Clicking the wiki just now gave me a 404 error and the sticky is a bit long and just a bit outdated in terms of the links.
What programs, apps, vids, etc do I need in order to make themes?
I have been flashing themes left and right and each have their goods and bads. The biggest bad is there doesn't seem to be a well done red theme which I would like to do. I have tried enamored but the notification icons kill it for me.
So again, are there any up to date tutorials on making themes? Thanks in advance for any help.
+1 to that
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A quic and dirty how to
lovethyEVO said:
Clicking the wiki just now gave me a 404 error and the sticky is a bit long and just a bit outdated in terms of the links.
What programs, apps, vids, etc do I need in order to make themes?
I have been flashing themes left and right and each have their goods and bads. The biggest bad is there doesn't seem to be a well done red theme which I would like to do. I have tried enamored but the notification icons kill it for me.
So again, are there any up to date tutorials on making themes? Thanks in advance for any help.
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Click to collapse
shanesol said:
+1 to that
Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
heres the How to
An apk is really just a zip file... apk stands for android package (if i remember correctly). So treat it like a standard zip file.
Youll need a pint program to make changes I use gimp its free so get it here
TIP: Your first theme should really just be a mixing and matching of other themes to get use to the process.
TIP: d/l and look at other themes and see what the have done, using the same process below you can port and mash themes. To see what is themed go to the res/drawable-xxx folders and sorte the png's in there to newest at the top and you'll see what they have changed.
TIP: system/app/xxx.apk are where most apps that are themed are contained in these apks you'll find a res folder and in there you have a bunch of folders. you really on need to look in the drawable-xxx ones mdpi, no-dpi, land and so forth. these pngs make up the apps look and feel changing them will theme the app.
You'll need apk manager this will allow you to sign zips which makes them flashable. get that here
Now get your favorite Rom and make a folder. In that folder make 2 folders one called packed the other called packed. Take your rom and unzip it in the unpacked folder. and then take the original zip and move it to the packed folder.
Next go into the unpacked folder and nav to system/framework.framework-res.apk (this holds the bulk of the android png that make up all the stuff most people change to make a theme) take this apk and unzip it in this folder and then make a copy of the apk and move the copy to the packed folder.
Now when you want to make a change to the framework-res.apk use the unpacked as a reference. us the packed as the change dir, you do this by opening but not unzipping the apk you want to change and just dragging the files you are replacing into the apk, this will replace them. You might want to make a a 3rd folder sorta of a master copy if you ever mess up the packed roms. Remember that in all three of the dirs created you want to keep the dir structure the way you extracted it from the rom and theme.
Now that you have an altered framework-res.apk you can just push it to system/framework folder (i think) and reboot and your changes are in. I never do this since flashable is easier to manage I make a flashable.
A flashable is like a rom but allot smaller, so d/l one of my themes and take the zip file and place in in a folder next to the packed and unpacked folder call it something like staging. now unzip apk manager into the top dir next to 4 other folders you just made.
Now my theme zip can be renamed to whatever you want, your going to use it as a place holder for signing flashable zips. go into the theme zip and delete ever thing in the system folder except the framework folder then go into the frame work folder and delete everything, if you have apps your theming just make the system/app.
Your flashable zip folder should only have a a meta-inf folder and a system folder, the system folder should only have a framework and or app folders. Now drag your altered framework-res.apk into the flashable zip system/framework folder you just cleaned out.
Ok now you have to sign it, copy that flashable zip to the place-apk-here-for-signing folder, this should have shown up when you unzipped apk manager into the folder the also contains unpacked and packed folders.
Now click on the script.bat and you'll see a bunch of option you can do option 16 to sign your zip. it takes a second or two and the date should get updated on the flashable.zip file in the place-apk-here-for-signing folder.
Now you have your new them ready to install. if your changing something else find the apk and replace framework-res.apk in these instruction and it works the same. note that most app reside in system/app so you next to take that into account.
Keep the questions reasonable and I'll answer then.
Thanks simmons. For the most part I have been doing the open apk without extracting and replacing png files. The one thing that I cant seem to get is changing the battery icon...it never sticks. Anyways, do the themes always have to be signed? I know amon 1.8 can flash unsigned zips but do the themes have to be signed always? I will be taking my laptop to work tonight to practice what you outlined. Thanks again.
EDIT: I noticed some themes have com.htc.resources.apk alongside framework res and some have services.jar. What are these for?
No they don't have to be signed but people will complain cause most people don't have the eng spl, it all so protects you from flashing bad stuff. If your only changing the standard 5 battery icons thus method always works.
The services.jar usually room specific and changes things like lock screen behavior mixes These with other roms will cause boot loops be careful.
Sent from my HERO200 using XDA App
Simmons thanks for answering so far.
My last question is to theme the entire phone is it basically the resources, framework, and services.jar files that need to be edited? I understand the apps would be themed themselves and then just included as part of the zip file right?
lovethyEVO said:
Simmons thanks for answering so far.
My last question is to theme the entire phone is it basically the resources, framework, and services.jar files that need to be edited? I understand the apps would be themed themselves and then just included as part of the zip file right?
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Click to collapse
well the service.jar is compiled and therefore can't necessarily be themed you can't hack it or mod it by decompling it or you can change it by compiling changes you made from source but for the sake of normal themes its not needed.
as for the resources I assume your referring to the resources.arsc which is basically a set of compiled xml files. In here it where you can change stuff like how many pngs are associated with the battery status icons (think of circle batter mod which has one icon per percentage instead of the 0 10 20 40 60 80 100 ? icons in the normal aosp rom) changing this can be done with the apk manage by decompiling the framework-res.zpk, making the change and compiling back. but I wouldn't recommend it to a beginner.
The problem with the above is you take the chance of the theme not be cross-rom compatible. For you normal theme all you need to change are the pngs in the res folder of the framework-apk, however somethings like the launcher or the dialer still reside in the app folder and have there own apk.
Oh and I have no question limit.
ASimmons said:
well the service.jar is compiled and therefore can't necessarily be themed you can't hack it or mod it by decompling it or you can change it by compiling changes you made from source but for the sake of normal themes its not needed.
as for the resources I assume your referring to the resources.arsc which is basically a set of compiled xml files. In here it where you can change stuff like how many pngs are associated with the battery status icons (think of circle batter mod which has one icon per percentage instead of the 0 10 20 40 60 80 100 ? icons in the normal aosp rom) changing this can be done with the apk manage by decompiling the framework-res.zpk, making the change and compiling back. but I wouldn't recommend it to a beginner.
The problem with the above is you take the chance of the theme not be cross-rom compatible. For you normal theme all you need to change are the pngs in the res folder of the framework-apk, however somethings like the launcher or the dialer still reside in the app folder and have there own apk.
Oh and I have no question limit.
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Click to collapse
Simmons, thank you very much. Every answer you give is clearing things up more and more for me. I have decompiled a frameworkres before when I was trying to get the circle batt mod onto the odex stock rom so I am not too unawares there. What I want to do is theme the colors on anything and everything along with making the transparent windows such as when you confirm actions and the transparent notification pull down. Are these really accomplished with simply changing the pngs or do I have to edit the xml files? If I must edit the xml files, are there key files to edit or would editing one xml affect another?
lovethyEVO said:
Simmons, thank you very much. Every answer you give is clearing things up more and more for me. I have decompiled a frameworkres before when I was trying to get the circle batt mod onto the odex stock rom so I am not too unawares there. What I want to do is theme the colors on anything and everything along with making the transparent windows such as when you confirm actions and the transparent notification pull down. Are these really accomplished with simply changing the pngs or do I have to edit the xml files? If I must edit the xml files, are there key files to edit or would editing one xml affect another?
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Click to collapse
The xml files really just hold names for the pngs. So for example the pngs for the battery have there names store in the xml (cant remember off hand which one of the decompiled xml from the resource.arsc.. strings??) file and then as the value value next to that filename for what percent to show that specific png at.
But 95% of your theming only involves changing the png files. So to have a clear notification back ground look in the framework-res.apk/res/drawable-mdpi/status_bar_background.png or you want to change the button to unlock your phone framework-res.apk/res/ic_jog_dial_unlock.png or to change the status bar framework-res.apk/res/statusbar_background.9.png
TIP: if you see a png with 9 in the name like xxxx.9.png its basically a stretchable png where the side that you want stechable has a one pixel wide line running the length of the png as a border this tells android that the png should stretch that side until it fills the screen.
9 patch explanation
So aside from editing the xmls for the battery percent everything is just replacong pngs? Thats awesome.
When it comes to apps like the internet browser for example, where would I find the apk? I'm assuming theming the apps is just like themeing the phone in that I just replace the .pngs right? Again your answers are very much appreciated and definitely making things seem easier. Thanks.
Hiya all.
I'm a noob at this too and I want to change the icons of some of the apps installed on my phone and theme a couple of widgets that am using. I have two questions:
1) In the system/app folder of the phone almost all the apps have a xxx.apk and a xxx.odex file. In order to change the png files in the apk does something need to be done with the odex file too?
2) Can I change the png files in the apk files in data/app the way you described above?
Sorry if the questions are noobish
From my Galaxy S loonie-phone
lovethyEVO said:
So aside from editing the xmls for the battery percent everything is just replacong pngs? Thats awesome.
When it comes to apps like the internet browser for example, where would I find the apk? I'm assuming theming the apps is just like themeing the phone in that I just replace the .pngs right? Again your answers are very much appreciated and definitely making things seem easier. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To theme the browser you can alter the Browser.apk in the system/app and using the direction I posted it works the same way.
And if you make a theme pm me so I can check it out.
Fireloon said:
Hiya all.
I'm a noob at this too and I want to change the icons of some of the apps installed on my phone and theme a couple of widgets that am using. I have two questions:
1) In the system/app folder of the phone almost all the apps have a xxx.apk and a xxx.odex file. In order to change the png files in the apk does something need to be done with the odex file too?
2) Can I change the png files in the apk files in data/app the way you described above?
Sorry if the questions are noobish
From my Galaxy S loonie-phone
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Click to collapse
1. My theming expertise is more with AOSP roms but its my understanding that you should be able to theme a sense rom in the same way by de-odexing a rom. And yes any and all apps are themable if it has a png files in it you can unpack it alter the png's and put them back in the original apk, which overwrites the original png's and resign it and then flash or reinstall it.
2. Yes you can. any and all apks can be themed in the manner I described. for odexed roms search the forum for de-odexing techniques.
Thx for the answer. I'll search about deodexing
From my Galaxy S loonie-phone
Thanks for all the great tips I just got finished porting a theme thanks to all the help!
shanesol said:
Thanks for all the great tips I just got finished porting a theme thanks to all the help!
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Click to collapse
awesome pm some screenies or the op here I'd like to check it out.
ASimmons said:
awesome pm some screenies or the op here I'd like to check it out.
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Click to collapse
It's a simple black/white matte theme called Invertnito. It was made for Sapphire but I like CM too much to give it up lol
ASimmons said:
awesome pm some screenies or the op here I'd like to check it out.
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Click to collapse
Looking to have some sort of base by this weekend. I have just been mix/matching pngs I like from other themes as well as trying to make my own pngs and figuring out the transparency/borders effect. Taking my time but still want to come out with something for critique.
shanesol said:
It's a simple black/white matte theme called Invertnito. It was made for Sapphire but I like CM too much to give it up lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice Job.
lovethyEVO said:
Looking to have some sort of base by this weekend. I have just been mix/matching pngs I like from other themes as well as trying to make my own pngs and figuring out the transparency/borders effect. Taking my time but still want to come out with something for critique.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I'm not much of a critiquer since most of the themeing stuff I've done doesn't go over so well around here (I dont like dark colors, black, dark blue blah blah) really its up to what you like, I made a couple of themes based on what I liked and left it at that. But I'll be glad to look at it and dont forget to make sure that if you use some elses stuff you give them there props in your ops and pm them a warning you going to use it, unless they specify different this is all you should need to do..
ASimmons said:
Nice Job.
Well I'm not much of a critiquer since most of the themeing stuff I've done doesn't go over so well around here (I dont like dark colors, black, dark blue blah blah) really its up to what you like, I made a couple of themes based on what I liked and left it at that. But I'll be glad to look at it and dont forget to make sure that if you use some elses stuff you give them there props in your ops and pm them a warning you going to use it, unless they specify different this is all you should need to do..
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Click to collapse
Definately making note of whose work I use. Though it's kind of hard because my favorite notification icons I have seen in two diff themes and neither one of them mention who was the artist for them. But still keeping at it. And like you I dont care about dark colors unless its used to contrast the main theme color. I'm working on a red theme and there will be some parts that will have a darkish background to help the red border colors and/or text pop more. In time though. Your first post here was definitely a great shove in the right direction.
Hi, I would like to know where the file to modify the dockbar not find it on framework-res.apk. thanks
You can use an alternative Launcher.
LauncherPro has very much emphasis on the dock, I recommend trying it.
Thanks, but I like to change the dockbar the original launcher, I do not
use another launcher.
You need basic knowledge using:
- ADB
- Photoshop/GIMP
- Which images to edit in the correct .apk
zHk3R said:
You need basic knowledge using:
- ADB
- Photoshop/GIMP
- Which images to edit in the correct .apk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have basic knowledge in the first two.....but what apk and what images do i edit in the stock sense rom for htc hero cdma?
i decided to search about changing the dock without an alternative launch instead of starting a new thread lol
Im also wondering how i can do it. What we should modify to change the dock bar?
ALDAS said:
Hi, I would like to know where the file to modify the dockbar not find it on framework-res.apk. thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Find the launcher2 and extract it or de Compile then look In the res file pretty self explanitory after that
Sent from my LG-P500 using XDA App
Hello Devs,
I'm interested in making a few very minor modifications to the overall theme for my phone. I'm currently using FireFly, and although I like it for the most part, I'm not very fond of the current animation used to display dialogs.
I currently develop for Android, so I'm familiar with aspects of applying styles and themes to my own app as well as using styles from within the android.jar. I've read a few things about doing this, but I'm hoping there's a way to clear up some loose ends.
1. If I were to just open up and modify the main FireFly zip package, paricularly the files under /system/framework/framework-res.apk, would it be possible to to zip it back up, flash back to stock and then follow the usual procedure to install the Rom?
2. Is it possible to modify that .apk and just upload it directly to the my current rom?
3. Do I need to be concerned with apk signing?
Thanks to everyone in advance,
Jeremiah
Im not a moderator but I believe this should be in themes section or Q&A. =/
From what Ive done. You can modify the zip packages. Best results I'v had is using 7zip to modify them internally. Ive only modified images in them, and my little experience you have to keep the same amount of images it had from the beginning. Im not sure if that is changed by modifying the xml's or something else.
prbassplayer said:
Im not a moderator but I believe this should be in themes section or Q&A. =/
From what Ive done. You can modify the zip packages. Best results I'v had is using 7zip to modify them internally. Ive only modified images in them, and my little experience you have to keep the same amount of images it had from the beginning. Im not sure if that is changed by modifying the xml's or something else.
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Click to collapse
Damn it... I had a feeling I missed a section this would be belong more in, my eyes glazed right past the words Theme in the App/Theme section. A mod is more than welcome to move it, sorry for the mistake.
Thanks for the advice though
I haven't done any themeing myself mainly because I'm too lazy, but from what I understand based off what other people who do theme have said to modify the number of images you need to edit the corresponding xml file.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1227179
Might help alleviate some of your worries about signed apks and what not.
Many of the colors are handles by XML. You will need to decomplie apks to modify xml files and then recompile them again.
You can use APK Manager to decomplie and recomple the APK packages.
Also, go through this thread.
PS: Request mods to move this thread to Q&A section.
Takes time to do it. I used to do a lot of themeing to roms but had to hang it up. You have to know what picture files to change and then what each line is in each .XML.
IlluminatedOne said:
Many of the colors are handles by XML. You will need to decomplie apks to modify xml files and then recompile them again.
You can use APK Manager to decomplie and recomple the APK packages.
Also, go through this thread.
PS: Request mods to move this thread to Q&A section.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome, thanks so much for this, exactly the information I was looking for.
If this is in the wrong forum, please move for me, could not determine where to ask this...
A quick question, I hope someone can point me in the right direction....
On Theme Chooser themes, how can I take a theme and integrate it into a ROM so it is the "default" of "system" theme. I know I can just migrate the graphics over to the proper files (framework-res and systemUI) but there are also quite a few xml files involved, and no easy way I can tell as to where to put these or how to use them as their filenames don't all match the original files in the ROM. When you apply a Theme Chooser theme, it does not effect the atcual framework files, correct? In other words, if you aplly the theme you can't just copy the frameowrk and systemUI files to capture it. I tested this and from I could tell, it did not work like that. I hope this makes sense, very much looking forward to any help someone experienced with this can offer.