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Sooooo basically I've never actually gotten all technical with the the theming on android. Nothing legit like you guys. But isn't it just a series of file replacements? Im an artist and have spent all my life drawing n such, and if someone would show me what to replace and how to safely do it I would give then whatever they need to release a flashable theme if anyone likes It. Im a very picky person. I like change on my phone baaddddd. If shown how; expect to see new themes like every other week if possible (depending on how difficult it is). Along with wallpapers that I usually spend hours trying to find.
Any takers?
Use search. I found some great links in this forum alone on theme creation.
Sent from my DROID X2 using xda premium
I'm new to theming, but for my theme, UOT Kitchen helped me out! The only downside is that you can't do status bar, boot animation, or lock screen. There's a thread for UOT Kitchen some where around this forum. But your right, just file replacements. Look under the systemUI.apk and framework-res drawable-hdpi files with 7zip (or something similar). You can edit the images without unzipping the file!
I started with a UOT Kitchen file and added/changed stuff in the file. If you can't find an image or need help with changing something, try asking the ROM creator, the would probably know where the stuff is in the ROM.
If you fail, try and try again! I epically failed my first time and SBF a couple times because I was an idiot. Then I asked some questions and got started the right way. But make sure you do a back up before you flash a new file. I learned the hard way. A file can look fine to the phone at first, then it deletes everything it should, and then starts to copy files over like normal until a part of the file is bad. Then you have to SBF or restore.
Backing up is easy, just go into recovery and go to advanced, then back up, and choose to put the back up file under internal or external SD card. I do external, just my preference.
Sent from my DROID X2 using XDA App
A lot of it is file replacement. However to change some of the colors such as text and the color of the volume indicator (those are the only ones that I can think of right now) will involve replacing the color hex values in XML files. In order to get the xml files in a readable/editable format you'll need to use apkmanager or apktool. Those are used to decompile the apk packages. You can then edit what you need to (including images) then re-compile the package. Search around in this themes forum for Navenedrobs post about android tools. He includes a download for apkmanager, apktool and some other necessary tools. I use apkmanager myself.
I also use 7zip for some small edits as mentioned in the last post but I prefer to decompile then edit. Apkmanager makes it easy to then optimize the images prior to recompile.
Oh another that required xml edits for colors is AOSP calendar. Not too many images in there but lots of colors are defined.
Here's a link to naven's android tools post.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1261198
Theming is time consuming... its not quite as easy as simple image replacement especially on stretchable images also known as 9 pngs ... also if u want to start creating your own images that too could get tricky as u will need to use a program like gimp or another photo editing program.. gimp is the best in my opinion... sometimes it is necessary to add layers when creating your own images.... Hedwig... do use draw 9 patch for your. 9 pngs.... if not how do u edit those... I use apk manager to decompile and recompile each apk.. just curious if u know of a better tool for editing the. 9 pngs .. neways the way I started theming is with 7 zip... I went in and changed the images regular pngs and then tested it out uot kitchen is a good start but u r limited as far as how much u can theme
Sent from my DROID X2 using XDA App
Kevin3328 said:
Hedwig... do use draw 9 patch for your. 9 pngs.... if not how do u edit those... I use apk manager to decompile and recompile each apk.. just curious if u know of a better tool for editing the. 9 pngs ..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you decompile the apk the 9.png images gain the one pixel border where the patch is drawn. I'm just careful not to edit any of the black pixels around the edges. When you re-compile the border is lost (values of those are stored). So, no, I don't use draw 9 patch at all. If you're making new images that you plan to compile into the apk the you can just draw the patches in gimp, photoshop, or whatever you use. Just remember to add a one pixel border all around to the size of your new image.
So, XGrinder911. Any of this discussion helping out or are we all just blah, blah, blah?
Well I was considering Adobe Illustrator? Might that program work to create images? And so I get this apk manager, it decompiles and whatnot then I edit the files. Recompiles and voila theme? I get using apk manager on like the calendar cause its an actuall app but what about things like the status bar n notification pull down? they are in serious need of a make over.
And I tried using the kitchen. Didn't work out for me. Got my loving boot loops. Even when replacing the framework res apk.
Ooohhhh! Is It that? That's the apk?
PS- Hedwig your my new best friend.
IDMA.DROID.X2 said:
I'm new to theming, but for my theme, UOT Kitchen helped me out! The only downside is that you can't do status bar, boot animation, or lock screen. There's a thread for UOT Kitchen some where around this forum. But your right, just file replacements. Look under the systemUI.apk and framework-res drawable-hdpi files with 7zip (or something similar). You can edit the images without unzipping the file!
I started with a UOT Kitchen file and added/changed stuff in the file. If you can't find an image or need help with changing something, try asking the ROM creator, the would probably know where the stuff is in the ROM.
If you fail, try and try again! I epically failed my first time and SBF a couple times because I was an idiot. Then I asked some questions and got started the right way. But make sure you do a back up before you flash a new file. I learned the hard way. A file can look fine to the phone at first, then it deletes everything it should, and then starts to copy files over like normal until a part of the file is bad. Then you have to SBF or restore.
Backing up is easy, just go into recovery and go to advanced, then back up, and choose to put the back up file under internal or external SD card. I do external, just my preference.
Sent from my DROID X2 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just want to say you DO NOT go to advanced for backup(nandroid)
You go to backup/restore
just clarifying
Good luck OP....hope to see some awesome theme soon....don't give up PLEASE! !!
ashclepdia said:
Just want to say you DO NOT go to advanced for backup(nandroid)
You go to backup/restore
just clarifying
Good luck OP....hope to see some awesome theme soon....don't give up PLEASE! !!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh yeah! Your right! Sorry about that!
Sent from my DROID X2 using XDA App
Wasn't trying to "get on your case"
just wanted to clarify
Haha didn't even notice it. I make a backup everydayyyy (flashaholic).
Question: is there anything I can do about those lil lines that separate lists like in messaging and settings? I hate them and we all know on this phone's screen they basically become invisible while scrolling anyway. Get them out of here.
DX2 Eclipse 1.3
I used UOT Kitchen to color. Not sure what file you would change to take them away. Ain't no shame in being a flashaholic! I bootlooped my phone on purpose when I for bored
Ash, no worries. Glad you clarified. Don't know what I was thinking with the advanced haha
Sent from my DROID X2 using XDA App
To "take them away" can't u just make em the same color as the menu
XGrinder911 said:
Haha didn't even notice it. I make a backup everydayyyy (flashaholic).
Question: is there anything I can do about those lil lines that separate lists like in messaging and settings? I hate them and we all know on this phone's screen they basically become invisible while scrolling anyway. Get them out of here.
DX2 Eclipse 1.3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The file is in framework-res.apk
framework-res.apk\res\drawable-hdpi\dark_header.9.png
Do what ashclepdia said and change the color in the bottom of that image to match the top. You'll see what I mean when you look at the image.
(Or light_header.9.png if you're working with a light framework.)
hedwig34 said:
The file is in framework-res.apk
framework-res.apk\res\drawable-hdpi\dark_header.9.png
Do what ashclepdia said and change the color in the bottom of that image to match the top. You'll see what I mean when you look at the image.
(Or light_header.9.png if you're working with a light framework.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What is this exactly? All I see is a long rectangle with a hint of blue at the bottom.
DX2 Eclipse 1.3
XGrinder911 said:
What is this exactly? All I see is a long rectangle with a hint of blue at the bottom.
DX2 Eclipse 1.3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That image is streatched across the width of the screen. Creating the menu item that has the blue line at the bottom.
Think of it as that image repeating over and over again side by side.
Sent from my DROID X2 using XDA App
hedwig34 said:
That image is streatched across the width of the screen. Creating the menu item that has the blue line at the bottom.
Think of it as that image repeating over and over again side by side.
Sent from my DROID X2 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wait so where exactly is this rectangle?
DX2 Eclipse 1.3
Its a vertical rectangle repeated over and over again to make a skinny little horizontal line?? Wow, that's deep.
DX2 Eclipse 1.3
I have a question too. How do you devs mod the build.prop? Is that mostly the difference between ROMs?
(Thought it would be better here instead if a new thread. Don't mean to thread jack)
Sent from my DROID X2 using XDA App
IDMA.DROID.X2 said:
I have a question too. How do you devs mod the build.prop? Is that mostly the difference between ROMs?
(Thought it would be better here instead if a new thread. Don't mean to thread jack)
Sent from my DROID X2 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No the differences between roms isn't mostly the build.prop
the build.prop can easily(usually) be modified using root explorer or similar.(I am having trouble editing the additions that kejar has made to build.prop tho. Never had this problem before. But its just the extra entries at bottom I can't change.
The biggest differences in roms come from the UI and system frameworks and scripts inside init.d
There are a few performance tweaks and edits u can make inside build.prop but ur.choices are kinda limited in what can be.done. even the line in eclipse build.prop that mentions raising the touch points recognized by the screen to 5 requires changes elsewhere in the "framework" to allow it to actually recognize that amount.
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
Is there anyway to hide the icons that come up when you have a MicroSD or the keyboard dock, I like to keep a nice tidy statusbar and having 2 icons there permanently kinda ruins that.
Nope
0 char
Evo_Shift said:
Nope
0 char
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only way I found is to turn off Notifications on the Stock ICS Quick Settings Panel. But that turns off ALL notifications. I guess it's not so much of a big deal really. I'll probably get used to it until someone finds out how to.
Someone could delete the icons for the notifications.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda premium
Yeah, decompile the systemui.apk, delete or change the .png files (guess if your just replacing, you don't have to decompile), recomplie .apk, push to phone via adb or copy/paste via Root explorer.
BUT then it is still savings space for those icons even if you make them empty png files no? That is, does the xml file look for the png and set a size for it like 50px x 75px so it would still hold a 50px space or does it not care about the image size so you could go to a 1x1 empty png?
Lock-N-Load said:
BUT then it is still savings space for those icons even if you make them empty png files no? That is, does the xml file look for the png and set a size for it like 50px x 75px so it would still hold a 50px space or does it not care about the image size so you could go to a 1x1 empty png?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
XML shouldn't consider size at all, just .PNG name. That being said, you could also remove reference from the applicable .XML file (have to find it first) and that should take care of it all together. At least in theory. I think????
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda premium
Is this something that is easier to achieve now that the unlocked bootloader is released or does that have no bearing on this mod?
sparkdroid said:
Is this something that is easier to achieve now that the unlocked bootloader is released or does that have no bearing on this mod?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure, just remember that if you unlock you will never receive another update or support OF ANY KIND from Asus.
Swiftks said:
XML shouldn't consider size at all, just .PNG name. That being said, you could also remove reference from the applicable .XML file (have to find it first) and that should take care of it all together. At least in theory. I think????
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thread bump! I'm interested in doing this, but don't really know where to start. Do you have a n00b guide you could link me to, to read up on decompiling apks, editing XML files, and identifying which I should be editing? Particularly, if I could edit the aforementioned XML file not only to not know the icons but possibly to not display the message and icons to begin with, I'd be thrilled. Next step would be figuring out how to make an app for that, although I'd imagine it would need root and would also be a whole new can of worms for me to open. =P
The dev for the Energy ROM Series has developed a way to swipe away these notifications and it will be implemented in the next update. Of course this requires you to be unlocked so you can flash it but trust me, once you unlock your Prime and start flashing roms you'll really see how the Prime SHOULD perform.
McJesus15 said:
The dev for the Energy ROM Series has developed a way to swipe away these notifications and it will be implemented in the next update. Of course this requires you to be unlocked so you can flash it but trust me, once you unlock your Prime and start flashing roms you'll really see how the Prime SHOULD perform.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you think it's possible to make a recovery zip install with just this feature?
https://www.google.com/url?q=http:/...ds-cse&usg=AFQjCNGU-j65V2jVVv1Osh-3xVMLVSV00A
Find the .PNGs that represent the notification instead of the system buttons
Kick4U said:
Do you think it's possible to make a recovery zip install with just this feature?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is, but then you'd have to deodex your ROM (because most of the code changes are in the framework wiles). At that point, you might as well install a custom ROM.
And guys... simply putting up blank PNGs won't do the trick. The notification will be even more ugly to look at, because it'll be an empty space that you can't get rid of.
The way I did it is modify the java code for a few system apps to make the notifications dismissible. More elegant that way and I still don't understand why Asus didn't do this to begin with !!
Solution for CROMI based roms!
I have written an aroma backup/installer for your SystemUI and Transformer files that are used in the CROMI rom by sbdags. The actual work of the mod goes to elesbb at http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2111142.
My installer will successfully backup files so you could test on any rom
Links to this installer is at:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2148811
hi all
i am trying for a long time and customizing my acro s. i have now come to the part where i want to change the icons in app drawer. ive read and googled alot but cant find any good solution.
is there no easier way to do this than pull the apps from the phone, changing the icon.png and push it back to phone? i dont want to use any launcher!!
do i have to decompile/compile.? or is enough just to open the .apk with 7z and change the .png
regards Drumc
and must still say, its much more easy to theme/custom a jailbroken iphone
drumcodex said:
hi all
i am trying for a long time and customizing my acro s. i have now come to the part where i want to change the icons in app drawer. ive read and googled alot but cant find any good solution.
is there no easier way to do this than pull the apps from the phone, changing the icon.png and push it back to phone? i dont want to use any launcher!!
do i have to decompile/compile.? or is enough just to open the .apk with 7z and change the .png
regards Drumc
and must still say, its much more easy to theme/custom a jailbroken iphone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you use custom ROM?
drumcodex said:
hi all
i am trying for a long time and customizing my acro s. i have now come to the part where i want to change the icons in app drawer. ive read and googled alot but cant find any good solution.
is there no easier way to do this than pull the apps from the phone, changing the icon.png and push it back to phone? i dont want to use any launcher!!
do i have to decompile/compile.? or is enough just to open the .apk with 7z and change the .png
regards Drumc
and must still say, its much more easy to theme/custom a jailbroken iphone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If your just swapping the images out you can just use 7z. Personally I like to decompile the apk, swap the images, sign, then recompile but that's just my own personal preference.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium
pongnamu said:
Do you use custom ROM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes i am using Pims Experience.
shimp208 said:
If your just swapping the images out you can just use 7z. Personally I like to decompile the apk, swap the images, sign, then recompile but that's just my own personal preference.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
damn thats a big work.. isnt it possible just to do it with root explore og something else? root explore opens the xxxx.apk and can view whats inside the drawable folder. or can i just view and not edit? btw what is the icon called? i read some places that the icon file is -ic_launcher_"appname" but youtube, trackid, browser etc, doesnt have this file..
drumcodex said:
yes i am using Pims Experience.
damn thats a big work.. isnt it possible just to do it with root explore og something else? root explore opens the xxxx.apk and can view whats inside the drawable folder. or can i just view and not edit? btw what is the icon called? i read some places that the icon file is -ic_launcher_"appname" but youtube, trackid, browser etc, doesnt have this file..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't use root explorer to swap the images it's risky to do that on the device (Can cause boot loops). The icons will be in the drawable-hdpi or simmilar named folder such as drawable-mdpi.
shimp208 said:
Don't use root explorer to swap the images it's risky to do that on the device (Can cause boot loops). The icons will be in the drawable-hdpi or simmilar named folder such as drawable-mdpi.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here´s what i did, and that did not work :crying: :
Pulled YouTube.apk from /system/app whit ADB. Opened the .apk with 7z and replaced the ic_logo_square (which is the only file i can find thats look like the icon). replaced the in all the drawable folders, with the right dimensions. 32x32 and 64x64. closed 7z
Pushed the YouTube.apk back to phone into /system/app
Pulled Conversations.apk and replaced the conv_application_launcher.png in drawable-xhdi. only folder where i could find something that looks like the icon. pushed Conversations.apk back to phone.
Rebooted the phone. and voila, nothing has changed at all!!! what went wrong? what else should i do?
ive have also read somewhere, that when changing icons, play-store will not show any updates. is that corect???
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!
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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