Database Develop

New to Android Theming

I am thinking about doing some theming with my Thunderbolt. In the past I have stuck with basic tweaks but now I would like to do some more in-depth theming.
I do not plan to manually modify files. Instead, I plan to theme the overall UI by using widgets, lock-screen replacements, and launcher settings.
For example, I would like to customize the look and feel of my device using some of the following tools:
Minimalist Text Widget
Simi Folders Widget
Beautiful Widgets
Desktop Visualizer
Widget Locker
etc
What is the best way to "theme" the device to have customizations such as lock screens and minimalist feel. I have begun using the above tools and can see the power behind them. In combo with launchers such as ADW or LauncherPro you can achieve the look and feel you desire.
I am unsure the best approach for lock screens and dock replacements.
I am planning to research this more but was hoping some more experienced "themers" in the community could chime in and share the best approach!! I understand that there is a lot of tweaking involved in this process.
Please provide your suggestions and advice. Maybe share what widgets you use and other things I may be missing (font packs, backgrounds, launcher docks, widgets, lock screens, etc.)
Thank You!

Most people use widget locker for the lockscreen...
I suggest , (personal taste) ADW Ex for a custom launcher replacement...

Thanks for starting off the suggestions! I plan to use WidgetLocker and ADW Launcher EX.
I need to look into more WidgetLocker themes to see what is possible!! The possibilities seem endless
I also need to find out how easy it is to replace icons/docks for ADW versus other available launchers!

JsinLegacy said:
Most people use widget locker for the lockscreen...
I suggest , (personal taste) ADW Ex for a custom launcher replacement...
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meh widget locker is like having a 2nd launcher.
just theme the lockscreens!

nitsuj17 said:
meh widget locker is like having a 2nd launcher.
just theme the lockscreens!
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what are you doing trolling the thunderbolt forums lol

mob87 said:
what are you doing trolling the thunderbolt forums lol
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i enjoy trolling...usually its just the continuum or mesmerize...but still

nitsuj17 said:
meh widget locker is like having a 2nd launcher.
just theme the lockscreens!
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How can I theme the lock screens? I am new to this, so any pointers would be helpful. I can dig deeper into the forums for that info as well.
I just figured using Widget Locker would allow for easy lock screen theming!

bmcclure937 said:
How can I theme the lock screens? I am new to this, so any pointers would be helpful. I can dig deeper into the forums for that info as well.
I just figured using Widget Locker would allow for easy lock screen theming!
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the lockscreens for htc are different than what im used to for aosp/touchwiz but the images are prolly in framework-res.apk, and htcresources.apk in system/framework and htclocksreen.apk in system/app
the aosp lockscreen would be framework-res.apk...sense slider in the other 2

Ahhh. Okay. So I would need to manually replace the images... makes sense.
One reason I am attracted to Widget Locker is the easy theming and ability to include information on the lock screen. For example, I could use Minimalist Text Widget to display battery level, time, etc.
I also plan to flash CM7 as soon as I feel it is ready (stable enough for regular function). No worries... I am definitely not sticking with Sense!

bmcclure937 said:
Ahhh. Okay. So I would need to manually replace the images... makes sense.
One reason I am attracted to Widget Locker is the easy theming and ability to include information on the lock screen. For example, I could use Minimalist Text Widget to display battery level, time, etc.
I also plan to flash CM7 as soon as I feel it is ready (stable enough for regular function). No worries... I am definitely not sticking with Sense!
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sense is kinda cool for the rosie mods and lockscreen mods you can do....and honestly i love the theme (i made the sense theme for the fascinate)....but aosp is certainly preferable for many things

Okay. What is the best way to change fonts?!
Also, which launcher do most people prefer for theming. The most popular seem to be ADW Launcher EX, Launcher Pro Plus, and Go Launcher EX.
I used ADW Launcher extensively with CM ROMs. I have not used the EX version but know it unlocks additional features (such as transition animations and the ability to swap dock/icon images).
I recently started using Launcher Pro Plus and am enjoying it very much! I do not know if ADW or Go Launcher has any additional functionality that would make it "better".
Finally, I have no experience with Go Launcher but have heard good things about it...

bmcclure937 said:
Okay. What is the best way to change fonts?!
Also, which launcher do most people prefer for theming. The most popular seem to be ADW Launcher EX, Launcher Pro Plus, and Go Launcher EX.
I used ADW Launcher extensively with CM ROMs. I have not used the EX version but know it unlocks additional features (such as transition animations and the ability to swap dock/icon images).
I recently started using Launcher Pro Plus and am enjoying it very much! I do not know if ADW or Go Launcher has any additional functionality that would make it "better".
Finally, I have no experience with Go Launcher but have heard good things about it...
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search xda for flashable font packs...some subforums have several hundred grouped together

Can anyone who has been using Widget Locker post some of their creative locksceen pics?

I can try to remember this evening after work.

[Q] [REQ] Themed TW Launcher?

Is anyone working on or have a themed TouchWiz Launcher? I like the TW launcher because it is lightweight and doesn't take up a lot of memory (even with the friends widget active). But it is not very customizable.
The only modified one I have seen is the Crush TW launcher which has a 5 icon dockbar, and I like it but it doesn't allow me to add the friends widget or set custom pictures for icons.
Can the normal TW launchers framework me modified through Ninja Morph, etc?

What are you looking for?

Just a Tw launcher with a 4 icon customizable dock that maybe allows folders and custom shortcuts. Maybe with dark themed touchwiz widgets. I thought something was out there...but am having trouble finding anything.
Sent from my fascinate

stelv said:
Is anyone working on or have a themed TouchWiz Launcher? I like the TW launcher because it is lightweight and doesn't take up a lot of memory (even with the friends widget active). But it is not very customizable.
The only modified one I have seen is the Crush TW launcher which has a 5 icon dockbar, and I like it but it doesn't allow me to add the friends widget or set custom pictures for icons.
Can the normal TW launchers framework me modified through Ninja Morph, etc?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The TeamCarbon Steel Blue theme has a blue themed touch wiz launcher that has a customizable dockbar. (I also use BetterCut to create my own customer app icons.)
ED01 CommROM ~1.3 TeamCarbon/BigLoofs_STEEL BLUE V1.75

stelv said:
Just a Tw launcher with a 4 icon customizable dock that maybe allows folders and custom shortcuts. Maybe with dark themed touchwiz widgets. I thought something was out there...but am having trouble finding anything.
Sent from my fascinate
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Good day, find it a tad odd that you're having trouble getting the friends widget to work with my launcher, BuddiesNow should work, and nobody has reported any problems so far. If you're looking for dark themed touchwiz widgets, then it's not the launcher that's responsible for that, but the widgets themselves. I'd suggest the Vibrant's TW widgets, they're the darkest themed out of all of em, I have a modded Vibrant BuddiesNow in my thread. And as mentioned above, BetterCut can be used to edit some images, though from the TouchWizLauncher itself, only folders, the App Drawer icon, Google Search widget I think, and I guess the page dots are what can be changed.

CrushD said:
Good day, find it a tad odd that you're having trouble getting the friends widget to work with my launcher, BuddiesNow should work, and nobody has reported any problems so far. If you're looking for dark themed touchwiz widgets, then it's not the launcher that's responsible for that, but the widgets themselves. I'd suggest the Vibrant's TW widgets, they're the darkest themed out of all of em, I have a modded Vibrant BuddiesNow in my thread. And as mentioned above, BetterCut can be used to edit some images, though from the TouchWizLauncher itself, only folders, the App Drawer icon, Google Search widget I think, and I guess the page dots are what can be changed.
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Thank you for the advice and your work. I finally did get the TW widgets to work with your launcher. I had to push them into system/apps with root explorer before I pushed your launcher. Its all good now. I have been pushing items with root explorer because amend zips will not work with my edify CWR.
I am currently running the Miuiwiz Rom now, but I am going to use your launcher when I go back to Com Rom or EF. Thanks for the response.

Love GoLauncher, but need things changed

I run MIUI and am sick of the launcher (app drawer, etc.) I like GoLauncher with its widgets and such. There are a few things I want changed though, and I would like to know if it has been done.
First, I like how the icons in MIUI are really large, in GO, they are very small. Can they be changed in GO?
Secondly, I like how the text under the icons in MIUI do not have the black background. Is this possible in GO?

RyanTX said:
I run MIUI and am sick of the launcher (app drawer, etc.) I like GoLauncher with its widgets and such. There are a few things I want changed though, and I would like to know if it has been done.
First, I like how the icons in MIUI are really large, in GO, they are very small. Can they be changed in GO?
Secondly, I like how the text under the icons in MIUI do not have the black background. Is this possible in GO?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
not possible at present i guess
There r lots of users out there including me who want the above changes.
why dont u head over to their thread in xda and request for the feature?

nessqn said:
not possible at present i guess
There r lots of users out there including me who want the above changes.
why dont u head over to their thread in xda and request for the feature?
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Click to collapse
I didn't know they had one. I will take a look.

Launcher Pro is the only launcher I think that can remove the icon label backgrounds.
One of the reasons I love it. I do wish it had bigger icons and maybe a 4 icon dock.

GetPatriotized said:
I do wish it had bigger icons and ...a 4 icon dock.
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Agree 100%.

sawari said:
Agree 100%.
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Agree 1000000%.

I like GoLauncher better because of home swipe actions,the ease of changing icons on both homescreen n dock and overall smoothness...

This is why I use ADW EX.. you can customize everything to do with the icons.. Size, background of icon, text color, size, fully customize the dock, instantaneous drawer (I find go launcher drawer to always have SOME lag), tons of themes, same swipe gesture options and screen animations.. The only thing you lose is the widgets and there are other market Apps that take care of that.
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using XDA App

civicvx94 said:
This is why I use ADW EX.. you can customize everything to do with the icons.. Size, background of icon, text color, size, fully customize the dock, instantaneous drawer (I find go launcher drawer to always have SOME lag), tons of themes, same swipe gesture options and screen animations.. The only thing you lose is the widgets and there are other market Apps that take care of that.
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here.. LPP and GO are great, but ADW customization go further (no dock is a sweet feature too)... but ADW is not as smooth as the two others, I mean that when you want to edit stuff (widget size, placing shortcut elsewhere, etc) it feels weird, not as responsive, I don't like it but it's the only negative point so I live fine with it.. pros and cons..

In go launcher i use desktop visualizer to get some real big icons, miui style. It gives me even the option to open shortucs to folder organizer.
Cheers,
PC
from my Android with Tapatalk

P C said:
In go launcher i use desktop visualizer to get some real big icons, miui style. It gives me even the option to open shortucs to folder organizer.
Cheers,
PC
from my Android with Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just downloaded Desktop Visualizer and I did not find the option in there for icon size. How are you doing it?

Long press the icon from dvisualizer that you just added to your home screen and choose resize.
Dvisualizer is a widget, you can resize it just like any other widget.
PC
from my Android with Tapatalk

RyanTX said:
I just downloaded Desktop Visualizer and I did not find the option in there for icon size. How are you doing it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A nice guide here

agreee 1000000%

Retaining desktop layout across new themes.

One of the biggest drawbacks to installing new themes is that my preferred desktop has to be rebuilt each time. It feels like I'm starting at square one.
Is there some easy way to retain the icon & widget layout I'm happy with when applying a new theme?

R1150GSA said:
One of the biggest drawbacks to installing new themes is that my preferred desktop has to be rebuilt each time. It feels like I'm starting at square one.
Is there some easy way to retain the icon & widget layout I'm happy with when applying a new theme?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not sure if you are talking about the Homescreen... But regardless of your issue, it may be of some help to the community if you tell us what device you own, what rom you are using, and any other mods/tricks you've used. That would help us help you in the best manner possible. Anyways, are you using a custom launcher? I personally use Apex Launcher PRO, and when I apply themes, nothing happens to the desktop; everything remains in their location.
Does your issue occur with all theme's or just a certain theme? Have you tried applying a different rom? Restarting?

You're right, I should have included that information. I'm using an MZ604, Team EOS Stable Release 2 ROM.
The problem I have is with the home screen layout. I have my icons set up just the way I want them but if I use any other launcher app I have to redo my whole layout. I was wondering if there's a way to keep my custom homescreen icon setup when I change launchers. It would be a real time saver for evaluation purposes, but I suppose the launcher dev wants you to see a specific home screen layout to highlight their design at startup.
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk 2

R1150GSA said:
You're right, I should have included that information. I'm using an MZ604, Team EOS Stable Release 2 ROM.
The problem I have is with the home screen layout. I have my icons set up just the way I want them but if I use any other launcher app I have to redo my whole layout. I was wondering if there's a way to keep my custom homescreen icon setup when I change launchers. It would be a real time saver for evaluation purposes, but I suppose the launcher dev wants you to see a specific home screen layout to highlight their design at startup.
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not sure if you can retain the locations of icons between launchers, only because all of them are different in many ways. However, you can try another launcher and make it the default launcher. Since you are evaluating, only keep a couple icons in custom locations. Then you can try applying different themes and seeing if that resets your homescreens. If it doesn't reset, it should be safe to replicate your original homescreens in the new launcher. For Apex Launcher (and I believe Nova Launcher), there is also an option to back up the layout of your homescreens to the xoom's internal storage.
Hope that helps...

Thanks, yosterwp. Yes, that's very helpful.
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk 2

OnePlus Launcher

How can I tweak the inbuilt OnePlus launcher to add certain functionalities like hiding apps or organising them in folders within the app drawer?
(I haven't rooted my phone it is currently using OxygenOS version 4.0.3)
I know the easier option is to install another launchers available out there with these features. But I have found that UI of OnePlus launcher is quite clean. Though Launchers from play store like nova, arrow, buzz allow you to customise the icon size and lable's font size on the home screen, it is not possible in the app drawer, which makes to UI little clumpsy thus I want to add the feature of organising and hiding to oneplus launcher itself.

Nova allows you to tinker with icon size, text size, no. of icons horizontally and vertically, background colour, scroll bar colour etc. You can also setup swipe actions on desktop like one plus launcher and add even more gestures.

bonham1988 said:
Nova allows you to tinker with icon size, text size, no. of icons horizontally and vertically, background colour, scroll bar colour etc. You can also setup swipe actions on desktop like one plus launcher and add even more gestures.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See. Many launchers have this feature in their paid version, but not in their free version. And, I personally don't believe in paying for an app without trying all its feature at least for a week for free.
Though I would try NOVA Prime, I want to know HOW can I tweak the in-built launcher?

Sagitragon said:
See. Many launchers have this feature in their paid version, but not in their free version. And, I personally don't believe in paying for an app without trying all its feature at least for a week for free.
Though I would try NOVA Prime, I want to know HOW can I tweak the in-built launcher?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't. Either you like what OnePlus likes or you choose a different Launcher.