Database Develop

[RFI] Flash-able Themes

Hello All:
I am interested in learning how to make flash-able themes for my Nexus One (preferably for CM ROMs). I am very proficient with Photoshop and designing UI's and am looking to fill in some blanks here.
I am new to the world of android programming (java in general, for that matter) and am looking for help and resources to get me going. I am familiar with the android SDK and am just getting my hands dirty using Eclipse. I am a quick learner and I work very well with others. I also share a passion for design and implementation with all sorts of multimedia.
If anyone would be interested in helping me learn the ropes - I am more than willing to utilize my knowledge to contribute to this great community. I have many ideas and feel that if I could properly grasp the development concepts for android I could even become an asset here like many others who have helped out so much.
Sorry for the long post - any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance,
-TC

So, as expected I've scrounged up as much information as I could find and have what I think is a working theme for CM6 RC3.
Perhaps someone could offer some insight as my questions are now more specific.
I've downloaded a fresh version of CM65 RC3 and edited the files accordingly. From what I gathered I don't need an entire ROMs worth of files just to make a flash-able theme. My first question is now how to I re-sign, say, just the framework-res.apk?
Once again any help would be greatly appreciated.

typica1cat said:
... My first question is now how to I re-sign, say, just the framework-res.apk?
Once again any help would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
take this tool (auto-sign.zip)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=5887818&postcount=2

http://tinyurl.com/34rcfav
If the official Android guide, which is the 1st result, will seem too messy - look into the next couple of them.

Thanks VERY much to both of you for the quick responses. I've got the tool - I guess to be more specific, does my .apk HAVE to included any certain files? Or if it just has the files I edited will they be flashed into the ROM without and problems?
Also, I am somewhat familiar with Eclipse - could someone point me in the right direction as to how i can test my theme in the emulator?

are you talking about flashing themes, like a black status bar? or are you talking about actual flashable zip files that you install from recovey mode, like you do when flashing a brand new full ROM?
themes are easy, just use metamorph, zip file with xml file inside along with all your images (png files) you want to change (that was the short version).
to make flashable ROM files, that i dont know.

Well, in the past I've always been partial to themes that have been applied via recovery. I am familiar with MetaMorph but always felt I had better luck using themes with flash-able files.
Hence, why I am attempting to learn this particular method.
My intent is to ultimately customize:
Notificaion Bar + Icons
Custom App Icons
And eventually Apps themselves:
Phone
Contacts
etc...

[Q] How do you make Themes

I was interested in trying out customizing the current theme on my phone I did install the SDK but couldn't figure out how to do much with it is there a tutorials/ect that gives the basics on how to edit themes I have tried Google searches and they all lead to Docs page which is great for building the software part.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=9547446&postcount=2
Has a link to different themes and theme tools. Metamorph is a great "starter" tool to understand how to do the basic mods.
But - it can and will get complicated quickly if you wish to start building your own framework-res.apk
You will need to be able to de-compile and then rebuild it so you can edit the *.xml files.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=882742 - APK Toolkit
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=3272435&postcount=1 - understanding *.xml files.
gtg465x posted this interesting write up on tweaking specific *.xml files (this was for Gingerbread mods.. but it should help) http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=9664604&postcount=77
Make sure your images will work with the ROM you wish to tweak. (Different version ROM's will not be compatible with each other - even for the same build sometimes!)
Well.. good luck - this should at least get you started. Unfortunately I am NOT a developer - I like to hack/tweak/mod my phone and have done some of this. So if you have questions - ask a dev

avgjoegeek
Great Post
Thank You !

[Request]Need my SystemUI deodexed

I made a thread in the Android General section, but it must not be getting attention from anyone capable of deodexing an apk, or just nobody wants to do it.
I probably should have created the thread here, so I'm linking to it here.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1504082
Thanks all

bizzump
+10char

There's a few things we need to know first. Why only one apk? Why not deodex your whole ROM? Or if you have a copy of the whole ROM could your send it to me…..I can't deodex just the SystemUI when it has dependencies on the other functions within the ROM i.e. Framework.jar.
Or if you could explain maybe what your hoping to achieve I could probably sort somethingout for you a much simpler way.
What phone do you have and what apks are you using now? If you want to theme or want some sort of function from an apk that’s not yours but is odex version there may be a way of breaking it down to its classes (if I knew what ROM it was from and you had the entire framework folder from the ROM along with the odex file) and then I can decompile the apk you use (I think that’s what your trying to achieve correct?) from your ROM, then bring the classes and/or pngs across, rebuild, re-optimise (not odex btw) and send it back to you maintaining the signature for your apks in your ROM.

The phone and rom it is running are in my sig. I only want the SystemUI deodexed so that I can make the status bar transparent and still enjoy the slightly improved performance of an odex'ed rom, because this is a low-end phone so anything to increase performance helps. I have also tried using the AutoDeo Tool, but I don't know how to figure out what the correct custom bootclass path line input should be.
I asked for some help in that thread this morning and feel that I'm getting closer to having a deodexed SystemUI. I hate having posts in so many places about the same problem, but it seems like not a whole lot of people know how to do it, and even fewer want to explain such a complex process.
Hopefully I'll be able to deodex my entire rom.zip and just replace the systemui that's on my phone with the deodexed one and delete the .odex file and everything will be ok.
Sent from my SGH-T499 using XDA App

[Q] soution to running theme on deodex

HI devs this is regarding a dark theme I am making for the n5 found here http://forum.xda-developers.com/goo...-material-black-theme-lollipop-t2958812/page9
so heres the probblem i am facing ... I started theming on a stock based odexed rom ... xtrasmooth to be exact and i theme by decompiling the apks modding and then recompiling the current build works fine on alot of odexed roms and it all cool there
but i also want this mod to run on deodexed roms ... this is where i have the problem
as of now i cant find a way to deodex lollipop apks trust me i searched but none of them seem to work I understand the problem with deodex
I managed to get a build to boot on slim but i did that by decompiling the slim apks comparing the xmls and replacing the values this works but is very time consuming and it runs only on slim and not anyother deodexed roms
Im new to themeing so I dont really know how to figure this out myself , thats why im here
BUUUUT I have come up with some possible approachees
the problem as we understand it
quoting @Incredible_Culp from this page
Quote:
Originally Posted by Incredible_Culp
eh, doesnt matter since it didnt work ha
im starting to think that to apply your theme on deodex roms, you would have to manually grab whatever deodex rom you'd like, grab its system, settings, framework, etc apk's and modify them specifically for that rom itself..
i think its going to be very difficult trying to 'universify' (not a word, i know lol) custom themes to work on both odex and deodex rom's on lollipop..
lollipop is so different setting things up from kitkat, that every apk will be totally different depending on what rom youre using (it seems)
I think (pertaining to lollipop) it's either make a theme for deodex roms or odex roms.. or even build both separately...
i could be TOTALLY WRONG on this idea.. but everything that i did on kitkat, is not working on lollipop, and this idea is what i came up with...
i think this is a valid hypothesis because terminus rom has its own theme specifically made for it/made for a certain date.. it wont boot/work on newer builds so the theme has to be updated to work with its newer rom.. and terminus rom is deodex.. same thing goes with the new Elix-R theme.. its specifically made for stock based roms which are odex roms
Again, i could be wrong. But i think you (or I) will have to make separate theme builds.. one for odex and one for deodex..
take this with a grain of salt lol -- im going to be doing more testing tonight to get more of a valid conclusion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AND THE POSSIBLE APPROACHES
quoting myslef from this page
Quote:
Originally Posted by androidous
Yes like I said before from looks lollipop is wayy different to kitkat......
yes bro you're right .... I dont think its possible to univerify (lol) a single build ite either odex or deodex or both seperately
Approaches
1) as mentoined before two seperate builds
2) build for odex and then deodex it - by the looks this seems the easiest but I CANT FIND A SINGLE TUTORIAL ON THE INTERNET TO DEODEX LOLLIPOP APPS :/ understandable cause its a fairly very new OS
3) what ive been doing to get a deodexed build working is manually decompile the deodex and copy paste the xml values from odex to maintain consistancy rather then having one colour on odex and the other on deod ..... this seems to work well but is very time consuming :/ ILL do this afte exams if it our only hope <----- this method i tested on slim and works i used http://www.diffnow.com/ to manuallyy compare the xmls its a little more efficient than rremebering all the changes
well thats what ive figured out on how to get a deodexed build.......
hope we can fix soon
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so what i need to know is Are my approaches the only way ? or is there some other way i dont know of.... is it practical to so
and
is there a way to universiy the deodex build as in make a build to run on all deodexed custom roms or should a build be made for each seperately ?
thanks
andoidous

No.
How's that for a detailed answer?
Basically, if your theming includes changing XML or adding or removing resources, you have to decompile the apk's. If your theming just involves changing the icons, you're better off looking at something that can inject those icons, like the Ultimate Flashing Tool.
I'm sure that Smali/baksmali will be updated soon to be Lollipop-compatible. We're all waiting for it!

You are thinking about it wrong and...... being lazy. Sorry. But Linux in general is about passing along knowledge and teaching others. In the spirit of this I encourage you to learn how to build from source. (what site has that kind of information you can learn to do that?...) You can modify and play around all you want to with the apks BEFORE its compiled and not wait for JF to do the hard work.
You'll learn a lot of things along the way and educate yourself better in understanding your end goal.

The question about development has been asked and answered.
Feel free to check out the XDA University
Thread closed

[Q] HELP! is this possible? (noob theme question I'm sure)

I am currently using GO Launcher for my themes on my phone. Is there ANY POSSIBLE WAY to convert my theme I have already created on my phone to an APK file rather than coding one from scratch? I have searched this site and have begun to learn how to use Android Studio in the likelihood that I will have to code my themes. If there is a way to just take what I have made in GO Launcher on my phone and export it to an APK file for others to use/put on google play, I would be grateful to whoever knows how to do it. Or if anyone is successfully using the Java based GO Theme Factory, I could use some help because I'm getting an error when trying to run the app. Java is working fine on my computer. Sorry for being a noob, but this site has helped me root and do all sorts of other stuff I didn't think was possible. Thanks for reading.
-Jim