theming guides but haven't been able to really understand them. It looks like with KB1, there is nothing but .xml files in the drawable folder. Am I only needing to edit these .xml's? Or is there somewhere I am not finding the .png's?
If anyone knows how to create custom themes please let me know, or direct me to a guide that will give me more information specifically for the Vibrant.
Strericsons guide is good, but it is old and outdated.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=667951 this guide is good too but I there aren't any theme files to start off with.
Any help will be appreciated, thanks!
I also plan on sharing the themes I create. They will be good
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The great majority of the .pngs are in the drawable-hdpi or drawable-hdpi-v4 folders.
As for theming in general, take a look at this: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=916814
Also, I wouldn't call Stericsons guide, or anyone else's for that matter, outdated. There haven't exactly been major changes in the structure of APKs, so any guide that was applicable before should still be applicable.
Ok great thanks for the info. I didn't mean necessarily outdated, but the methods might have a few changes pertaining to them. I will take a look at that link you provided!
uhh.. I'm certain if I understand you correctly. You unzip one of KB1 Roms. Under \system\framework\, some basic files you need to focus is framework-res.apk, twframwork-res.apk, and services.jar. You have to extract these apks to see the corresponding pngs.
Here's an excellent REF from Master himeself:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=940692&highlight=apk+manager
xxxman999 said:
uhh.. I'm certain if I understand you correctly. You unzip one of KB1 Roms. Under \system\framework\, some basic files you need to focus is framework-res.apk, twframwork-res.apk, and services.jar. You have to extract these apks to see the corresponding pngs.
Here's an excellent REF from Master himeself:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=940692&highlight=apk+manager
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awsome! Thanks for this info, I remember seeing this but don't remember where, it was late at night. This is exactly what I needed!
Thanks
jzero88 said:
Awsome! Thanks for this info, I remember seeing this but don't remember where, it was late at night. This is exactly what I needed!
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just want to mention that, while I don't want to knock his guide, if you have any real interest in theming, it's best to learn how to properly decompile and compile apks, not simply unzip them. His method is fine for changing out a few pngs, though.
MWBehr said:
I just want to mention that, while I don't want to knock his guide, if you have any real interest in theming, it's best to learn how to properly decompile and compile apks, not simply unzip them. His method is fine for changing out a few pngs, though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah definitely. I am just looking on getting my feet wet for now, edit a few simple things to get an idea of how its done. If I want to fully edit a ROM I'm definitely going to get under the hood and take a look
So being able to change colors of some status bar .png's has been successful. What I did was basically simple. I took an already modified battery stat update theme since I wanted to keep the settings from it (KA7-KB1-circ-ab-col-pm.zip) and modified the .png's from that. Added them back to the zip, and flashed. Did not need to resign at all. Took two minutes
Was able to edit the status bar color, but couldn't find the .png's for the pull down background color.
jzero88 said:
So being able to change colors of some status bar .png's has been successful. What I did was basically simple. I took an already modified battery stat update theme since I wanted to keep the settings from it (KA7-KB1-circ-ab-col-pm.zip) and modified the .png's from that. Added them back to the zip, and flashed. Did not need to resign at all. Took two minutes
Was able to edit the status bar color, but couldn't find the .png's for the pull down background color.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You'll never resign a framework no matter what you do. The background is actually in twframework-res.apk
Related
Just modded my soft keys to light up red, attempting to get the theme on Virus's Eternity ROM to match. Could anyone change all the green to red, or point me to some tools to help me edit the framework? I'm new to the theming, but I have a decent understanding of ADB and Android file structure.
Sent from my PG86100 using xda premium
spenceizzle said:
Just modded my soft keys to light up red, attempting to get the theme on Virus's Eternity ROM to match. Could anyone change all the green to red, or point me to some tools to help me edit the framework? I'm new to the theming, but I have a decent understanding of ADB and Android file structure.
Sent from my PG86100 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
M10 tools and eclipse for Modding .9 pngs. And gimp for adding colors and a ton of experimentation
Sent from my PG86100 using xda premium
That looks... daunting, so lets start small. Now lets say I just wanted to mod the notification bar icons for now, I think that would fall under the .9 png modding portion. What files exactly would I be modifying? Is it some sort of jar file I would be ripping the pngs out of, modifying, and replacing? I am quite new to this, so please don't flame me too much
spenceizzle said:
That looks... daunting, so lets start small. Now lets say I just wanted to mod the notification bar icons for now, I think that would fall under the .9 png modding portion. What files exactly would I be modifying? Is it some sort of jar file I would be ripping the pngs out of, modifying, and replacing? I am quite new to this, so please don't flame me too much
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
notification bar icons are mainly in systemui.apk and are standard .pngs.
Theirs alot of guys willing to help those who help them selves. from what your asking i'de suggest doing a ton of reading. their are a ton of theming modding how tos. but if you wanna jump in grab 7zip,gimp(or a similar graphics editor) and android signer, and start experimenting, If you wanna edit .9.pngs your gonna have to learn how to use apktool and a .9 compiler. But just do a search theirs alot of great how tos and tools all over the forum.
I found the systemUI.apk from reading the beats headphone icon thread. So I'm assuming that the .pngs found in the systemUI.apk are normal .pngs that don't need any kind of special encoding or transparency values. If I were going to change some sense 3.0 assets, I would need to use this guide posted here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=5206698, correct?
Edit: Also, is the SystemUI.odex file anything I have to worry about?
spenceizzle said:
I found the systemUI.apk from reading the beats headphone icon thread. So I'm assuming that the .pngs found in the systemUI.apk are normal .pngs that don't need any kind of special encoding or transparency values. If I were going to change some sense 3.0 assets, I would need to use this guide posted here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=5206698, correct?
Edit: Also, is the SystemUI.odex file anything I have to worry about?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if your just looking to change images the .odex isn't something you need to worry about, the link you posted refers to .9.pngs, when you say assets if your refering to the images that are in assets folders tose are .m10 files and for those you need the .m10 tools that can also be found here on xda.
Well, I got the drawable-hdpi finished, I may have to tweek the 4g icon, the signal bars look a little pink. Tomorrow I'll see if I can find the syncing icon, battery percentage, and other little odds and ends that I can easily edit. I'm attaching the SystemUI.apk for anyone who wants to try it.
Observations:
I was skeptical at first because there are no QHD resolutions listed in UOT kitchen, but figured if I supplied the files, then it would maintain the resolutions in the files.
Must have all three files to upload for it to compile correctly...
1. SystemUI.apk
2. Framework-res.apk
3. com.htc.resources.apk
I've changed the battery indicatior, added statusbar icons successfully, and change the background to more transparent on the Notifications/Quick Setting pull-down. I've also successfully changed the lockscreen icons.
I'm having difficulties making the statusbar more transparent, however. They have a setting on the Status Bar tab, but it seems to have no effect.
I did try to manually adjust the transparency on status_bar_background.png in Framework-res.apk, but it didn't seem to do the trick. Is there another file that is used based on the Sense base?
Nope. Those are the files needed, one bit of advice though--triple check the operational file it uses.
I.E. For boot animation, use the CM file directory, not the suggested data/local. It may be something in the framework.res file that needs to be changed. UOT works for EVERYTHING, provided you make sure the operational file is correct upon submission.
jeepers007 said:
I'm having difficulties making the statusbar more transparent, however. They have a setting on the Status Bar tab, but it seems to have no effect.
I did try to manually adjust the transparency on status_bar_background.png in Framework-res.apk, but it didn't seem to do the trick. Is there another file that is used based on the Sense base?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm Sense(or any ginger for the matter) responds to the status bar B/G used in SystemUI.apk(drawable HDPI). And the images used on all the qHD phones from HTC use the same size for .pngs as their WVGA counterparts(some things are bigger, but not many), scaling seems pretty good AFAIK.
Ace42 said:
Hmmm Sense(or any ginger for the matter) responds to the status bar B/G used in SystemUI.apk(drawable HDPI). And the images used on all the qHD phones from HTC use the same size for .pngs as their WVGA counterparts(some things are bigger, but not many), scaling seems pretty good AFAIK.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Found it! Giving that a try.
Thanks!
Trust me, it works. I cannot remember off the top of my head (bit drunk) but UOT works on just about everything. You need to double check where each enabled visual/operational is WITHIN your choice of rom. Then, you can triple check UOT's placement of the modified file.
I'm trying to remove the clock, but I couldn't find where that was located anywhere in there. Anyone have any pointers?
I'm a kitchen noob so I just made a simple battery change that I'm going to put on when it's done cooking.
(BeastMOD 1.3.1)
Spovik said:
I'm trying to remove the clock, but I couldn't find where that was located anywhere in there. Anyone have any pointers?
I'm a kitchen noob so I just made a simple battery change that I'm going to put on when it's done cooking.
(BeastMOD 1.3.1)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let me look into it when I get home...I might be able (time willing) download your current rom and cook it--or at least find where to zap the clock so you can do it to your liking.
My battery cooking turned out to cause a boot loop so no-go on that. I appreciate any help you can offer and let me know if there's anything I can do to make things easier.
Spovik said:
I'm trying to remove the clock, but I couldn't find where that was located anywhere in there. Anyone have any pointers?
I'm a kitchen noob so I just made a simple battery change that I'm going to put on when it's done cooking.
(BeastMOD 1.3.1)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The clock is in the service.jar.. The kitchen won't work for that mod.
okay, I think I'm starting to get more comfortable with this kitchen.
I've got transparent status bar, and modified status bar icons.
Now, I'm looking for some help with another graphic. I unlock my phone for use with a pin. I see lockscreen in UOT only seems to modify the icons and gesture styles.
Where can I look to change the color of the numeric pin keys?
Spovik said:
My battery cooking turned out to cause a boot loop so no-go on that. I appreciate any help you can offer and let me know if there's anything I can do to make things easier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is imperative that you open your rom .zip and extract:
com.htc.resources.apk
framework-res.apk
SystemUI.apk
All are found within your particular rom package. Upload via UOT's upload page. That is how their kitchen knows what to change and give you an individualized .zip to flash. If you want an in-depth explanation, PM me and I would be happy to go through the whole process step-by-step. Once you get the gist, it is easy as pie.
As for the clock, yea...it is under services.jar and UOT does not change that. There can be another way to delete it, if I have time today I will try to make a flashable .zip for just the clock delete--unless someone beats me to it.
Yeah, I went through the UOT guide and video tutorial before I started working with UOT (I really do RTFM) and it still crashed out on me. I'll give it another shot when I have time available and I can get in.
As for the flashable zip, I'd love you long-time.
Spovik said:
Yeah, I went through the UOT guide and video tutorial before I started working with UOT (I really do RTFM) and it still crashed out on me. I'll give it another shot when I have time available and I can get in.
As for the flashable zip, I'd love you long-time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not going to have the time to make a clock delete zip....work is busy and getting ready for the holiday. It's not too hard for someone familiar with the sdk to use smali/etc. To push the needed code.
Sent from my HTC Amaze 4G using xda premium
TheSneakerWhore said:
I'm not going to have the time to make a clock delete zip....work is busy and getting ready for the holiday. It's not too hard for someone familiar with the sdk to use smali/etc. To push the needed code.
Sent from my HTC Amaze 4G using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've seen some code about it, but didn't know if it's exclusive to the device type, or if it's the same basic thing for gingerbread so I never jumped. I'll see if I can mess with it later this week.
Spovik said:
I've seen some code about it, but didn't know if it's exclusive to the device type, or if it's the same basic thing for gingerbread so I never jumped. I'll see if I can mess with it later this week.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As long as you pull the services.jar file out of the Rom you want to flash to, you are fine.
Sent from my HTC Amaze 4G using xda premium
Can anyone who is good with UOT Kitchen put together a walk-through? I was told it basically walks you through it, and to an extent it does, but it didnt work for me with my SystemUI and Framework-res from the UnNamed 1.3.1 ROM.
Sorry if this is a VERY Noob question but I'm having trouble with it.
I love the idea of being able to mod my own stuff without having to ask for everything. This is sort of asking to teach the horse to find water rather than giving it the water.
BTW this is the UOT kitchen I am referring to in case anyone is unfamiliar and wants to give it a go
http://uot.dakra.lt/kitchen/
What steps did you take?
I tend to upload the files first then proceed to adding the mods.
Did you pull the files off your phone or the zip file?
sent from the Dark Obelisk.
It was off my phone with ES File Explorer. I chose the mods i wanted to make then uploaded the files as the last step, sort of just going through the tabs in order left to right. Then I submitted it and waited, when it came up in the pick up section it said there was an error with it.
If someone can make a youtube video or something of them doing a successful mod? I think that can help, maybe also point out common mistakes or misconceptions people run into?
It seems like a very straight forward process but there seem to be several areas which can trip people up because its sort of a do-all tool for many devices and roms which don't necessarily interchange.
Edit:
I think I found my mistake, I've been playing with it and it seems I misplaced one file, I put twframework-res into the framework-res spot, i found framework-res and put that in the correct spot and the twframework-res into its spot.
Do I need to use all three files or will just framework-res do? I read in another post that you just need framework-res.apk for things like battery mods and other status bar items.
Edit2:
So I sort of got it to work, I did a custom battery and scroll bar but the overscroll glow didnt show up, not sure why.
There are a few screen shots of it and I'll up up the file if anyone likes it and wants to flash it, like I mentioned earlier I'm using UnNamed 1.3.1 so I'm assuming it should work with UnNamed ROMs. There is also a png of the battery, its the Jazzk one.
Normally just framework-res.apk and SystemUI.apk are used for dropdown menu, animations, icons etc.
I'm guessing twframework-res.apk falls into the same thing, involving itself in everything like com.htc.resources.apk does for HTC Sense devices.
The kitchen said to include twframework-res.apk if you are using touchwiz, which from what I understand is what UnNamed uses.... but dont quote me on that haha
Unless your on an AOSP like CM7 then yes your using using touchwiz.
sent from the Dark Obelisk.
AntwanL said:
The kitchen said to include twframework-res.apk if you are using touchwiz, which from what I understand is what UnNamed uses.... but dont quote me on that haha
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if unnamed uses touchwiz 4.5, which i think it may, the reg tw-framework-res.apk won't work. You have to be sure its the stock tw launcher if your going to use the tw-framework file for UOTKitchen.
Enzopreme said:
if unnamed uses touchwiz 4.5, which i think it may, the reg tw-framework-res.apk won't work. You have to be sure its the stock tw launcher if your going to use the tw-framework file for UOTKitchen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it doesn't
From what I've learned playing around with decompiling the different system framework apks the touchwiz-res.apk is used when editing SystemUI.apk and Settings.apk which includes icons from the status bar and the system menus. The framework-res.apk contains the battery icon and things such as that.
I have tried UOT Kitchen before, always was unlucky at having flashing errors.
My question is this... If I take a flashable theme, with permission from the creator, I should be able to use the scripts that they include for flashing? I am savvy with un-APKing zipping, signing and what not, is that all I would have to do to recreate a theme using my own images?
Thanks to everyone here!
Yes, the script you see other themes using can be changed out with your own, as well as the content. You can also just use the UOT Kitchen script. Credit given where credit is due, of course, but the script itself (IMHO) is not something you really need permission for.
Another tip, this from firsthand experience, when you're zipping everything up getting ready to flash, make sure you're zipping the contents of the theme folder (/META-INF/ & /system/) vs zipping the theme folder.
It sounds really stupid, but it took me forever to figure out why everything I did in UOT Kitchen perfectly but everything I did, using the same damn script, just froze. But ya gotta learn somewhere, right?
Remember when using the kitchen make sure u click amend scripting in the area where u load the apks... x2 uses 2. Something recovery.. if u don't click that there will be errors everytime
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Thank you, I think I've tried UOT 5 times but never had success.
Kevin, I tried the amend scripting, it solo didn't work.
I would much rather use my own images then those offered in uot kitchen.
I'm going to try to put a theme together this weekend, I haven't modded anything since BF2 wake island air show
Dee Ex Two - See Em Seven
Ok, how much do you know about themeing? Because if you are wanting to edit just the images(.pngs) you will need some info first...
You can "simply" take the framework-res.apk and systemUI.apk and go to the HDPI folder(or wherever the images are) and "drag n drop" to your desktop and edit those... OR you can take a .png that you wanna use(say one from another theme) and just drag n drop in the HDPI folder. And then, simply make a flashable .zip and your good to go.
.9s !!!
These are a PAIN if you dont know what you are doing.
If you are going to try and get into themeing, download APKManager and decompile the framework-res.apk ... go to a .9 image(i think its .png.9 or something of the like). When you load the image(say in GIMP) you will see black squares on the OUTSIDE of the image(like near the edges of the ACTUAL picture edge)... DONT TOUCH THOSE!!!! leave them there and make edits how you choose to the rest of the image. Once you are finished, just recompile(DONT SIGN AND YES! THESE ARE SYSTEM APPS!). Put in a flashable .zip and your set.
NOW Please note:
When you are doing the drag and drop method, make sure you are REPLACING an image and not ADDING more images.. catch the drift?
this is quick how to, hope it helps and good luck. let me know if you need anything else.
All the themes rock! I have poor eye sight (far sight) so my main concern always is status bar and the battery icon. I love being able to see the percentage, but some themes use smaller battery percentage text.
.9 seem like the stretchable area I'm beautiful widget... I understand that
Thanks Peperm1nt
Dee Ex Two - See Em Seven
I was thinking of trying out theming. That is until I looked at the crap load of images just thrown into one directory. lol. It may not be as hard as it looks but I havent looked any further than that yet. I still want to try something out though. Is there an easy way of figuring out what image does what on the phone? Like if I want to change some things, I have to know the name of the image. Well, to me, it looks like they aren't named plain and simple. Plus when they are just thrown into one directory its kinda hard to distinguish what is what. It was so much easier theming for webOS. lol
Js if u really look at the framework u will see all the images in the drawable hdpi folder are really a lot of the presses..tabs. status bar icons... over scroll glow theming takes a lot of time to build straight from scratch... any .9 PNG can be edited when it is decompiled in apk manager or apk multi tool just don't edit the black patch as peppermint said or u will not compile...
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Kevin3328 said:
Js if u really look at the framework u will see all the images in the drawable hdpi folder are really a lot of the presses..tabs. status bar icons... over scroll glow theming takes a lot of time to build straight from scratch... any .9 PNG can be edited when it is decompiled in apk manager or apk multi tool just don't edit the black patch as peppermint said or u will not compile...
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, one of these days ill download the tools and play with it. I've always enjoyed theming.
Sent from my MB870 using Tapatalk
I'm just trying to figure out the script to flash, is it the one in the google folder?
Dee Ex Two - See Em Seven
@js I know what you are saying about the desire to do it but the system isn't really what I would say themer friendly! Admittedly I am not the sharpest tool in the shade when it comes to some things (like the Android OS), so I would imagine that plays a big role in my intimidation of the whole thing.
What got me was the De-Compiling and Recompiling of everything just to change something. Not to mention the signatures and etc... perhaps one day someone will write a piece of software (be it windows based or Android in a shell on a PC) that will make it all pretty simple on that part. Till then I will prob. just enjoy and appreciate the work of others.
GL, Slim!
SlimMan said:
@js I know what you are saying about the desire to do it but the system isn't really what I would say themer friendly! Admittedly I am not the sharpest tool in the shade when it comes to some things (like the Android OS), so I would imagine that plays a big role in my intimidation of the whole thing.
What got me was the De-Compiling and Recompiling of everything just to change something. Not to mention the signatures and etc... perhaps one day someone will write a piece of software (be it windows based or Android in a shell on a PC) that will make it all pretty simple on that part. Till then I will prob. just enjoy and appreciate the work of others.
GL, Slim!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I agree about the decompiling and recompiling thing. When I had a webOS phone I created my own theme just by simply replacing the images and restarting the phone. With android, it seems you have to take the whole framework out, theme it and recompile the package file and flash it to the phone. Just seems a bit overwhelming.
Sent from my MB870 using Tapatalk
It's not that bad if you are just changing the images... Just timely. I suggest gimp to do the work. Another tip, some of the images are indexed. In gimp change from indexed to rgb...back to indexed, then rgb. Reason being that you are now able to add any color and doing it twice clears the pixelation...
What gets hard is smali editing and .xml editing. Let me know if you need help there.
Tapin' the Talk on the xSquared
Send a PM to "KTT16" on the Motorola Photon Forums, he is a great themer, let him know what you need help with, tell him you are running stock on the X2, he'll ask you for whatever files he needs, and he will help out.
By the way, if you are at all interested in a signature image, I can create one for you, just PM me, and I'll get on it.
Peperm1nt said:
It's not that bad if you are just changing the images... Just timely. I suggest gimp to do the work. Another tip, some of the images are indexed. In gimp change from indexed to rgb...back to indexed, then rgb. Reason being that you are now able to add any color and doing it twice clears the pixelation...
What gets hard is smali editing and .xml editing. Let me know if you need help there.
Tapin' the Talk on the xSquared
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can batch process in PS.....and what is this bout clearing the pixelation...lol
Thanks I'll check it out
Dee Ex Two - See Em Seven
When you find a indexed image going to rgb pixelates the image...going back to indexed and then to rgb fixes this.
Tapin' the Talk on the xSquared
Peperm1nt said:
When you find a indexed image going to rgb pixelates the image...going back to indexed and then to rgb fixes this.
Tapin' the Talk on the xSquared
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was p playing with you, all my online gaming and forum names have always had pixel, pixelated, pixelation, pixelized or any variety of pixel
Edit: swyponese
Dee Ex Two - See Em Seven
I am trying this out for the 1st time. My main goal is to create a transparent status bar for CM7. Will this make that "patch" I need for this?
Kevin3328 said:
Js if u really look at the framework u will see all the images in the drawable hdpi folder are really a lot of the presses..tabs. status bar icons... over scroll glow theming takes a lot of time to build straight from scratch... any .9 PNG can be edited when it is decompiled in apk manager or apk multi tool just don't edit the black patch as peppermint said or u will not compile...
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i seem to be a complete idiot lol
im sitting here trying to use apk manager and have no clue how to go about it
i cant get it to friggin pull files, i have no clue what im doing tho lol
i been trying to find info on how to use it with the x2 but cant find jack that is actually useful.
time to go eat, clear my head, and get back to researching, im probably just missing something extremely easy i knoow, but hey, i havent had a working computer in years so yea, im kinda learning on the fly here, lol
Lol @ash
In apkm select the apk you want, then decompile... Make edits, recompile.
Tapin' the Talk on the xSquared
I have been theming apps on my phone to give them black backgrounds. The white backgrounds bother my eyes. I'm doing pretty well but I am having a big problem with the LGSettings.apk. I have decompiled the apk and edited the colors.xml, styles.xml and parts of the manifest that i thought might change the theme. I then recompile and run the settings app but I never see any changes. I am trying to figure out what I need to edit to achieve white text on a black background. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I don't have the apks in front of me, but you may need to theme more than that one. I think you'll need:
LGSettings (which you currently themed)
Possibly: LGSettingsAccessibility/LGSettingsProvider
These two may or may not have anything to theme in them, so you may need to decompile to take a look.
Ok. I'm getting there. The background item and textcolor item were lurking in the lge-res.apk. I am still having trouble finding a way to change the blue action bar color (1) and the color of the white section headers (2). Anybody know what these might be called and what apk I need to look in? Thanks a lot!
skyman88882002 said:
Ok. I'm getting there. The background item and textcolor item were lurking in the lge-res.apk. I am still having trouble finding a way to change the blue action bar color (1) and the color of the white section headers (2). Anybody know what these might be called and what apk I need to look in? Thanks a lot!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok. I found the action bar - I used 'Widget.Material.ActionBar.Solid' to hard code the background color. Now I just need somebody to help me find those white section headers. Anybody? Thanks so much!
Well after two hours of poking around the apks I finally figured it out. Pretty easy to make all the changes in lge-res.apk. pm me if interested in doing this kind of theming
skyman88882002 said:
Well after two hours of poking around the apks I finally figured it out. Pretty easy to make all the changes in lge-res.apk. pm me if interested in doing this kind of theming
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Awesome, great work!
I remember doing something similar when I was doing this to my Galaxy S3, trying to find the various apk's where Sammy had changed things. It was a great feeling to find and change things.
skyman88882002 said:
Well after two hours of poking around the apks I finally figured it out. Pretty easy to make all the changes in lge-res.apk. pm me if interested in doing this kind of theming
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HI THERE, I WAS WONDERING IF YOU CAN SHARE THOSE APS's, COUULD YOU MAKE IT POSSIBLE?
elmanolette said:
HI THERE, I WAS WONDERING IF YOU CAN SHARE THOSE APS's, COUULD YOU MAKE IT POSSIBLE?
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Hi. Please in the future don't use all capital letters. I know you didn't mean this in this case, but it's generally considered "shouting", and for longer strings it makes it harder to read. Thanks for understanding.
roirraW "edor" ehT said:
Hi. Please in the future don't use all capital letters. I know you didn't mean this in this case, but it's generally considered "shouting", and for longer strings it makes it harder to read. Thanks for understanding.
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sorry man, i'm understand!
I definitely intend to share my findings. However right now i am redoing the theming trying to push all the edits into LGsettings. Since I did the editing in the lge-res.apk it has a lot of unintended consequences on other parts of the system
subscribed.
i despise white backgrounds.
Brian
i cant find any color.xml in any stock apps?
skyman88882002 said:
I have been theming apps on my phone to give them black backgrounds. The white backgrounds bother my eyes. I'm doing pretty well but I am having a big problem with the LGSettings.apk. I have decompiled the apk and edited the colors.xml, styles.xml and parts of the manifest that i thought might change the theme. I then recompile and run the settings app but I never see any changes. I am trying to figure out what I need to edit to achieve white text on a black background. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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how do you theme? i can never find the color.xml file in any stock app?
Glitch15 said:
how do you theme? i can never find the color.xml file in any stock app?
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You need a deodexed ROM/apk file to decompile to find those resources.
RMarkwald said:
You need a deodexed ROM/apk file to decompile to find those resources.
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my Rom is deodex, can you pm me a step by step guide to get to the color.xml?
it would be nice if you can post a brief guide about theming it.. so people can have benefit.
knowledge is meant to share after all
minhas729 said:
it would be nice if you can post a brief guide about theming it.. so people can have benefit.
knowledge is meant to share after all
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Hey there! Good to see you on this thread Minhas729. I'm really sorry for the delay, I have just been slammed on the home front and haven't had time to play around with this stuff.
I'm still not happy with the theming I'm doing but I plan on posting my work in process files in the next 5 or 6 days.
In the meantime, let me share my knowledge (it isn't much!)
I think I am going to change the thread title to Theming for Dummies (Like Me) (anybody know how to change a thread title?). so step one will be in the next post.....
OVERVIEW
(Ok - so here is a quick overview of the theming process as I do it. Again, I am just a novice and I just stumble around so if I get the terms incorrect forgive me.
1) The first step in theming an apk is to decompile the apk. Unzipping the apk is not going to work. This is because there are special files like styles.xml and colors.xml that are hidden in a 'values' folder in the res directory. As far as I know, you cannot access these special files by simply unzipping the apk.
2) To decompile you need an apk tool - I use 'Tickle My Android' (I'm going to call it TMA going forward) - it has a great developer with excellent instructions. The way decompiling works is you first have to create a mini-work area on your computer. You do this by decompiling and installing the framework-res and lge-res apks from your phone to your computer. TMA needs these files to decompile other apps because most apps reference a bunch of things in the framework-res and lge-res files Installing TMA is pretty easy and the instructions on the thread are excellent. The only issue I had was finding a good version of apktool.jar to use in conjunction with TMA - one that worked well with marshmallow apks. The apktool is the actual tool that does all the work - TMA (in my understanding) is simply a very well designed user interface to use the apktool. So you need an apktool that will recognize marshmallow files and be able to decompile them. I use "apktool_2.1.0-a64a03-SNAPSHOT"" as my apktool.jar file.
3) Once an apk is decompiled, all the apk components will be saved in a 'working' folder. You can then go in and edit colors and and styles using an xml editor.
4) Once you have made your edits you use TMA to recompile and sign the apk. Then you move the file back to your phone, place it in the proper device directory, fix permissions, reboot and cross your fingers.
Ok - that is the overview - go off and start trying it. One suggestion - dont try to push files from the phone to the pc with TMA - just use your usb cable.
more to come...
skyman88882002 said:
I think I am going to change the thread title to Theming for Dummies (Like Me) (anybody know how to change a thread title?). so step one will be in the next post.....
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Edit your first post in a web browser. Choose Advanced mode and there'll be a field to edit the title.
Below are links to download the themed lge-res.apk and lgsettings.apk. MAKE A BACKUP FIRST (I'm not responsible for anything that goes wrong if you try these files). Once downloaded you will need to use a root browser to copy the files to the appropriate system directory and to change the permissions. Keep in mind, this is a work in process, if you enter settings and click on the bluetooth or wifi sections you will notice that the background is not themed yet. I'll repost when these are fixed.
lge-res.apk download link
LGSettings.apk download link
Keep in mind that you have to install both files if you want the full black background.
Ok. I think I worked out most of the bugs. The files are now set up in a flashable zip. Test it out and let me know if you see any issues. If it is working well I will start a new thread in the Themes section and work on the systemui as well. Thanks. Download link below:
download