These are just notes for myself, also to share to others what I've learned. I'll bring updates when I learn more. This can work if you want to port things.
YOU WILL ALSO NEED TO HAVE SOME KNOWLEDGE OF APKS OR THEMING!
Please also credit me if you used some of the things such as inverting the settings apk!
This thread will have different posts containing guides and extra links. It's too much to fit it under this post and will be confusing. Gimme time and yeah.
Just remember, the key to this is Layers. What is layers you ask? Well lollipop contains some internal code in which uses overlays. These are apks in which are used in phones, and many themes have used in lollipop. They are who made theming possible. They made everything 100% easier. Well, you can find layers on xda. Look in the s4 section and you'll see a few. In those layers apks, they tell you everything you need or what to change or even cherry pick. They contain changes that others how made, so even you can use. To sum this up, overlays that you can decompile and learn and see what you need to change in your apk to replicate it.
So, we all know touchwiz is the same on each device. This should work on many touchwiz devices running 5.0 and also a solution to your problems. I'm not an expert since I'm still in middle school but I have learned alot. There may be errors, you need to figure that out.
Let's get started
Tools you need
--------------------------
-Apk tool for touchwiz lollipop
-Notepad++
- A brain
- paint.net or anything like that
-Flashable zip so you can flash
-your systemui.apk or secsettings apk
Below will be links and a separate guide for each apk.
Credits:
-reggie cheeks for teaching me lots of things when kitkat was out.
-layers team/creators for making things a lot easy.
-ykkfive for expert knowledge on layouts xml. (Just a Boss at modding ?)
-names I forget
-DUHA
Links
---------------------------------------
Apk tool I use: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=58139464 Simply drag your apks to in folder and decompile with program. You start editing stuff in the out folder.
---------------------------------------
FLASHABLE ZIP
Simply just use the advanced apk tool, decompile the apk, recompile with your changes, then add the apk in the zip flashable in the folder. There will be two folders, one framework and one systemui..
Heres the zip download that someone made and I just added the sub folders:https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=95916177934546640
That will make things easyier in lollipop
------------------------------------------------
COLOR CODES
When you need to change something likes #ff0000000 or somesort. This website should help you find the right colors. Make sure you LOWERCASE the letters. https://closedxml.codeplex.com/wikipage?title=Excel Indexed Colors
-DUHA
How to theme systemui apk
---------------------------------------
Now all credits go to this dude. I'll just link the thread since I don't want to copy any of his work. Everything you need is there [emoji14]
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=59725314
Usefull link to understand Material Design
https://developer.xamarin.com/guides/android/user_interface/material_theme/
-DUHA
How to theme settings.apk
-------------------------------------------
Took me weeks to figure out until I found layers.. *facepalm*. Simply decompile your secsettings apk and follow along!
DUHAsianSKILLZ said:
In res/values go into colors.xml and change the text below to what ever you want. If you want black settings then I already filled those in
#ff000000
#ff000000
#ff269dcc
#ff52afce
#ff000000
#ff000000
Now in styles.xml
search for
or
(Depends on device)
and change it to
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RECOMPILE ERROR in theme.material?!?!?! HERES AN ALTERNATIVE! FOLLOW THIS IF YOU HAVE ERRORS Like " cant find theme.material"
then find
and change to
so...... that should fix it. Just leave alone and that should fix it.
END OF ALTERNATIVE
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Back onto original instructions....
Now under that add or change (depends per device)
#ff99a9af
#ff0a0a0a
#ffffffff
#ff99a9af
#ffffffff
#ff99a9af
search for
style name="SettingsTheme.Panel" parent= @ANDROID:style/Theme.DeviceDefault.Light.Panel" />
and replace it with
Search for (just scroll up a bit)
and replace with
Now under that you will see @style/ActionbarIconDisable
Now add
#ff000000
Right under @style/ActionbarIconDisable
This is for black settings. I might be forgetting somethings but it should lead you somewhere. There may be some extra things I added by mistake. Hopefully it works fine for you, since I had to figure it out for my Tab S
EDIT: Just updated my post to include alternative incase of errors. Hopefully this leads you somewhere
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Theming Settings APK Version 2.0
Now this is a revised version of theming settings apk. In styles xml changing a few things to Theme.Material inverts the whole apk to black. This was introduced in material design by default in which is prethemed. Android M allows you to change between light and dark instead of decompiling now lol.
Now to theme each aspect of the part of the apk to a certain color (like background=black and the Tabs to a blue color etc each element basically) is what I am trying to acheive here instead of usiing what google has already done. This is called custom theme in material design.
Ok
Under
and/ or
you can add these right under it (to both settings theme and theme.settings)
#ff333333
#ff333333
#ff3366ff
#ff0a0a0a @ANDROID:color/black
#ffffffff
#ffffffff
Now your wondering.. what does this do? Well this tells what color to be what in the settings apk! Ok so heres what each one means.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
You can change the color code to what ever you want. Right now i am trying to figure out which is the text color and such since theres still alot more to go.
Now your probably wondering what color do i use for @ANDROID:color/black
That is the background color of the settings apk. It doesnt use hex color so you have to make a custom color in colors.xml since it reads the color in color.xml. By default, you can use black, cyan, yellow,red , white , blue. Say you want the background to be white. It will look like this @ANDROID:color/white
see just change the to the color name you want in the default list.
BUT WAIT! I WANT TO USE MY OWN CUSTOM COLOR THATS NOT ON THE LIST! Well if you want you to use your own custom color just put in the color you want in colors xml. Please NOTE THIS MAY NOT BE WORKING ATM!
For example in colors.xml add (you can use this in your to)
#3498DB
#77D065
#B455B6
#ffffffff
Change the name to whatever color yours is like my_orange etc. Then input your color code in your custom color. Then now save your color.xml
Now go back to @ANDROID:color/black
and change it to the color you named your color.
@ANDROID:color/my_orange
QUICK NOTE!
<item name="android:colorAccent">#ff800000</item>
That is the color of the battery graph, swiftches and a few more.
-----
res/layout/battery_history_chart.xml
Changes Battery Graph Text
-DUHA
How to port themes (systemui only)
---------------------------------
I have ported many Note 4 and also S4 themes. It's as simple of copy and paste.
Now, download any lollipop theme from the Note 4 or S4 themes and apps section. It must be a themed systemui.apk.
Now right click on the apk you downloaded and open with winrar or 7zip. Now go into res -> drawable-sw800dp-xhdpi or something like that. Somtimes it may look like drawable-sw600dp-xhdpi or something. Find the folder that has something like drawble-sw ....... something. Each device is different soo yeah. Now inside the drawable-sw (something) folder look for pictures named something like tw_quick_panel_ bla bla bla. Highlight all those tw_quick_panel pngs and drag them into (decompiled systemui from your device) your drawble-sw (something) folder. DO NOT COPY THE .9pngs. You will face errors.
Now after copying and pasting those pictures, its time to modify the colors.xml to match the colors of the systemui. Simply just follow this guide http://forum.xda-developers.com/gal...ow-to-theme-tw-systemui-t3065965/post59725314 and change the color codes to whatever the color the theme your trying to port. Then hit save and recompile. Done!
-DUHA
Using layers to full advantage and to help you!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alright alright, we know that layers is really helpful. This thread is an example of one http://forum.xda-developers.com/gal...ers-overlay-rro-dark-settings-5-0-tw-t3073939. You can use that, but ask for permission first! Once you got permission to modify or use theme simply, download one and extract the apk to your apk tool. Now just decompile and yeah. After its decompiled, when you go in res folder, then vaules folder, you will see a few xmls like styles.xml and colors.xml. Those are the changes that are made/overlay changes in which you can use! They tell you exactly where to put what and what has changed to get those colors/ theme.
So so, now go into your decompiled apk (secsettings or systemui from your device) and compare the stuff in your values folder. Lets say you wanted to have a black themed settings you downloaded a black layers/overlay theme with permission. And you want you want to make your settings apk from your device themed black also useing that overlay. So in colors.xml of your settings apk from your device, fill in the stuff/change the color code to match the layers settings apk. MAtch those colors! Now in the styles.xml, all you need to do is find the same things and add stuff or change things like theme.light to theme.material. What Im saying is to try and see if you can match eachother and add things in order to get it themed. Those layers contain whats modded, so all you need to do is fill in the blanks/change yours slightly to match and get it themed.
Heres and example on what im talking about. Lets say your styles.xml has something like this below settings.base <item name="android:colorBackground">#ff181818</item>. and the layers apk has something like <item name="android:colorBackground">#ff000000</item>. So all you would need to do is change the #ff stuff in your settings apk to what ever the themed layers apk has. Somethings you may need to copy and add another line of text below it if your settings apk doesnt have what the layers apk has. Again fill in the blanks, compare eachother, and add them (school taught me this).
Hopefully you get what I mean
-DUHA
Notes to myself
Settings apk
Background of settings apk is <style name="SettingsTheme" parent="@android:style/Theme.DeviceDefault.Light">
Change to Theme.Material For Darker color.
ActionBar/ Right below status bar color of settings apk
FInd
in values/styles.xml
<style name="Theme.Settings" parent="@style/Theme.SettingsBase">
now add this below it (color code can be waht ever)
<item name="android:colorPrimary">#ff687074</item>
<item name="android:colorPrimaryDark">#ff687074</item>
Now do the same thing for
<style name="SettingsTheme" parent="@android:style/Theme.DeviceDefault.Light">
<style name="TabTheme" parent="@android:style/Theme.DeviceDefault.Light">
DEMATERILIZE and Get Lollipop Settings Apk to look Holo aka Kitkat
Find or something similrar
<style name="SettingsTheme" parent="@android:style/Theme.DeviceDefault.Light">
Replace With
<style name="SettingsTheme" parent="@android:style/Theme.Holo">
Find
<style name="GridTabTheme" parent="@android:style/Theme.Somethingidk" />
<style name="TabTheme" parent="@android:style/Theme.Somethingidk">
Replace with
<style name="GridTabTheme" parent="@android:style/Theme.Holo" />
<style name="TabTheme" parent="@android:style/Theme.Holo">
You may need to change the text color for popup/dialogs but hopefully this should do it if i remember correctly.
SYSTEMUI
SystemUI Brightness slider Tablets
Slider for both auto and off brightness
<color name="tw_progress_color_control_activated_thumb">#ffffffff</color>
<color name="tw_progress_color_control_activated">#ffffffff</color>
<color name="tw_progress_color_control_disabled">#ffffffff</color>
Slider background
<color name="tw_progress_color_control_normal">#ff6c7174</color>
SYSTEMUI HOLO Volume and swtich on Lollipop
FInd
<style name="systemui_theme" parent="@android:style/Theme.DeviceDefault">
and change to
<style name="systemui_theme" parent="@android:style/Theme.Holo">
Nice thanks you. ..
Sent from my SM-T310 using XDA Free mobile app
Nice Thanks for your Work [emoji6] [emoji6]
Hi @DUHAsianSKILLZ,
if I ask you to theme Note 8's systemUI, you would probably going to say "NO", but asking won't hurt
jazzespresso said:
Hi @DUHAsianSKILLZ,
if I ask you to theme Note 8's systemUI, you would probably going to say "NO", but asking won't hurt
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it lollipop or kitkat? I've been busy with projects in school ? I've got 4 projects due by the end of this month ? I usually don't say no to things but I may say "wait".
Sent from my SM-T800 using Tapatalk
KitKat 4.4.2 , no rush i will wait
In SecSettings there are sometimes two lines of text. A main line and a secondary smaller line with descriptions usually. How to change the color of the text in those lines is what I am trying to do. Any ideas please?
bobfrantic said:
In SecSettings there are sometimes two lines of text. A main line and a secondary smaller line with descriptions usually. How to change the color of the text in those lines is what I am trying to do. Any ideas please?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have no idea. Some of the text for me just magicly turned white. The only thing I can suggest is looking over an layers settings apk that has what you want. That's how I learned how to invert secsettings.
Sent from my SM-T800 using Tapatalk
jazzespresso said:
KitKat 4.4.2 , no rush i will wait
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Been a while since I was on Kitkat. I have no idea what to theme what anymore. I've been on lollipop to much in which I forgot. Sorry.
Sent from my SM-T800 using Tapatalk
DUHAsianSKILLZ said:
I have no idea. Some of the text for me just magicly turned white. The only thing I can suggest is looking over an layers settings apk that has what you want. That's how I learned how to invert secsettings.
Sent from my SM-T800 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Found it. framework-res go to res/colors/primary and secondary text dark xmls
Galaxy Tab S 8.4 Lollipop update demonstration: https://youtu.be/8Hw9QLOEgOM
DUHAsianSKILLZ said:
How to theme settings.apk
-------------------------------------------
Took me weeks to figure out until I found layers.. *facepalm*. Simply decompile your secsettings apk and follow along!
-DUHA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think i may have found a reason for some of the recompile errors people may be having,
in the section here
search for
style name="SettingsTheme.Panel" parent="@android:style/Theme.DeviceDefault.Light.Panel" />
you are missing the first < so when people are copying and searching it highlights that exact text ( if using notepad++ like me ) so when you then copy and paste the text to replace it you are ending up with a line like ( <<style name="SettingsTheme.Panel" parent="@android:style/Theme.DeviceDefault.Light.Panel" /> ) and due to the double << this will cause compile errors, i had this same issue until i looked through all changes carefully and my notepad++ had highlighted the error text
Hope this help
BongOfWar
---------- Post added at 04:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:26 PM ----------
this is my theme im working for my custom rom, with help of your guide, tyvm
BongOfWar said:
I think i may have found a reason for some of the recompile errors people may be having,
in the section here
search for
style name="SettingsTheme.Panel" parent="@android:style/Theme.DeviceDefault.Light.Panel" />
you are missing the first < so when people are copying and searching it highlights that exact text ( if using notepad++ like me ) so when you then copy and paste the text to replace it you are ending up with a line like ( <<style name="SettingsTheme.Panel" parent="@android:style/Theme.DeviceDefault.Light.Panel" /> ) and due to the double << this will cause compile errors, i had this same issue until i looked through all changes carefully and my notepad++ had highlighted the error text
Hope this help
BongOfWar
---------- Post added at 04:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:26 PM ----------
this is my theme im working for my custom rom, with help of your guide, tyvm
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your pictures don't load. But thanks for the tip!
Sent from my SM-T800 using Tapatalk
DUHAsianSKILLZ said:
Your pictures don't load. But thanks for the tip!
Sent from my SM-T800 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hopefully they will show this time bud
Related
Hello all, I would like to ask a question on dialer streakdroid 1.9. are
managed to make my Contacts.apk transparent by simply adding
theme.wallpaper styles.xml in the background of my dialer but continues to be increasingly
gray. how can I do to make it transparent?. thanks
custom dialer background
Ive been searching everywhere building and testing contacts.apk, Can someone with some more code knowledge have a peek at this please?
Ive dug through all the .xml's, the Manifest .xml, the .smali (even though I dont understand very much at all), there are only a few .png's the rest are .9.png, so Im sure the grey comes from code. in colors .xml there are a couple which match this dark gray perfectly, I changed those to black as well as styles Theme to Theme.Black, and Theme.Wallpaper(which will change the other 3 backgrounds but not dialer), ive tried changing background only in styles, no luck.
I saw on Dell website where it says Streak has Customized Dialer, which obviously we know, but I think ours is a unique situation
chrisrotolo said:
Ive been searching everywhere building and testing contacts.apk, Can someone with some more code knowledge have a peek at this please?
Ive dug through all the .xml's, the Manifest .xml, the .smali (even though I dont understand very much at all), there are only a few .png's the rest are .9.png, so Im sure the grey comes from code. in colors .xml there are a couple which match this dark gray perfectly, I changed those to black as well as styles Theme to Theme.Black, and Theme.Wallpaper(which will change the other 3 backgrounds but not dialer), ive tried changing background only in styles, no luck.
I saw on Dell website where it says Streak has Customized Dialer, which obviously we know, but I think ours is a unique situation
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"Customized" is not a word I'd choose to use when describing the horrible dialer. Hope someday we can improve it. I really think the dialer is the worst part of the UI.
if I find it I will gladly make a guide to theme it.
I may even send Dell developer an Email... oh yeah too late not supported..
chrisrotolo said:
if I find it I will gladly make a guide to theme it.
I may even send Dell developer an Email... oh yeah too late not supported..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
I think the EOL is only USA. But I don't think the dell dev team cares too much about us
Brainstorming: Reference for anyone else trying to find this..
the dialer background is not a .png, most images are .9's I pretty sure the background is not a .9.png. There is only one .png close to the color and Ive already tried changing that one.
It could be a color in color.xml, they could have coded it as android:color, but if they did that it would likely be a solid color such as black or transparent, and would have to rely on framework-res. More than likely they would have made their own color in colors.xml, since there is only a dozen or so, at least 2 of which are almost identical greys, I have tried changing these colors to black with no luck.
Ive tried changing almost every .xml refernce I could find to a drawable window/background, etc. to android:color"black" , Theme.Black or 000000,
It could be in .smali, Is where I will dig next, I have tried checking a few of the codes I found in there, they seem to be based on a deep purple?
this is just reference use to help others who may search, wish me luck!!
spelling error found DialtactsActivity.smali line 205 says: const-string v3, "Dailtacts" ,yeah wonder if this why dialtacts theme doesnt theme completly.
some progress!
I fixed the spelling mistake in DialtactsActivity.smali, though i dont /think/ this is what we see. I did change call_background.xml and secondary_call background.xml all parameters to android:color/black, I will keep experimenting, funny how in vertical only the right side of keypad is black,
Once we find the right string , we should then be able to create a custom style instead of just a solid color and use a custom background.png
edit: FOUND IT!, cant post screenie, out right now, should release something later and info. Sit tight everyone.
found it
right where its "should" be, contacts\res\layout-long-finger and res\layout-long-land-finger. the first is portrait, second is landscape. the file for both is twelve_key_dialer.xml. The first line:
LinearLayout androidrientation="vertical" android:id="@id/top" android:background="#ff000000"
just change the android:background="ffRRGGBB" to whatever 6 digit RGB/hex value you desire.
working on this now to call out a custom.png will likely get scaled like cr4p, but will give it a go.
If you dont have any .9.png errors decompiling, then you can recompile and flash it straight away.
If you use my phone&contacts theme, it wont compile because some of my .9.pngs must not be patched. So use stock to change, then after compiling extract the new .apk. If youre using my theme or whatever, then change my contacts.apk to contacts.zip, open my contacts.zip as an archive with 7zip, copy the 2 twelve_key_dialer.xml's, and close. Then in your stock framework where you changed the .xml's go to resources.arsc and right click use 7zip to add to archive... browse and select your contacts.zip with new .xml's. Its important that archive method is .zip and compression must be set to store. make sure update mode is: add and replace files. Then rename back to contacts.apk and place in your update.zip and flash!
I plan on making a guide and probably a stock framework with a custom.png for everyone to use.
An Introductory Guide To Theming Miui
Much like CM7’s theme chooser, Miui has it’s own powerful theme engine. If you’ve ever wanted to create your own theme or have a theme that you like, but want to make some personalized changes; then this guide’s for you. This guide is intended as a supplement to Team D3rp’s thread; [Guide][Reference] An Intro to Themeing. Please keep all questions, comments, and suggestions in this thread Miui related also feel free to hit us up at #miuithemes on the IRC. General theme questions, image editing questions, xml editing questions, or anything of that nature should be asked in the afore mentioned thread. Before we begin it’s necessary to thank scott951 and bigrushdog for there past, present, and future work on this rom. In addition, thanks to toastcfh & Cayniarb for they’re work on the AOSP kernel, to bliind for his ongoing IRC support, tips & tricks, and lastly thank you to Team D3rp (il Duce, ranger61878, thoughtlesskyle, vanessaem, dkdude36, jdeloach, and pstevep), all the old HeroC guys, the many talented themers, and everyone else on XDA and IRC who continue to advance my knowledge of the Android Operating System.
To begin your adventure into the world of Miui theming you will need some tools, listed below:
7zip or similar archiving program
Notepad ++ or similar text editor
gimp or another image editor of your liking
Root Explorer (or your prefered file manager with root access)
Patience, patience, patience
Time, time, time
A willingness to bork your theme over and over again until you’re satisfied with how it looks
Recommended knowledge of adb and/or Android Commander- not required but may save you the time of having to restore a nand.
Table Of Contents: for your convenience in finding specific areas of help.
Lesson 1: File Structure
Lesson 2: Beginning Your Theme
Lesson 3: Lockscreens
Lesson 4: Changing Icons
Lesson 5: SystemUI
Lesson 1-File Structure
Before you can actually theme anything, you need to learn and understand the basic file structure used by Miui. Themes are compressed into zip files with a .mtz extension and are applied by the Miui theme engine at “run time”, meaning you can change almost any aspect of your theme on the fly, without a reboot. Download my intro.mtzfor use along with this guide. This is the default Miui theme with a simple lockscreen included that you will have to edit (It works but you will have to edit it per my instructions for it to look good), and a generic android boot animation / boot audio file. If you currently have a theme that you are generally happy with and would prefer to edit that more to your liking, you may do so by opening the Miui theme engine, select customize, scroll down to the bottom of the page and select “Backup Theme” After the backup finishes running, navigate to /sdcard/Miui/theme/backup and move the “backup.mtz” to your computer. Now let’s extract our .mtz and have a look at what’s inside. Right click on the intro.mtz, select 7zip from the popup window, and then select extract. Now navigate to the extracted intro.mtz folder and have a look inside. You should see the following:
“boots” folder
“preview” folder
“ringtones” folder
“wallpaper” folder
“com.android.launcher” zip file
“description” xml file
“icons” zip file
“lockscreen” zip file
The folders can be opened as any normal non-compressed document folder, the zip files (although their extensions are nonconventional can be extracted with 7zip, and the xml file can be edited with notepad ++.
Lesson 2 – Beginning Your Theme
Decide what you want your theme to be called and create a new folder for it somewhere that’s easily accessible.
Open up the description xml with notepad ++ and edit it to reflect your theme name on this line: <title>Default</title> (Change default to the name of your theme), edit this line: <author>MIUI</author> (Change MIUI to your name), and edit this line: <version>1.0</version> (from 1.0 to whatever version # you would like to call your theme). Save your changes and move the document to your newly created theme folder.
Now, if you so desire, in your theme folder create a sub-folder entitled “boots”. Place any boot animation & boot audio files in there that you would like to use, and make sure they are named correctly (bootanimation.zip & bootaudio.mp3).
Create a “preview” sub-folder next. This is where you’ll put screenies of your theme as you continue to develop it. Make a note of the file names and sizes in our original preview folder, also if you look you’ll see that some of the photo’s are jpegs and some are pngs. I’m not sure as though it matters, but I’ve developed a habit of keeping the extensions the same.
Now you can create an optional “ringtones” subfolder and assign rintones, notifications, and alarm sounds, by default when applying your theme. Use any mp3 you like so long as the files are named alarm.mp3, notification.mp3, and ringtone.mp3.
Create a “wallpaper” sub-folder within your theme folder next. This will be the home of your theme’s default wallpapers. Again look back at the intro.mtz and notice the size of the wallpapers in that folder and the file names. When you put your jpegs in this folder make sure they are named exactly default_lock_wallpaper & default_wallpaper.
Congratulations, you’re now on your way to making your own custom theme. Now that we have the simplest things covered and out of the way, we can really start to dig in and do some theming!
Lesson 3 – Lockscreens
Skipping over icons for a moment, lets jump to the lockscreen. As you know by now our Evo 3D’s QHD displays don’t play nice with a lot of lockscreens. So lets have a look at what we can do to fix some lockscreens. Please keep in mind that depending on which lockscreen you want to use they will require varying degrees of changes to work properly. The lockscreen I included with the intro.mtz functions, but looks terrible so now we’re going to fix it.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Extract the “lockscreen” file that you downloaded. Inside you’ll see an advance folder.
Open the advance folder. This is where the lockscreen magic happens. In this folder are all of the lockscreen png’s and the manifest.xml
Let’s start with the png’s.
-Resize bg to 540X854
-Resize bottom to 540X178
-Resize bottom_batterylow to 540X178
-Resize bottom_batterylow_light to 540X240
-Resize charging_bg to 540X178
-Resize charging_bg_mask to 540X178
-Resize status_bar to 540X40
-Resize time_bg to 540X107
Feel free at this time to edit and/or replace any of the png’s in here, as you see fit, but be sure to keep the icon names correct and watch out for the .9png’s (there are none in this lockscreen, but if you’re using a different one beware).
Now that the png’s have been fixed let’s have a look at the manifest.xml, shall we? Our images are all the proper size, but if we loaded the lockscreen now the icons and text would all be shifted to the left of the screen. In addition to making positional adjustments in this file we can change font sizes, font colors, time & date format, even which apps the lockscreen will launch. Go ahead and open that xml file now with notepad ++.
Find the two lines that begin with <DateTime. On these lines you can change the x & y locations to get the proper spacing from the edge of the screen. (x is the horizontal plane, y is vertical x0,y0 being the top left corner of the screen). You can change the text color (#FFFFFFFF) to whatever you like, the font size (size="22"), and the date format (format="EEEE, MMM d")
Now, work your way down through the xml file making any adjustments you want to make to text sizes, colors, and the necessary x shifts to get your lock screen lined up and centered. If by chance you get stumped, compare your manifest.xml with my manifest_edited.xml.
*hint, I usually use a pencil and paper to draw out the screen, then calculate how big of a left margin I want, add the image widths, to figure how big of a change to make. For example x20 + 480 png width=500 (leaving a margin of 40 on the right). Now if I change to x30 + 480 png width = 510 (leaving me a margin of 30 on both sides).
Once you’re done editing the .xml save it (keeping the original of course to refer back to)
Back out of the advance folder now and right click on it. Select 7zip from your popup window and “add to archive”. When prompted, save as “lockscreen.File”, set your file type as .zip and save your lockscreen to your theme folder. After it saves delete the .File from the name. Windows will prompt you that this may make the file unusable, click ok.
Navigate to your theme folder and select all of the contents inside of it (boots, preview, etc…). After selecting all of your theme components, right click again, select 7zip, and add to archive. Save your theme as “whatever_name”.mtz again choosing .zip as the file type.
Place your newly created theme on your sd card in /sdcard/MIUI/theme
Apply your theme and enjoy. If you’re happy with your lockscreen take a screenie to add to your preview folder when you make your next edits. Remember if you do something that breaks your lockscreen you can unlock by pressing back & volume up, or you can use adb to delete lockscreen from /data/system/theme and push a good lockscreen back.
Lesson 4 – Changing Icons
Changing your desktop and folder icons is a great way to enhance your theme. Miui’s theme manager makes this a relatively simple process. You can edit the default system icons with your image editor, or take your favorite icon collection and resize them to 90 X 90 pixels if you wish to keep the default Miui icon size. Lets begin!
Navigate to your intro.mtz and use 7zip again to extract the icon.File
Inside your extracted icon folder you’ll find all of the icons for the default system apps.
Changing system app icons
Find the icon that you want to replace in the folder. Let’s use the browser for example.
Find the icon you want to replace it with and rename that icon to com.android.browser
Copy your new browser icon into the icon folder, overwriting the existing one.
Adding icons for user installed apps is a little more involved but worth the extra time to make your theme complete. Here is where it’s handy to have Root Explorer.
Let’s say we want to add an icon for dropbox
To do this we need to know the process name. There’s a couple of ways we can figure this out. Since every app installed creates a data folder we can use Root Explorer to look in /data/data for the package name of dropbox.
If the package name didn’t jump out at you, don’t worry there’s another way to do this. Again using Root Explorer navigate to /data/app and find the dropbox apk, long press on in and select “extract all”, navigate to /sdcard/extracted and open up the extracted dropbox apk. Now tap the AndroidManifext.xml file, which should open up a text document and the very first line should give you the manifest package name.
By now you should know that the package name for dropbox is com.dropbox.android
Find the dropbox icon you want to use.
Rename the icon to com.dropbox.android
Drop the icon into your icon folder.
Repeat these steps for all of the icons which you want to replace.
Once you are finished replacing and / or adding icons, from within the icon folder, select all, then right click, select 7zip, and add to archive.
When the 7zip popup screen appears, save them as icons.File
Delete the .File extension
Move your zipped icons file to your theme folder.
Zip your themes folder up as a .mtz and apply it to your phone the same as you did after you finished your lockscreen.
Again, if you are happy with your icons take a couple of screenshots for your preview folder.
One last side note in regards to icons. You may notice some apps such as google + install additional icons to your homescreen (G+ Messenger). I have not figured out the image naming trick yet for these icons to display from the theme, but I’m working on it. For the time being I extracted my G+ Messenger and replaced the icon in the /res/drawable-hdpi folder, but I am searching for the correct way of doing this and will update accordingly once it’s figured out.
Lesson 5 – SystemUI
Now, we're going to add a whole new element to our theme. We're going to create a SystemUI zip in our theme mtz. Examples of some things that we can change in SystemUI are notification bar icons (signal, battery, gps etc), Statusbar back ground, and the various tabs you see in your drop down expanded notification page. Let's begin.
Create a working folder somewhere easily accessible on your computer (I like to work from my desktop)
Inside of your working folder, create a subfolder named "res"
download my theme_values_SysUI.xml, place it in your working folder (not in the "res" subfolder), and rename it to theme_values.xml.
Now you will need a SystemUI.apk from Miui. You can either unzip the rom on your computer and move the .apk to a convenient location of your choosing, or you can use adb to pull the SystemUI.apk from your phone. It's located in /system/app.
Now that you have your SystemUI.apk, using 7zip, extract it.
Open up your extracted apk and navigate to the "res" folder. Copy the "drawable-hdpi" folder and the "raw" folder and move them to the working folder on your desktop, placing inside of the "res" subfolder you created earlier.
Begining with the "drawable-hdpi" folder, use your image editor to make any .png adjustments that you want incorporated into your theme, or replace the png files as you see fit. Be sure to maintain the nomenclature of the images if you opt to replace them. Beware of editing .9.png's as they cannot be edited in a conventional fashion. If you need help editing .9.png's there are several methods and guides around xda. Or ask in [Guide][Reference] An Intro to Themeing.
When you're finished with the drawable-hdpi folder move to the raw folder. This is where your battery icons are located, contrary to Sense and CM7 roms. You'll notice that there are not 200 little battery png's but 3 large png's with all of the images put together in a sort of battery collage. To assemble a battery collage, take your individual battery pngs and resize them to 38 X 38. For graphical and charge indicators, you will now need to create a new image sized at 152 X 190, copy and paste your individual png's into the large image so that you have 5 rows each with 4 png's. Follow the same procedure for making a % png, except that you'll be using 10 rows of 10 images, so your png size should be 380 X 380.
When you're done with all of your images, open up the theme_values.xml with notepad ++ and make any color edits that you see fit. Please note, that these color changes will have minimal impact on the look of your theme. Most of the color changes of your system will not happen here. These are default values for only a handfull of apps.
When you're finished editing the xml save it and close it.
Finally select your theme_values.xml and your "res" folder and right click your mouse, select 7zip, and add to archive. In the 7zip popup window name your file com.android.systemui (no additional extension here, make sure it does not say zip at the end....just: com.android.systemui)
After the folder is compressed and zipped, move it to your theme folder and zip your theme up as a .mtz as you have been doing right along. Apply theme to your phone and enjoy.
To Be Continued…..Next update will be for Framework-res or launcher depending on my upcoming amount of free time!!!
Additional Information: Tips, Tricks, & Links
Advanced Lockscreens - Tips and Tricks
Thanks il Duce for these links:
Lockscreen 2.0 Reference
General Miui Tips & Tricks
I wasn't born rich, I'm good lookin' instead!!
Great job Hockey!! Love how everything is coming together!
Added to the OP in the one stop shop also.
Edit: This is really thorough. Very nice indeed.....
Awesome work
Sent from my PG86100 using xda premium
Place holder for me
Is that all we do to the manifest because I really want that Evoluer slider to unlock my phone.
Temari x Shikamaru
scott951 said:
Place holder for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you sir, for providing us with a rom worthy of the time it takes to do all of this!......No disrespect intended to any of the other developers who's roms I also use, but I've fallen head over heels for Miui
knowledge561 said:
Is that all we do to the manifest because I really want that Evoluer slider to unlock my phone.
Temari x Shikamaru
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, there's a lot you can do with the manifest xml, but to make them work properly yeah....It's just resizing the png's and shifting the x & y values accordingly for our screen size. I'm downloading the lockscreen you're trying to use now.
Thanks for this.
hockeyfamily737 said:
Well, there's a lot you can do with the manifest xml, but to make them work properly yeah....It's just resizing the png's and shifting the x & y values accordingly for our screen size. I'm downloading the lockscreen you're trying to use now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks because im Stumped!!!! If you manage to hook it up do you think you can throw in that green charging light? And when its not charging it turns blue when you touch it? Check out "ikun" to understand the lockscreen.
Temari x Shikamaru
vanessaem said:
Thanks for this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My pleasure. Hopefully everyone including myself can learn from this, because I'm certainly no expert. Just a guy who like to take stuff apart to see how it works.
knowledge561 said:
Thanks because im Stumped!!!! If you manage to hook it up do you think you can throw in that green charging light? And when its not charging it turns blue when you touch it? Check out "ikun" to understand the lockscreen.
Temari x Shikamaru
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll do what I can. First let's see if I can get it to work right Working lots of O/T right now so I haven't had a heap of time.
Thanks so much for this hockeyfamily737!
Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk
Thanks homie.
Temari x Shikamaru
Also I will possibly be able to help out on this as well if someone doesn't get it figured out by Sunday... been working alot of double shifts..
knowledge561 said:
Thanks because im Stumped!!!! If you manage to hook it up do you think you can throw in that green charging light? And when its not charging it turns blue when you touch it? Check out "ikun" to understand the lockscreen.
Temari x Shikamaru
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk
Hey, nice introduction =)
If anyone is inerested in speeding up the process of testing your themes, I have created a Makefile/Windows Batch file for compressing themes and pushing them to the phone auto-magically
http://forums.miui.us/showthread.ph...ild-Script-(Windows-Unix)-Now-with-a-Makefile
Let me know if you guys have any problems!
Thank you for posting this amazing tutorial!
I am slowly fixing my lock screen, I'll post some before and after screen shots.
Before:
After:
thanks for this. i rlly needed it....
now to figure out more stuff...
steam374 said:
Thank you for posting this amazing tutorial!
I am slowly fixing my lock screen, I'll post some before and after screen shots.
Before:
After:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Terrific and this was the one I was trying to do today. Great job with this.
Brought to you from my EVOlutionary 3-Dimensional Smartphone
Wow! Great work... looking forward to more. Thanks hockeyfamily!
Sent from 3D A.W.E.S.O.M-O
Hi all,
I am trying to theme the settings.apk and I am stuck on a few items here I can not find in the settings.apk and I am wondering if these items are in the framework. I have attach 2 photos with the areas outline in red that I can not seem to find.
EDIT 1
picture on the right is in framework->res->drawable-hdpi->dark_header.9.png
EDIT 2
picture on the left is in framework->res->drawable-hdpi->zz_moto_title_bar_bg_bottom.png
145 previews later and no one knows, hmmmm/
Take a look in framework-res/res/drawable/title_bar.xml - looks like all three layers are used
The second, probably framework-res/res/drawable-hdpi/settings_header_raw.9.png
Thanks peetr, I am trying to theme your lock ROM for you, so far I have these done
AccountAndSyncSettings.apk (READY)
AudioEffectSettings.apk (READY)
BatteryManager.apk (READY)
Bluetooth.apk (READY)
BluetoothMot.apk (READY)
CalendarProvider.apk (READY)
ChargeOnlyMode.apk (READY)
DownloadProviderUi.apk (READY)
Calander.apk (IN PROGRESS)
Setting.apk (IN PROGRESS)
I plan on going down the line in the zip file, changing the background to black, text to white and ICS and changing icons. I am a beginner at this but I am a very tech savvy guy.
I am glad, that you are working on this. I will definitely try it, when it will be ready.
One hint -
If you open manifest.xml in any app, you will see something like <application name=... theme=... (blur apps are Theme.Light)
You will find the theme in values/style.xml in framework and you can see here most text colors, background colors, styles, animations, etc. and you can see, where are those drawables or xmls located.
Thanks for the heads up, I will look into that tonight.
My main focus is getting is the settings apk completely theme including the sub menus before I start tackling anything else, once I am done I will submit that to you so you can view it.
Sent from my MB855 using Xparent SkyBlue Tapatalk 2
peetr_ said:
Take a look in framework-res/res/drawable/title_bar.xml - looks like all three layers are used
The second, probably framework-res/res/drawable-hdpi/settings_header_raw.9.png
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The 1st 1 work perfect, thanks once again, however the 2nd didn't fly. it all made sense after you pointed it tho.
I could try to look at that grey bar one more time.
Any luck? I know it has me stump
Didn't have time yet. Maybe tomorrow.
Hey guys,
I was asked a week or so back to make a guide so others can theme the Stock SamsungIME.apk the way they like. I have made my thread to do this and you can put in request if this guide is not helpful(which I hope it is).
I will answer as many questions as I can, time permitting, and be as Noob friendly as I can, as well. I know this guide will not be perfect and there might be some things I am leaving out, and if so tell me, I will adjust the OP with any suggestions or changes. So here goes nothing...
Things you need:
Android SDK
Java JDK and JRE
Apktool
Notepad++
xUltimate-d9pc
Photo Editor (Gimp/Photoshop)
Before we begin, I am not going to go into how to load/decompile/recompile apks.. There are some good guides out there and here are some..
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2195680
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2206938
After you have the SamsungIME.apk totally decompiled you will want to open the folder it decompiled into and start with the res/drawables-sw359dp-xhdpi folder. In this folder there is all the pngs you need to edit. For starters the keys themselves..
You want:
sip_key_bg_normal.9.png
sip_key_bg_option.9.png
sip_key_bg_pressed.9.png
As you can tell, by the name, these are not normal pngs. You will see a 1 pixel border on all sides of the image. When editing the png either erase them or resize the canvas of the image. Just subtract by 2 form the height and the width, but remember when you save it re open it and adjust the canvas size back to the way it was. As my understanding of these goes, they are named this way because Android recognizing these .9.pngs and stretches them.. When I first attempted editing these I would have nothing but problems, of course because I was doing it wrong. I never could understand where the lines go and what they actually do. Thats probably because I was trying to do it with transparent/semi-transparent images and could not see the actual image expanding. Well when you are editing these with draw9patch, I noticed two very important things to look at (for the keyboard). The window to your right is how the actual image will look when expanded, but to see that you have to go to the bottom of the screen and the second scroll bar, move it all all the way to the right.
You will notice that it stretches the image.. This is the same thing Android does.
The middle image needs attention here because it expands it horizontally. So that means when you expand it all the way thats what you spacebar will look like. .
You notice that these edges (red lines) Are not defined they are rounded.. Because they are not patched correctly.
Notice the difference? This after it was patched with the proper line alignment.
To start you want add to full lines on the bottom and the right side. Next is the top and the left side. These are the lines you need play with to make you image look right. I used to only add a 1 pixel dot in the middle and one pixel line on the left. But when I started getting more advanced with photoshop/gimp I noticed my images would not looking the same. When you add gradients or borders to you keys, seeing the image on the right expanded is important because you will draw you lines to make you image look like it did in photoshop/gimp. NOTE: Don't leave any space in the lines to the right and on the bottom. You can, however, do so on the left and top but it will distort your png.
Here are a few guides to help you if you have anymore questions:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2326393
The next image of importance is:
qwerty_keypad_bg.png
This is the background of the keyboard.. NOTE: there is also one of these located in res/drawables-sw359dp--land-xhdpi, the only difference being the above image is for Portrait and land is for Landscape. Also, they are two different resolutions so be careful when changing them. You can change this image to anything you want.. It is a normal png so therefore no patching or further steps are needed.
Next would be all the other option pngs, backspace, space bar, voice, settings, enter key, etc. You will will find these starting with the word qwerty_.
So example:
qwerty_key_icon_enter.png
This is the enter key as it sits on your keyboard.. Yes there are other ones but there are for different actions.
Another thing we might want to change is the color of the CAPS key when it is enabled.
That png is named:
qwerty_key_bg_shift_capslock.png
As you can see a lot of these are named exactly what they are..well some at least..
Next is .xml edits. You want to locate res/values-sw359hp-xhdpi/colors.xml. You will need to open this with notepad++ to edit colors of the key text, pressed key text, shadow of those text, space bar lettering, etc. You will only (or I only do) need to focus on the first 12 lines. They pretty much explain themselves by there names.
Code:
<color name="normalkey_shadowcolor">#ff000000</color>
<color name="functionkey_shadowcolor">#ff000000</color>
<color name="functionkey_labelcolor">#ffe2e2e2</color>
<color name="normalkey_labelcolor">#ffe2e2e2</color>
<color name="pressedkey_labelcolor">#ff122438</color>
<color name="disablekey_labelcolor">#7fe2e2e2</color>
<color name="popup_normalkey_labelcolor">#ffffffff</color>
<color name="popup_pressedkey_labelcolor">#ff2d5a8c</color>
<color name="normalkey_extra_labelcolor">#ffe2e2e2</color>
<color name="spacekey_labelcolor">#ffb6b6b6</color>
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You'll notice that the colors are hex codes.. So the first two letters or numbers is for the transparency.. The next six define the actual color.
After we have edited our xml we can go ahead and recompile the apk. You should recompile with no errors. If you do encounter an error it's possible that you edited the color wrong and made it seven letters instead of eight or vice versa. Make sure that you transfer the old AndroidManifest.xml and META-INF folder form your original APK and transfer them to your new APK in SamsungIME/dist/.
FInally, you can copy you NEW SamsunIME.apk to your sd card, reboot into recovery. I prefer this method (Thanks to @Deckoz2302) because I would have trouble with APK's fully copying through adb. When in recovery select Mount, then click System. Select back. Then select Advanced, than File Manager. When in File Manager goto wherever you put your new APK. Copy it. Then go to System/app/ and hit Select and slide to copy. Reboot!
:good:Special THANKS to: @Deckoz2302: Best developer I have ever talk to! @Rizal Lovins, @grilleld, @Arsaw, @twanskys204, @Winterlove, @GuneetAtwal and I REALLY hope I didn't leave anyone out! If I did I'm sorry, tell me and I will update!:good:
FIRST......!!!
Thanks brother, I am going to give this a go tomorrow.
Today, young ,men on acid realize that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration, we are all one consciences sharing itself subjectively, there is no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we are just imaginations of ourselves And now to the weather.....
Reserved. .
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
This is quite the guide thanks so much for this.
Sent from Kendrick Lamar, King of New York
Nice Tut Great Work..!
Can all this be done on Mac osx?
Shamestick said:
Can all this be done on Mac osx?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If there is an Android SDK for OSX then i'd imagine it can be done on a Mac.
The SDK was fine, its getting the java jdk that's giving me issue
Shamestick said:
The SDK was fine, its getting the java jdk that's giving me issue
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@Shamestick - Do you use Polaris to run Windows? That could work possibly.
Sent from my SCH-I605 using xda app-developers app
dudeicles said:
@Shamestick - Do you use Polaris to run Windows? That could work possibly.
Sent from my SCH-I605 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do not, and I haven't gotten a copy of windows to dualboot with yet either. My problems always come whe i try to go to the downloading site for java, it just will never open on chrome or safari
well done my friend ! Nice to see you here
Text color SamsungIME.apk Note3-MOD
I have a big problem.
I decompiled the SamsungIME.apk from Note3-MOD to change the color of the KEY-Text from BLACK to WHITE.
But I can't find the right XML and location where the code has to be changed.
Can someone help me in this topic?
Superwolf77 said:
I have a big problem.
I decompiled the SamsungIME.apk from Note3-MOD to change the color of the KEY-Text from BLACK to WHITE.
But I can't find the right XML and location where the code has to be changed.
Can someone help me in this topic?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They will most likely be in values/colors.xml
For testing I already changed every black code to white in this XML but it does not change.
Superwolf77 said:
For testing I already changed every black code to white in this XML but it does not change.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oops sorry its in /values-sw359dp-xhdpi/colors.xml.. Took me a long time to figure out that! lmao! Anyways have fun hope I helped!
Thank you for the help. It works fine now.
Thnks sir.. usefull :fingers-crossed:
Apks?
For those who have made custom keyboards will you please post your apks?
Good
Thanks for your tutorial. I have a question about adding a backround image for the keyboard.Not sure if thread is to old so please respond if you an answer question and ill write it . thanks
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.....
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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