First off, I know there was a thread on this that was located somewhere in the HTC Dream/G1 section, but I can't seem to find that thread ever since the big change xda went through...
Anyways, I've been trying to learn how to theme, I'm a beginner, and I wanna do this for education purposes. Can someone point me in the right direction to began with? (like a guide or what-not)
Currently I have the SDK starter kit from Google/developer.android.com. Are there any other guides, or anyone here willing to teach?
im a beginner too but to make a theme is not so difficult.. you must have only patience and a good know of photoshop (or the gimp if you use linux)..
then, just take an apk only for an example.. mm.. Launcher.apk!! rename it to Launcher.apk.zip and u will see several directory, one of this is res..
extract to desktop and you will see all the launcher images..
the only thing you have to do is replace them with your own images (same dimension and format, png..)
once you done that.. reopen Launcher.apk.zip and replace this your new images with the old one and finally rename again to Launcher.apk
do this with every apks and framework-res.apk too cos here there are a lot of images of android like the battery icon or smileys (the one of the sms's) and much more, also the top bar..)
then, if u use metamorph just follow this guide:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=591329
or if you want use the update.zip you must first read this
how to sign .zip: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=473580
if u use metamorph u must only copy the file u want to replace..
else if u want the update.zip u must copy every file into apks, then sign..
if into the zip file you want to add both app and framework and font too.. you must add a directory called " com ".. u can find this directory in any theme you download, its in the " meta-inf" directory
ok??? its not so difficult trust in me..
i found this link: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=467639 ..
...wrote in this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=468254
maybe it can help you more..
Thank's that's exactly what I'm looking for, I owe you big time
but what about the notification bar?
u can find notification bar into framework-res.apk under the drawable and drawable-land folders..
the name of images are staus_background.png then bottombar.png and maybe another one.. anyway, thanks to cloverdale you must read this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=606011
and download Black_Lite-v3.0.1 Full Theme.
here u can find the black notification bar (and many other thing..)
its a metamorph theme
I haven't tested it yet but it should work. make a nandroid backup before u apply this changes
alright, thanks for all the help, man
wow, great reply! so much for being a "beginner." i've been rooted and constantly looking around for new ways to mod my g1, and i still had NO clue how to theme or use metamorph. thanks!
dcheng11 said:
wow, great reply! so much for being a "beginner." i've been rooted and constantly looking around for new ways to mod my g1, and i still had NO clue how to theme or use metamorph. thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
im a beginner but i learn quickly.. i was in your same point some weeks ago..
if u want learn something about theming or else just follow the link i wrote before. i used them to improve my knowledge about themes..
if u still have trouble, download:
1. any themes u want
2. a theme that use metamorph (like Black_Lite-v3.0.1 Full Theme for example)
u will see the difference
to use metamorph is simply.. download it from the market and then copy the zip file or directory u want into the AndroidThemes folder on ur sdcard (u will see this folder after u install metamorph)..
next step will be open metamorph and select the one .thm file.. done
the only thing u hav to remember is make a nandroid backup cos if u dont like the new themes u can simply go back (without flash the rom again..)
all u hav to do guys is read more and do more practice
I am running Enomther's 2.9.3 (a heartily badass rom) with ADW and cannot find out how to get a semi-transparent notification pulldown. I like the statusbar as is, but all attempts to search for a fix/mod/walkthrough have been fruitless. I've searched every word variation of what I want on this site and on google, to no avail. I found a link to what I though would work,
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=700703
but Micromod777s themes are for FRF83 (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=6988969&postcount=163), and when applied to the Enomther 2.9.3 (FRF91) it causes a bootloop. Some of you are probably LOLing at my noobness but I really don't know where else to go from here. Can I just pull the applicable framework from CM6 (which has the semi-transparent pulldown, AFAIK) and adb push it, or will that break something else? Thanks for any and all replies, be it a fix/patch/theme or even a RTFM noob (just please post the link to the M part).
Josh
What you COULD do...is simple!
Go to the market and download MetaMorph.
And then look through the metamorph thread in Nexus Themes & Apps
I'm sure you're bound to find one in there that is what you want. =D
edit: and also, I'm pretty sure Micromod's has themes for FRF91.
Best I can tell metamorph will not do it. It needs a patched services.jar in addition to pngs from framework-res.apk made transparent...In the metamorph themes thread, post 66, it is asked how to make the pulldown transparent. Post 67 he gets shut down. So I follow the link there to
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=6996807#post6996807
which mentions an app called XUltimate Froyo Transparency Fix. I download that, and adb pull my services.jar, copy that into the same folder as ADB and the XUltimate program, and run it. I get the errors i've posted. I've read through the thread for XUltimate and haven't seen any fixes. It's possible because that's a droid forum/droid specific, even though they're working with 2.2.
Like the old saying goes, i'm not looking for a fish (not that i'd turn one away at this point, the way my frustration is mounting); I"m looking to be taught how to fish.
I came across these two great threads for the X10 and the Epic 4G and thought that it might be good for the fascinate themers/prospective themers to have a kind of community repository for theme help/links edits/how tos...while these 2 (and many others) are great resources for themes...i felt that actual edits/knowledge specifically for our phone would be a help.
i guess just based on the amount of themes i port i tend to get a ton of pms across xda/androidforums/irc on how to get started, what programs to use, how to make what edits, etc
i really dont know a whole lot relative to "real" themers from other phones and most of what i know i either picked up from reading endless links or begging for help.
whether this catches on and proves useful, or it goes down in flames like others things ive tried...i figured its worth a shot
rather than post endless links that dont always pertain directly to our phone, perhaps a good format would be me maintaining the op with small write ups of whatever edits/how tos and linking the the original. ill gradually start putting up the edits i know of that work with touchwiz and aosp (over the next few days)...but would GREATLY appreciate it if some smarter people would help out and post edits im mssing....also feel free to ask questions of how to edit what, where something is, and if i dont know/can't find out, then hopefully someone else can
Post away.........
***If anyone is interested in writing up brief tutorials on whatever or contribute links/edits, it would help out a lot***
Fascinate Contributors (directly or indirectly through posts or help along the way in some form):
dtachtd
thatdudebutch
sbrissen
andmer
retrokid223
adiliyo
oldmanjames
tiger4life
adrynalyne
s44
Credit to these threads/posts/links for much of the info
Want To Learn To Theme?
How to Theme Your Droid
Theme Help Tutorial
Installing the Android SDK (especially for adb) is mentioned below..however (imo): DO NOT BOTHER THINKING ABOUT GETTING INTO THEMING WITHOUT FIRST INSTALLING AND HAVING SOME BASIC UNDERSTANDING OF ADB. Far too many people that have issues doing theme related stuff (mostly irc) do not even have adb installed or know what it is. To me this is appalling! /end rant
Getting Started (much of this info grabbed from DtatchD http://androidforums.com/android-themes/174669-how-theme-apks.html)
What do I need (tools) to theme with?
-Umm obviously you need to be rooted
-Have the Android SDK installed
*If you've never done this before, follow Adrynalyne's awesome ADB Tutorial/Workshop
-Some form of editing software
*if you have photoshop, great...if you want a free (and imo awesome) program, then gimp is the way to go!
*another free alternative (some prefer to gimp) is paint.net
-Something akin to winzip
*or my preference (again free) 7-Zip
-Tools for editing/decompiling xml (also for cheating on .9's..but more on that later)
*look no further than either apktool, or apkmanager (automated version of apkt)
*i personally use notepad ++ to edit the decompiled xml files
-a program to *deal* with .9 images
*if you follow any how-to guide, its going to tell you that you have to patch the images in the Draw-9 Patch tool in the SDK, and then compile the images in eclipse. I'm going to tell you its a lot easier than that. Make sure you have apk(tool, manager) and then get the super awesome Draw9 Patch tool from xeudoxus here (might as well grab the full xultimate as well to deodex with)
-something to edit the service.jar with
*2 ways to go about this. one is installing smali/backsmali in your sdk (if you plan on removing things like the clock from the status bar, you need this as well) or another ridiculously awesome program Ohsaka's colorchanger program
-other REALLY important tools/programs
*Theme Kitchen (ever wonder where most of us get all those battery images/data + signal icons?)
*RGB Color Picker (one of many resources to get color codes, or you can do it in gimp from color picker too)
Drop by IRC Freenode: #fascinate-themers for help/discussion
*3.31.11*
Ok, I have the tools...now what???
I. Working with regular images in your framework-res (and in a TW Rom, tw-framework-res)
A. Where do I get a stock framework-res.apk and twframework-res.apk?
-a few options here...in an "ideal" scenario a dev or someone else has put out a stock but deodexed rom that you can just unzip and remove the frameworks/system apps/jars from...ie i generally grab mine out of something like jt1134's super clean roms or the equivalent. if a new os/update is out and that hasnt happened yet then move onto:
B. How do I deodex my framework so I can theme it?
have you downloaded xultimate
-I'm not going to further update this, as xultimate is kinda self explanatory and virtually all of our releases are predeodexed. 3.18.11
C. Where are most of the images in a theme located??? (touchwiz-based roms)
-For some stupid reason, Samsung thought it would be a good idea to split the framework-res.apk into 2 files: framework-res.apk and twframework-res.apk (in all fairness htc kinda does this with htc.resources.apk and now gingerbread does this with systemui.apk). Therefore there are *2* places that the framework images are generally located.
II. Working with the magical/infamous .9's
A. What is a .9 image exactly?
-Well heres google's explanation
-My less technical breakdown: basically .9 images are ones that are used either more than once in an .apk. If android had to define every single thing with a unique image, there would be a whole lot more going on in the framework and quite repetitive (it already is cluttered enough). By making an image that can be used in several places and stretched/resized in more than one way, it solves that issue.
1.
{
"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"
}
2.
1=Image with defined "patches" telling where to stretch/resize
2=stock/compiled .9 image
In example 1 we see a png image that is "patched" (but not compiled) the black lines on the very outside of the frame are telling android where it is allowed to stretch the image to make it fit where its needed. General rule of the thumb is a line all along the bottom of the frame where the image is and all along the right side, with a single dot in the top middle and the middle left of the frame. This differs depending on the shape. If you are patching in draw 9, on the right side of the screen it will show you the possible shapes the image can be stretched based upon your patches.
***Most of the force close problems people report when first getting into theming are a direct result of not understanding .9s. They simply try and edit the compiled 9 and then replace it in the framework, not understanding that when you edit the image in gimp/ps/whatever it strips the patches from the image and make it a standard png image, which does not tell the os the information it needs.
B. Now that I know what .9s are (hopefully) how do i work with them?
-Well there are a few ways of going about this. For simplicity sake, I'm going to outline the method that I personally use. At some point if someone who does things the other way(s) wants to do a write up, I'll include that as an addendum.
1. Editing pre-existing pngs.
a. You've opened up your framework/apk and taken a look at the images in there...you see a bunch that you want to change the color of or edit in some manner but you release that many of them have the .9 honor. best way to deal with these suckers is to decompile the framework with the images.
-put the apk in apkmanager...decompile it (see my write up on using apkmanager..coming soon)...and go into projects...navigate to the folder with the images and you ll notice that they now have their 9 patches showing....
feel free to now edit these images accordingly while preserving the patches. however...depending on your image software changing transparency levels will change the black patches as well.
*example* here is an .9 image that was decompiled (notice the black patches already there). in this instance ive used the rectangle tool in gimp to select the area inside of the 9 patches to colorize/color change to fit my theme. this is one way to edit .9s without using draw9 patch.
C. Now that I've edited my .9 pngs (either cheating them or patching them) How Do I compile them?
1. The previously accepted method required using eclipse....but thanks to xeudoxus we have the awesome xUltimate Draw9Patch Compiler !
a. Download the program....and unpack it somewhere that you'll remember where it is (if you have adb/java in your PATH it doesn't have to be in the SDK-tools folder).
b. You will see examples (1, 2, and music) on how how to work with the program. Basically (after getting rid of the examples, but not the folders there in) put the .9s in one of the folders..(I use example1 generally, but it doesn't matter)..then run the program
3.12.11
Wait...So not everything I have to change in a theme is an image???
III. Editing the Framework(s) XML for text and progress bar *color* changes
*note, some edits can be made in multiple ways, ie both through service.jar and framework edits*
A. Why would I want to screw around with xml files at all? Looks complicated!
-I'll admit I put off working with the xml a lot longer than I should have when I got into this stuff. I think i released 2/3 themes without any edits whatsoever...and frankly theres no comparison between a theme that has been properly edited, and a theme that is just using the stock settings. This is especially true in touchwiz, as samsung went with that absolutely hideous aqua color as its secondary text.
B. How To Decompile Frameworks to Make Edits (APKM/APKTOOL). *3.12.11*
1. First things first: if you havent downloaded both APKMANAGER and APKTOOL...do so now, ya really need both....also, apktool 1.3.2 will not work right for everything (you will need it for working with gmail though if you theme that). Here is apktoo1 1.3.1 (replace apktool.jar in "other" folder in apkm).
-For apkmanager you can really unzip/set it up anywhere (I keep it on the desktop, and I have a 1.3.1 and 1.3.2 version set up)
-For apktool unzip "windows installer" and place apktool.jar in your /tools folder in the sdk
-by default an aosp framework-res.apk is installed in your directory...this is fine for *most* edits...however to work with certain apks that call on the system (contacts, dialer, etc)..this is a problem...so once everything is installed...we will want to then install our twframework-res.apk and framework-res.apk from a stock deodexed rom.
Code:
cd your tools folder
apktool if framework-res.apk
apktool if twframework-res.apk
***Tbc
IV. Ya know, I'd really like to have accurate battery and reboot options in my theme!
*tbc*
V. Working with the service.jar
A. Why would I want to mod the services.jar?
-Well theres a few reasons: remapping the status bar images and removing the status bar clock are big....and changing carrier/date/notifications title colors
B. How would i do it?
1. Well you can *cheat* and use our friend apkmanager *2.25.11*
a. rename the service.jar to service.apk
b. insert the renamed file into your "for modding" folder in apkmanager
c. open the script and select 9 to decompile
d. navigate to your "projects" folder and find the file to edit (again I use notepad ++)
e. when done, reopen the apkm script and compile with 11 (if any errors come up, you did something wrong)
-yes to system.apk, no to copy over
f. in your "for modding" folder you now have a file named "unsignedservice.apk"
g. rename this to service.jar and you are gtg
2. you can smali/backsmali it (my prefered method for dealing with classes.dex) *2.25.11*
***Thatdudebutch put together a zip with instructions for using smali (and the commands) as well as the most up to date backsmali/smali (download an unzip to see example..ill post another example below)
a. How to backsmali (decompile) the service.jar
*(i rename smali-1.2.6.jar and backsmali-1.2.6.jar to just smali.jar and backsmali.jar for simplicity in terminal use):
-use 7zip/winzip to extract the classes.dex file from the .jar...and extract it to the folder where smali/backsmali is (again i assume you would want to put it in your sdk-tools folder)
-cd your sdk-tools folder (or wherever smali/backsmali is located, but ideally thats where you put it) then:
Code:
java -Xmx512M -jar baksmali.jar -o classes/ classes.dex
-you now will have created a "classes" folder inside your sdk-tools (might as well leave your terminal open and set to your tools folder for the later steps)
-navigate inside this folder to whatever file you want to edit (i use notepad ++ to edit)
-once those edits and saved and done:
b. How to smali (compile)
Code:
java -Xmx512M -jar smali.jar -o classes.dex classes/
-you now have a new classes.dex file
-use 7zip to open up your service.jar and delete the old classes.dex in there and copy the new one in. close 7zip
-you now have a new service.jar....insert it into your theme and you *should* be good to go (assuming something didnt go wrong )
3. if you just want to change colors (not remove clock or anything..or for that matter change clock color on touchwiz {sammy fail on clock location}), then you can use the super awesome clockchanger program I mentioned above.
*info originally from this wonderful post on androidforums)
*2.22.11*
1. locate the services.jar you are planning to edit (pull with adb from your phone or rip out of a rom)
2. make a folder called framework and move services.jar into that folder
3. create a zip file of the framework folder and call it theme.zip
4. move your "theme.zip" file into your android sdk tools folder
5. open up a terminal (cmd/powershell/whatever)
6. navigate to your tools directory
6a.*example*
Code:
cd c:\android-sdk-windows\tools
7. what needs to be entered to edit the service.jar: (plus whatever you want to edit) (aarrggbb color code)
Code:
java -Xmx512M -jar colorChangev3.jar theme.zip
7a. example of changing date color, carrier color, notificatons, etc
Code:
java -Xmx512M -jar colorChangev3.jar theme.zip date=FF000000 ongoing=FF00000000 network=FF000000 latest=FF000000 none=FF000000 roam=FF000000 clear=FF000000
8. hit enter and let program run (see below)
9. you will now have a "theme-new.zip" file in your tools folder
10. use 7zip to extract the service.jar from it and and insert it into your theme
3.4.11
FAQs
Q: Is theming AOSP-based roms different than TW-based roms?
A: Significantly different in some aspects...The same in others. Obviously many images are going to have different names, and certain images/features are different. Biggest difference is one framework, versus two in TW. Many of the xml edits are different as well.
Q: Is there any etiquette to theming?
A. Umm, yeah there really is .
1. for porting themes: always credit the original creator of the theme in your op, preferably with a link to their post (or donate link if they have one). its cool if you check with the original themer ahead of time before porting, but generally speaking (unless specified by the themer) as long as you aren't claiming it as your own or they now own the device you have (and could possibly be bringing it over on their own) its cool. IMO, simply saying its a port isn't good enough, a link to the original or the website of the creator must be included.
-also credit everything else you don't do on your own (apps/mods) to the people responsible
-example of a themer who *doesn't want anyone working on/porting his themes*: http://www.droidforums.net/forum/928droid/69199-theme-928droid-black-glass-x-droid-x.html#post723150
2. for making your own themes: if you use anything at all from someone else, you have to credit it. and BE HONEST about it (big problem in the android world imo)
-example: if you are using 5 lockscreen mod/reboot options/accurate battery for an EB01 theme you plan to release, credit that to sbrissen. even if you used someone else's theme as a "base" (ie kanged their framework with those built in) you can't simply credit the themer you got it from, you must credit those behind the mods they use.
-example 2: if you are using dialers/apps/images from someone else's theme, credit them for specifically what you are using (best practice would be: google search widget and dialer from bendbowden for example)
Q: What about donations?!?!
A: Yeah this is a tricky one...but let me share *my personal* thoughts on it: let me start out by saying I dont accept donations for porting themes or even making quasi-original ones (gb themes). i dont feel right accepting money from people ...that being said i probably wouldnt accept donations even for a completely original work i did from scratch. anyway....i think that themers that make an original theme from scratch or do something almost completely original are entitled to have a donate button...and if someone wants to donate a few bucks, then have at it ....
i think soliciting donations for straight theme ports (even if they take a lot of time) or just modifying/merging/doing mashups of others themes isn't really kosher so to speak. again this is my *own* opinion and not gospel obviously, but i think that far too many people feel the need to release slightly modified themes with a rebranded name and then accept money for it. really, unless you are changing a significant portion of a theme (imo at least a few hundred pngs) then it really doesnt warrant its own thread and name. if (for example) you modified JAMT's status bar, then best practice would be just to post it in the original thread as a post like "heres my own modification to jamt with an alternate status bar and icons, that i thought some might like"...not "Phoenix Unleashed" or something.
again just *my* take
***tbc***
Useful Links
Finding Colors for a Theme
How to Black Menus
Quickpanel Text Colors (credit andmer) *new 2.17.11*
How to Theme the Android Market *4.12.11
I think this will open up a lot of ideas for people to try it! Nice post nit. I was gonna ask how you get started themeing.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
Bob-o said:
I think this will open up a lot of ideas for people to try it! Nice post nit. I was gonna ask how you get started themeing.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Indeed. I have been trying to learn a bit through reading and whatnot. I have all the tools and am teaching myself how to use them. This guide will be EXTREMELY helpful compared to bouncing between all the pages I currently have bookmarked.
nitsuj17 said:
I. Working with regular images in your framework-res (and in a TW Rom, tw-framework-res)
A. Where do I get a stock framework-res.apk and twframework-res.apk?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Such an important point. You must work from a stock (or as close to stock as possible) deodexed framework-res.apk and twframework-res.apk when making xml edits (although I realize this section is dealing with image editing). You can't use one already themed because when you recompile stupid **** will happen. I had to figure this out the hard way (and had to dig to do so).
BTW: awesome guide, nitsuj17! If the ***tbc*** 's are as detailed as what you have already done, this guide will be one of the best and most comprehensive/non-technical guides out there. Keep up the good work!
You sir, are the man! Been looking for exactly this!
sorry ive been neglecting this the last few days...its gonna be a wip/add as i go thing for awhile
I liked you for porting matted blue.. now I love you for making this lol. Was looking for a guide and stumbled on this.
THANK YOU for starting this guide!
I realize I could have searched endlessly to learn this stuff, but in reality I have more skills than time and learning yet another thing the hard way isn't in the cards.
I'm impatiently waiting for more on the TW framework specific section, as I have no idea what edits work for what in each.
Also, some real work examples would be excellent.
e.g.: The required xml file edits for changing all text to #5555FF.
An image reference would be awesome, as well.
e.g.: The most commonly themed images and what their framework.res names are.
I find myself trying to make a theme and giving up simply because 50% of the images look very similar, and I don't have the time to edit an image, flash it, boot the phone, figure out what changed, then move to the next random-looking image.
Also, is there a faster method to test theme changes?
Booting the phone, copying the theme over, rebooting to CWM, flashing the theme, then booting to see the changes is extremely time consuming, especially when you're not even sure where the change will occur and find yourself randomly pulling up menus and dropdowns trying to see what your change affected.
Cheers for the help.
You really did fill a deep void and I thank you bunches for the help. You will also see a beer or two coming your way for the effort. Community support like this really does get rewarded, in more than just new themers making themes.
Ill be getting to more and more in depth answers and faqs as I go along....dl30 kinda dropped in the middle of my work on this and theres a lot of themes to do. ....but thank you for specific questions id like to see more from everyone so I know what are some more commonly asked questions and what people are looking to do.
lowkee said:
An image reference would be awesome, as well.
e.g.: The most commonly themed images and what their framework.res names are.
I find myself trying to make a theme and giving up simply because 50% of the images look very similar, and I don't have the time to edit an image, flash it, boot the phone, figure out what changed, then move to the next random-looking image..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a really good idea, I talked about making one a while back but never really got around to it. Maybe I can talk to some of the guys and we can throw something together.
lowkee said:
Also, is there a faster method to test theme changes?
Booting the phone, copying the theme over, rebooting to CWM, flashing the theme, then booting to see the changes is extremely time consuming, especially when you're not even sure where the change will occur and find yourself randomly pulling up menus and dropdowns trying to see what your change affected.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ADB is probably the quickest and least painful way to test a theme. When you have completed it adb push <path/to/file/locally> <destination/on/phone>. Then adb reboot.
e.g.: adb push framework-res.apk /system/framework/
N00b here with theme question for Fascinate
I apologize if I am posting in the wrong place also if this has been asked before. I have searched the web and also the forum and I was looking for step by step instructions on how to install a theme ( like myst v3.3) because prior to downloading DL30 I was running supah clean and tried installing dark-myst ( on DL09- Samsung Fascinate) and I placed it on the SD card ( yes clockword is installed) and I went to update.zip then to install zip from sd card and loacted it. it installed, cleared the cache and then it went to the SAMSUNG screen and I had to restore the phone in order to get it functioning again. I am hoping that someone can provide step by step instructions on installing a theme onto Samsung Fascinate with DL30? Thank you !!!!!
tennisjunkie said:
I apologize if I am posting in the wrong place also if this has been asked before. I have searched the web and also the forum and I was looking for step by step instructions on how to install a theme ( like myst v3.3) because prior to downloading DL30 I was running supah clean and tried installing dark-myst ( on DL09- Samsung Fascinate) and I placed it on the SD card ( yes clockword is installed) and I went to update.zip then to install zip from sd card and loacted it. it installed, cleared the cache and then it went to the SAMSUNG screen and I had to restore the phone in order to get it functioning again. I am hoping that someone can provide step by step instructions on installing a theme onto Samsung Fascinate with DL30? Thank you !!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you saying it got stuck on the "SAMSUNG" screen? If you used a DJ05 theme on a DL09 rom, you have to apply the DL09 theme fix otherwise your phone will get stuck on "SAMSUNG".
DL09 Theme Fix: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17566514/DL09 Theme Fix.zip
Edit:
Install DL30: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=937499
Flash only DL30 themes after installing DL30! Here's a list: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=922455
Installing a DL30 theme is the same as on a DL09 but you need the new CWM to do it.
Sorry for all the info. I hope somewhere in there you got an answer to your question.
DtatchD said:
This is a really good idea, I talked about making one a while back but never really got around to it. Maybe I can talk to some of the guys and we can throw something together.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm a totally new at this but if I can help do some legwork on it I'd be willing to try. I was just thinking about looking for a list like this...
Samsung Fascinate DL30 and installing themes
letmehearucaw said:
Are you saying it got stuck on the "SAMSUNG" screen? If you used a DJ05 theme on a DL09 rom, you have to apply the DL09 theme fix otherwise your phone will get stuck on "SAMSUNG".
DL09 Theme Fix: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/17566514/DL09 Theme Fix.zip
Edit:
Install DL30: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=937499
Flash only DL30 themes after installing DL30! Here's a list: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=922455
Installing a DL30 theme is the same as on a DL09 but you need the new CWM to do it.
Sorry for all the info. I hope somewhere in there you got an answer to your question.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you so much for taking the time to respond to all my scattered questions. So to install a theme I put it on my SD card then flash through ROM Manager, then boot into recovery and apply theme from SD card? DO I need to backup and clear data? I dont want to uninstall the ROM. I ended up installing Rubiks DL30 ROM. It is pretty nice looking.
tennisjunkie said:
Thank you so much for taking the time to respond to all my scattered questions. So to install a theme I put it on my SD card then flash through ROM Manager, then boot into recovery and apply theme from SD card? DO I need to backup and clear data? I dont want to uninstall the ROM. I ended up installing Rubiks DL30 ROM. It is pretty nice looking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct. Place the theme you want (should be .zip file) onto your SD card. So if you already have the rom installed, then you reboot into CWM recovery (when I upgraded to DL30, I never even used Rom Manager).
I've read on a couple of forum that its good to clear data and wipe caches (I've done it and not done it without noticing any difference). From there, you flash the theme ("apply .zip from SD card" is the actual command in CWM) and then reboot the phone (this is an option in CWM).
Personal preference, I always make a backup (I use Titanium Backup, but I hear nandroid is good too) before I re-theme.
Samsung Fascinate DL30 and installing themes
Ok. I apologize for all the questions. I tried to do exactly as you described above and it places me at the "Samsung" screen where it has installed the package then looks as if it is going to boot up but does not boot so I have to start back at stock again. I am trying to use DL30 Midnight V1.1 - (midnight for 2.2) as my theme and my ROM is 2.2 Roms
RubikS 0.3 DL30
Is it possible it is not compatible, any suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks again.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=737526
Heres a script that ports your themes from firmware to firmware, rom to rom.
How it works:
- Looks through app/framework folder for apks that exist in new/old rom
- Then extracts pngs from those apks
- Then deletes mismatching pngs
- Repacks old themes pngs into new rom
- Done
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Easy cheesy multi rom theme ports
Here we go! This is gonna be fun this weekend.
xtremekilla09 said:
Here we go! This is gonna be fun this weekend.
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Click to collapse
lol... +1
Now I can port my themes for the whole world to share. Thanks for the find...and thanks for sharing.
sent using a phone.
Now what would really be nice would be if someone designed an .apk that did this on the phone(while adding the originals to a "theme-revert.zip" and the new theme to "theme.zip"). Then you just make one theme and post the link to the .apk.
The closest i ever found was zipthemer but it didnt work every time and thats no good.
If only someone could port the open source t-mobile theme choser to samsuck.
So this is it until someone who knows how to code jumps on that idea lol. Still glad it exists and that i bumped into it. And even more so that two of main people i had hoped would make use of it appear to be willing to do just that.
whiteguypl said:
And even more so that two of main people i had hoped would make use of it appear to be willing to do just that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You bet. If this works, there are so many things that can be done, oh man. It will rain themes, well at least for FireFly to start with.
Again, thanks for pointing this out.
xtremekilla09 said:
You bet. If this works, there are so many things that can be done, oh man. It will rain themes, well at least for FireFly to start with.
Again, thanks for pointing this out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From the limited testing ive done it seems to be working 100%. The only real potential problem im seeing (and the script might have a way to handel it) is porting a theme that uses drawable-hdpi to an apk that has both an hdpi AND hdpi-v4 folder in it. I would hope its defaulting hdpi to hdpi-v4. Lol... But i dont know.
Edit: and even that hope is based on the possible incorrect assumption that andriod will allways pull from the v4 folder given the choice? Anyone care to enlighten me?
whiteguypl said:
From the limited testing ive done it seems to be working 100%. The only real potential problem im seeing (and the script might have a way to handel it) is porting a theme that uses drawable-hdpi to an apk that has both an hdpi AND hdpi-v4 folder in it. I would hope its defaulting hdpi to hdpi-v4. Lol... But i dont know.
Edit: and even that hope is based on the possible incorrect assumption that andriod will allways pull from the v4 folder given the choice? Anyone care to enlighten me?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it does. Isn't the non-v4 there for compatibility reasons with older os versions? I saw something like that a little while ago, in a theming guide
Herp derp Captivate XDA app.
Well after a lot of testing i can safely say that it does not know how to handle hdpi vs hdpi-v4. And since our rom maintainers have decided to mix and match at will without smoothing anything out this script will not work a large majority of the time, depending on what rom you are on.
Quickish fix is to go into the apk before using the script and renaming all the drawable folders to match both the "themed" and "to be themed" apks. Then after the processes you can go in and rename them back to there original names.
............. Im also assuming that if you kept the folder name changes the xml wouldnt know where to look for the images???? I know little to nothing about how android handels that, if someone would like to chime in please do.
Well I most definitely be playing with it this weekend. Thanks again for the info.
sent using a phone.
whiteguypl said:
Well after a lot of testing i can safely say that it does not know how to handle hdpi vs hdpi-v4. And since our rom maintainers have decided to mix and match at will without smoothing anything out this script will not work a large majority of the time, depending on what rom you are on.
Quickish fix is to go into the apk before using the script and renaming all the drawable folders to match both the "themed" and "to be themed" apks. Then after the processes you can go in and rename them back to there original names.
............. Im also assuming that if you kept the folder name changes the xml wouldnt know where to look for the images???? I know little to nothing about how android handels that, if someone would like to chime in please do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe it could be tweaked.
Like after line 55(like roms) (and line 130 pre to post)
Code:
if EXIST "%~dp0old\%dcrt%\%%~nF\res\drawable-hdpi-v4" (rename "%~dp0old\%dcrt%\%%~nF\res\drawable-hdpi-v4" drawable-mdpi)
if EXIST "%~dp0old\%dcrt%\%%~nF\res\drawable-en-hdpi-v4" (rename "%~dp0old\%dcrt%\%%~nF\res\drawable-en-hdpi-v4" drawable-en-mdpi)
Line 240 seems to be for eclair. Most roms here are froyo.
It is possible. Daneshm90 knows his stuff and keeps it fairly simple. If you come up with something he would probably add it.
I will see what I can come up with.
Edit: Extracted file to C:\Theme-Porter_beta_3.
I added the above lines to to the script at lline 57 and 58.
Added files per directions. No errors. Changed files are dated 3/17. Untouched files still old date.
I may reflash soon to test it. Will follow up.
IamSonoma said:
Maybe it could be tweaked.
Like after line 55(like roms) (and line 130 pre to post)
Code:
if EXIST "%~dp0old\%dcrt%\%%~nF\res\drawable-hdpi-v4" (rename "%~dp0old\%dcrt%\%%~nF\res\drawable-hdpi-v4" drawable-mdpi)
if EXIST "%~dp0old\%dcrt%\%%~nF\res\drawable-en-hdpi-v4" (rename "%~dp0old\%dcrt%\%%~nF\res\drawable-en-hdpi-v4" drawable-en-mdpi)
Line 240 seems to be for eclair. Most roms here are froyo.
It is possible. Daneshm90 knows his stuff and keeps it fairly simple. If you come up with something he would probably add it.
I will see what I can come up with.
Edit: Extracted file to C:\Theme-Porter_beta_3.
I added the above lines to to the script at lline 57 and 58.
Added files per directions. No errors. Changed files are dated 3/17. Untouched files still old date.
I may reflash soon to test it. Will follow up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks like that would take it one step closer. The main problem would still exist with those changes. It wont take images from a drawable-hdpi folder and migrate them to a drawable-hdpi-v4 folder. I posted in the op and asked if there might be a way for him to add an option to force the images into the other directory. I would assume it would be similar to part of what the script does to handle hdpi to mdpi conversions.
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.
Click to expand...
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.