OK... so I'm running this Froyo Rom and I want to remove a couple of options from my/the settings menu (it's a bit cluttered for my tastes).
I think that I remember that there was just such a way to modify a rom so that it can show less settings options, but I don't seem to find it. If anyone can help on this front it would be really appreciated...
(In two words can I modify the "settings .apk" so that it shows less?)
Thanks for your attention.
Stevethegreat said:
OK... so I'm running this Froyo Rom and I want to remove a couple of options from my/the settings menu (it's a bit cluttered for my tastes).
I think that I remember that there was just such a way to modify a rom so that it can show less settings options, but I don't seem to find it. If anyone can help on this front it would be really appreciated...
(In two words can I modify the "settings .apk" so that it shows less?)
Thanks for your attention.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course you can, but you run a very real risk of breaking your rom, you would have to decompile the apk and poke around in the xml and smali files to find the option you wanted to remove. you would also probably have to make some adjustments in your framework.apk but like i said you run a very real risk of breaking the rom you are using.
shreddintyres said:
Of course you can, but you run a very real risk of breaking your rom, you would have to decompile the apk and poke around in the xml and smali files to find the option you wanted to remove. you would also probably have to make some adjustments in your framework.apk but like i said you run a very real risk of breaking the rom you are using.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I know, but I'm a total noob to those.
I did find this: http://forums.androidcentral.com/op...-how-edit-settings-apk-solved.html#post905109 but decompiling throws me an error.
Even when I put the framework-res file in the right directory apart from taking ages to decompile it still throws an error towards the end of the process (I've lost about a day trying to decomile the settings.apk but it was to no avail as -in the end- it threw an error again).
In fact that must be quite easy for someone with experience in this if I could post (to him) my settings.apk and framework.apk I may have had results in a few minutes (instead of having to learn sth from scracth in my limited time). But I guess it's a bit hard to find someone around here who would voluneer, no?
Anyhow thanks for your reply .
edit: OK I was able to clear out the errors. So I decompiled, made the appropiate changes and then recompiled (as per the instructions), but all I got was an apk half its original size which would FC whenever I was trying to run it (upon placing it on the system/app folder and rebooting).
What makes things even weirder is that merely the act of decompiling are recompiling (the apk) without making any changes at all rendered the -new- apk useless. So it seems recompiling in general ruins the apk -period- (no matter whether I've made changes or not). That is very troubling indeed... like I said I am a noob at these, any help at all would had been greatly appreciated...
When you placed it in the system/app folder, did you set permissions?
It is not as easy as decompiling the settings.apk picking out what you don't want and then recompiling it. Think of it as a web. The Settings.apk uses bits and pieces from Framework-res.apk, services.jar, androidpolicy.jar,...
We understand that you are a self-proclaimed noob, but you have to realize that it just isn't that simple to just delete something that you don't use. I mean, just because YOU don't use it, your ROM probably does. Are you always in the Settings page anyways? I doubt it.
It is good though that you took the initiative to somewhat learn how to de/recompile apks as that is a fantastic basis to start from. You can also learn smali and baksmali to modify apps as well.
Here is a good thread about theming and using APKtool to change things in an apk (such as /framework/framework-res.apk/res/drawable-hdpi where you can change the icons images for custom icons---but you can also do this by installingADWex or LPP and an icon pack).
Long story short, no need to change your settings.apk as it will bork your ROM and your next thread will be, "I think I bricked my phone...Halp!!!"
To clear some things up: I regard myself an enthusiast user. That is to say that I have considerable experience with modding my devices, what I am a "noob" at is actually creating or reverse engineering the code *which* mods my devices (I have little experience with C but that's about it). So do not be worried I am not going to brick my device and if I do I would know how to "debrick" it ( as I have done numerous times to my devices)...
With that out of the way I have to say that I want to modify my settings APk not for aesthetic but for practical purposes. See I have written a basic script on tasker that doesn't play well with froyos settings.aPk (but it does in ICS or GB), I've tried to rewrite the script but i found a dead end which was what lead me to wish to modify the settings APk....
All I wanna do is -basically- to hide some options not actually *delete* them (i am aware what havoc that may cause...). So if there is any advice relevant to my case I would welcome it very much...
Related
Okay, so i've been playing around with theming for 2 months and i've just about figured it all out, except for one thing.... the VZW banner on the lock screen for the D2 doesnt seem to give two ****s what i put in any of the keyguard .xmls that is supposed to control the layout and keeps on just being white...
im running fission 2.5.7 and i've tried everything that is supposed to do the lockscreen on the xml side (as far as i know) including the colors.xml in the values folder(more on this issue later)... so i started poking around .jar files in the framework but unfortunately i have little understanding still of .smali files because im still on the baby steps side of coding beyond the beginners html stuff i learned in the 6th grade ('99) and i could use some help/pointers toward i should be looking for.
i noticed mentions of wakelock (or something like it, its 2am and im mentally fried right now) in one of the smali files in a telephony folder in framework.jar but im just not sure if it is even close to the right thing because it may just be the phone doing something to the cdma radio on wakeup....
I'm open to try any suggestion you guys are willing to throw at me because finishing this project is important to me.
every guide i have been able to find so far just mentions line 7 and 8 of the .xmls in layout, if you find another idea besides that already posted send those too...
ALSO, when i edit colors.xml and then compile and push framework-res.apk to the phone i get 2 results depending on what i do
1) move the file that values folders gets turned into into the original framework-res.apk and get a boot look
2) use the newly compiled framework-res.apk (in whole) and lose the functionality of lockscreen selection app...
any idea on how to make this work would also be awesome
may end up having to work with the devs in the chatroom on this issue (im sure) but its also somethign i want to do so i can change the text colors of sound on/off (along with a couple other default text colors)
I would like to develop a new lockscreen for the my Vibrant. I've looked at some of the app versions. I like the concepts, but it seems like a lot of people complain about battery life and lag of the screen. I would like to make an actual lockscreen, not an overlay.
I am currently running Bionix 1.2.1. I would like to either add the lockscreen as an option on the menu provided in the Bionix Rom or flash the lockscreen in clockwork.
My first questions is, is this possible? Second question is how, or where is there somewhere i can look to get started?
I've looked around in the forums and I haven't seen any guides or any good info on this.
This would be my first jump into development for Android, but I'm willing to put in the time and effort as long as I can find a starting point in this area or get some help.
If this is built deep into the ROM and a difficult process I can find a different project, but I'm always up for a challenge. Any help would be appreciated.
MechDan said:
I would like to develop a new lockscreen for the my Vibrant. I've looked at some of the app versions. I like the concepts, but it seems like a lot of people complain about battery life and lag of the screen. I would like to make an actual lockscreen, not an overlay.
I am currently running Bionix 1.2.1. I would like to either add the lockscreen as an option on the menu provided in the Bionix Rom or flash the lockscreen in clockwork.
My first questions is, is this possible? Second question is how, or where is there somewhere i can look to get started?
I've looked around in the forums and I haven't seen any guides or any good info on this.
This would be my first jump into development for Android, but I'm willing to put in the time and effort as long as I can find a starting point in this area or get some help.
If this is built deep into the ROM and a difficult process I can find a different project, but I'm always up for a challenge. Any help would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's built-in quite deep, a lot of files need to be edited. Whitehawkx actually PMed me on how to do this the other day, and it sounds quite complicated.
You'll first obviously need to create your .png's to dictate the lockscreens appearance. Then you will have to have coding knowledge, along with knowledge of smali/baksmali and editing .xmls. Thats a VERY brief overview until someone more knowledgable jumps in.
I can do some programming. I've done C++ and I have done some visual basic for work. I just haven't done any Java. I think with all the information here and on Google's developers page I could work my way though it. I would just need a general guideline. I can edit the .png's. I don't think that would be much of a problem.
It might be easier if I could edit an existing one. I like the concept of the puzzle lock. I just think it is kind of hokey. It would also be nice to have a little be more info on the screen and to have emails show up.
Would you be willing to send me what Whitehawkx sent to you? I'm not sure if that is ok.
I don't mind researching my way through it and learning as I go, I was just hoping someone had done something similar.
MechDan said:
I can do some programming. I've done C++ and I have done some visual basic for work. I just haven't done any Java. I think with all the information here and on Google's developers page I could work my way though it. I would just need a general guideline. I can edit the .png's. I don't think that would be much of a problem.
It might be easier if I could edit an existing one. I like the concept of the puzzle lock. I just think it is kind of hokey. It would also be nice to have a little be more info on the screen and to have emails show up.
Would you be willing to send me what Whitehawkx sent to you? I'm not sure if that is ok.
I don't mind researching my way through it and learning as I go, I was just hoping someone had done something similar.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
modifying would be the way to go... and unfortunately it has nothing to do with java coding, but dalvik bytecode (which is a major pain... untermensch & whitehawk are heroes with that bytecode).
Anyways, I believe it's in services.jar. You'd have to pull out classes.dex from it and decompile. check this post on how to decompile. and you're going to need the smali & baksmali jars...
anyways after you decompile you're stuck with lots of .smali files which contains the bytecode you would need to modify... it's really difficult to understand it heh
Whitehawkx said:
So you are using the other four lockscreens but want to get the rotary to work as well and are looking for what files are necessary for that to happen, correct?
The files I changed to get the rotary working on KB1 are as follows
Framework-res.apk
~public.xml
~strings.xml [I think one change here]
~Images are already in stock frameworks and already in place
android.policy.jar
~New smali used for rotary. All have "rotary" in their title
~changes to LockPatternKeyGuardView.smali
Settings.apk
~Changes to DisplaySettings.smali
~Changes to arrays.xml
I believe these are all the files I had to modify to get the rotary working.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
heres what he said when i inquired. unfortunately he didnt go into much detail, i did send him another PM....but keep in mind these are the steps to simply inject an outside lockscreen into your current ROM, not necessarily how to build one from scratch
hopefully these steps may still give you an idea of where everything is located
I always wanted one that opens from the middle of the screen like a matinee curtain. That would be awesome.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Thanks guys! I'll start working with that and see what I can come up with. It looks like I have a lot to learn about it.
I'll try working through it and hopefully I will come up with some more specific questions that may be easier to answer.
Also, if you think of something that may help, let me know. I would appreciate it very much.
With the starting points already given i would build the lockscreen using aosp then port it to your rom. Once compiled you can decompile then different it
Sent from my Incredible using Tapatalk
HI guys
I seem to try a lot of roms but would like an easy optioin to go back to my preferred layout. I dont want to use a backup program as I am also learning rom cooking.
OK so what I want to do is take overcome, pack adwlauncher into it AND modify its settings (add icon theme, move front screen icons, add some widgets to the homescreen etc)
I Have been experimenting and not having much luck.
First thing i did was edit the build.prop and modify the density to my liking. Works fine.
I deleted launcher.apk from and added adwlauncher.apk to /system/app.
It boots but no launcher , I assumed it would come up with the default "select program for this action" in first book allowing me to set adwlauncher, but it does not.
So useless to me, no launcher.
How do i do this?
I also assume that there is a better place to put adw so as to allow for updating? Where are market programs stored?
ALSO
How do I change adw's settings to my liking and pre package them?
I assume I can just setup adw how I like, take the config files off my galaxy AND package them into the overcome zip somewhere. Where might they be and where might I need to put them to.
Oh one other thing, adwthemes. These come from market I'm assuming as an apk. If I just add the apk to appropriate place is that enough for adw to see them so that once my config is in place the correct icons will be used.
Thanks very much for any help guys and excuse me if these answers are easy to find, I didnt have much luck with my search terms.
Hopefully one day I will be talented enough to build my own overcome. lol
Oh, for those who dont know, overcome is a rom for our galaxy tabs, forget the references I'm after generic help
I'm not sure, but I believe that putting apps in the /system/app folder makes it more difficult to update them.
I would create a folder called 'data' in your ZIP, with the APK in it. Not sure though, never tested it Perhaps you'll have to modify the update-script too, to make it work, but hey, that's the fun of cooking
I thought so, because that is a protected system folder..
Anyway I half figured this one out. I need to push /data/com.ADWFOLDER with an update script. Re the settings. Unfortunately, I have been told this is impossible..
Can anyone elaborate?
You could possibly try renaming it launcher.apk..
I would like to edit the "Android unlock" lockscreen that is included with Project-V, I have found the smali file (LockScreen.smali in android.policy.jar) that I believe contains the code for elements I want to remove, but I have zero java coding experience.
I want to remove the next alarm and battery charging notifications that show below the clock on the AOSP lockscreen.
Can anyone help? Or point me to some resources/guides for learning the language?
No expert here or anything but I would think that would be a smali file somewhere in android.policy.jar and not xml.
Sent from my GT-I9000
jneal9 said:
No expert here or anything but I would think that would be a smali file somewhere in android.policy.jar and not xml.
Sent from my GT-I9000
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya, I have started looking in there, but so far I'm not finding anything
Yeah smali is pretty low level java and tough to understand. Maybe try and PM Romanbb. He seems be very good with java.
Have you had any luck with this? I want to do pretty much the same thing, except I want to keep the alarm details. I know a bit about Java but lockscreen.smali just gives me a headache..
Ticklefish said:
Have you had any luck with this? I want to do pretty much the same thing, except I want to keep the alarm details. I know a bit about Java but lockscreen.smali just gives me a headache..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here's what Roman said:
"Removing them via smali will be a huge pain. They are defined an XML layout file in framework-res.apk, you could try and modify them to shove them off the screen, or make the dimensions small enough to where it's not visible. Don't try and remove it from the XML file though, it'll throw smali errors."
WidgetLocker is fulfilling my needs.
Ah, well..I suppose it depends on how much of a stubborn nerd you are.
I've tried WidgetLocker and it does seem to be a decent app, but it's not for me. I started out wanting to modify the stock lockscreen and, dammit, I'm going to do it. I've done some fiddling with the smali code and I've got a pretty good idea what to do, I just need some free time in which to do it.
Free time? Around Christmas? Nah..
Thanks for your tip about removing them from the layout files. This was the first thing I tried and I ended up with all sorts of errors once I'd pushed the framework back to the phone.
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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