Credits
T-Mobile - Theme Engine
Haxzamatic - Theme engine guide, Templatebread source, original code/images for indeterminate progress.
nhnt11 - Non-linux theme engine guide
chrfb - Ecqlipse2 icon set from which various images are used
CyanogenMod Team - ROMs, source files, porting T-Mobile theme engine
@djdarkknight96, @AMac2583, @Wysie_Soh, @JsinLegacy, @anderwebs, @JAquirre1231, @Montalbert, @teamsilence23 - Helping out with various things at various time whether or not applicable to this project
World population - anyone anywhere who has influence me either implicitly or explicitly
About
This theme is HDPI only. If someone wants to port to MDPI then go ahead.
This is pretty much a port of my Minimalist theme to the T-Mobile theme engine that is used in CM7.
The biggest difference in this and Minimalist is that this has widget backgrounds. The backgrounds are a rectangle which is black with 25 percent transparency; there is also an inverted version of that for widgets with black text. There are also a few layout files that are not able to be utilized in Facebook,apk, GenieWidget.apk, Gmail.apk, and Vending.apk, so they look slightly different than in Minimalist.
The Calendar edits from Minimalist are not included in the theme because of current limitations in the theme engine, but it is available to flash by itself.
There are a few things in framework-res.apk that are not themed at certain times by the theme engine and the lockscreen is not themed. There is a morph that will allow to theme those items, and it must be applied every time you flash a new ROM. It also has my modified Ubuntu Clockopia.ttf included.
The Ubuntu font that is used in Minimalist is included to be flashed, and it must be flashed every time you flash a new ROM.
You may get an error about assets missing, ignore it and apply the theme.
There are over 2000 resources included in this theme that I had to type.
If you want to use this as a base for your theme, then feel free to use it.
I have attached the full sized version of the screen shot used as the preview image, for more screen shots, go view one of my Minimalist threads as it looks close enough to that.
MinimalistBread: because this theme require layout .xml edits, you MUST apply the MinimalistBread_Layout_Morph.zip for this theme to work properly.
There is no wallpaper in this theme by default, so it should not replace your wallpaper, but sometimes there is a bug where some random image from the theme will be set as the wallpaper after applying the theme.
Change Log
Thread
10-24-2011
Updated call_detail.xml for Contacts.apk to fix messed up looking call details screen in MinimalBread_Full_Morph.zip.
10-04-2011
Added MinimalBread_Full_Morph which is the MinimalBread, lockscreen, and layout morphs combined.
Added Newer version of Calendar.apk for anyone getting odd looking images in monthview.
08-16-2011
Added link for themed Calendar based off of 2.3.5.
08-12-2011
Added links for MinimalBread Launcher Pro Plus Widgets Theme
08-09-2011
Added an overlay morph to make all the status bar icons blue.
08-08-2011
Updated MinimalBread_Layout_Morph to include conversation_list_activity.xml from Gmail version 2.3.5.
07-24-2011
Updated MinimalBread_Morph.zip to include screenshot image in power menu.
06-30-2011
Updated Swype Files to Version 3.6.84.26668 of Swype.
06-06-2011
Updated Calendar.zip to 2.3.4 base instead of 2.3.3. Also, color of the text should flow better.
05-31-2011
Changed package name of testsigned .apk to com.david1171.minimalbreadtest so there should be no odd market errors.
05-03-2011
Updated MinimalBread_Morph.
Updated white_gb_status_bar_icons to include current battery images and current download/upload images.
04-25-2011
Updated MinimalBread_Morph again.
Updated MinimalBread_Calendar to the latest Calendar.apk from CM 7.0.2.
04-24-2011
Updated MinimalBread_Morph and MinimalBread_Layout_Morph. Adds media images for lockscreen and text color in call log details respectively.
04-18-2011
Added lockscreen morph with tabs and icons themed.
Added several overlay files so you can customize theme to your liking.
MinimalBread
Version 1.7.0.1
Fixed signature error. You may still have to uninstall then reinstall, sorry.
Version 1.7.0
Themed SetCPU.
Updated Market to 3.1.5 images.
Fixed some images in YouTube.
Fixed headphone icon in status bar.
Version 1.6.9
Themed UberMusic
Added a few widget images for Launcher Pro to compliment the Launcher Pro Widgets theme
Version 1.6.8
Added a few images to Gmail
Updated Gmail .css files to version 2.3.5's files
Version 1.6.7
Themed 3.0.26/3.0.27 Market
Version 1.6.6
Themed Google+
Themed Reddit Is Fun
Themed ZipThemer
Version 1.6.5.1
Added additional 4G status bar images in SystemUI.apk
Changed Talk.apk images for talk bubbles.
Themed Screen Filter
Version 1.6.5
Added PlayerPro Widgets and various other parts of PlayerPro.
Added PlayerPro Pure White Skin (Download and select this for a fully themed PlayerPro).
Fixed notification pulldown widget buttons to work completely with indicator turned off option.
Version 1.6.4
Fixed 4G status bar icons.
Partially themed 2.3.4 Google Talk (aka Talk2.apk or Google Talk with Video/Voice chat enabled)
New wifi, sync, alarm clock status bar icons.
Possible fix for status bar incoming call icon.
Version 1.6.3
Made scrollbars two pixels thick instead of one.
Themed gReader and gReader Pro.
Made SMS/MMS status bar icons smaller.
Edited Gmail status bar icon.
Edited Google Voice SMS status bar icon.
Edited a few other various status bar icons (Music, headphone, maybe a few other minor ones that I cannot recall right now).
Edited the add icon for the menu (and in a few other places it occurs).
Added a two images to framework-res for when keyboard is being used in landscape.
Version 1.6.2
Themed SoundRecorder.
Themed DownloadProviderUI.
Themed Notes by Yuli.
Themed Google Reader.
Themed Google Listen.
Very minor changes to Gmail.
Version 1.6.1
Removed Superuser since theming it caused it to force close.
Added a few images in Contacts.
Added a few images in framework-res.
Very minor edits to SystemUI.
Version 1.6
Added/Fixed images in Browser.
Themed Superuser.
Themed Subsonic. NOTE: Use Black theme.
Themed Andoku.
Made smoother updload/download images.
Made different indeterminate progress images.
Made new star images.
Minor changes to Talk.
Minor changes to Google Search.
Minor changes to framework-res.
Minor chagnes to SystemUI.
Soft buttons for status bar for Tablets themed.
Version 1.5
Made in-call buttons match dialer
New menu icons
Made icons in Camera match zoom icon better
Few minor visual changes
Version 1.4.1
New dialer - if you don't like the new one, visit the site linked below and I will soon have a method up to restore the old one.
A bunch of small various changes, nothing major to note, but it may be a while before I have time for another update, so I figured I would release current work as is.
Fixes some menu icons in google voice.
Signapktic themed.
SwypeInstaller themed.
Version 1.4
Added Google Voice
Edited more images in framework-res
Edited more images in Contacts
Edited more images in Phone
Edited airplane mode icons to be an airplane
Edited unchecked check boxes to be blank
Edited image in Facebook that annoyed me
Version 1.3
Added Talk
Added Plume
Added ADW Ex
Added ADW.Launcher
Added Dev Tools
Added Root Explorer
Fixed image bug in Settings
Version 1.2
Fixed bug where Gmail images were not being used
Made Gmail quick reply buttons white
Added torch widget
Added renderfx widget
Added TweetDeck widgets
Added progress_horizontal.xml
Version 1.1
Added CDMA status bar signal icons
Made fully_connected status bar icons white instead of blue, and made the regular status bar icons a gray
Version 1.0
Initial release
MinimalistBread
Version 1.0
Initial release
Downloads
MinimalBread
Now on the Market
If you have installed a non-market version of this theme, then you will need to uninstall it before installing the market version.
Google Voice may force close while applying the theme, but it does not matter since you have to reboot after applying the theme anyways.
Revert to system theme if having trouble downloading/installing update from the Market
If you can't install from the market for whatever reason, then just download the test-signed .apk from below in the Overlay section of this post.
Free and Donate versions are the exact same except for the package name
Free Version: http://bit.ly/ew6Ead
Donate Version: http://bit.ly/gh8PGz
MinimalistBread Version 1.0
MUST apply MinimalistBread_Layout_Morph.zip
Not updated due to lack of demand coupled with the fact that I do not use it.
http://bit.ly/fZWM8V
Install Instructions
Install
Go to Theme Chooser
Select MinimalBread
Apply
Reboot
Update Instructions
Go to Theme Chooser
Select System
Apply
Install Update
Go to Theme Chooser
Select MinimalBread
Apply
Reboot
MinimalBread_Full_Morph
Added 10-24-2011.
Includes MinimalBread Morph, MinimalBread Layout Files, and MinimalBread Lockscreen.
Updated call_detail.xml for Contacts.apk to fix messed up looking call details screen.
Gmail updated to 2.3.5.2.
Has Ring styled lockscreen themed.
Updated to include smaller ring image for when having multiple custom apps.
[http://bit.ly/tx1OyL/url]
[/LIST]
...is still needed.
[*][url]http://bit.ly/ppzSow
Install Instuctions
Set MetaMorph delay to around 1000 (My exact number is 1054) then press Close (Press menu then select settings after Metamorph has been launched to access this)
Press Unzip/Extract new theme
Navigate to where you have MinimalBread_Morph.zip located
Select the file
Press close on the on the pop up that appears
Press Apply all!
The device may freeze up at this point, if it does freeze up, then wait about 30 seconds, then pull the battery and boot your phone
If you device randomly reboots, then set the metamorph delay to 5000 and reapply just the .apk's that it either rebooted on, and if there were any that did not apply when it rebooted, then apply those as well.
MinimalBread Layout Morph
Updated file 04-24-2011
Makes the text in the call log details of a call white instead of black in the header.
Makes the text for the Torch widget and RenderFX widget have white text
This is not required, but does provide a few nice extra edits
Gmail must be in /system/app/ under the exact name Gmail.apk.
http://bit.ly/fAA5tt
MinimalistBread Layout Morph
Updated 08-08-2011 to include updated conversation_list_activity.xml from Gmail 2.3.5.
This is REQUIRED for MinimalistBread to function properly.
Facebook and Gmail must be in /system/app/ under the exact names Facebook.apk and Gmail.apk respectively.
http://bit.ly/qAsF5y
Install Instuctions
Press Unzip/Extract new theme
Navigate to where you have MinimalBread_Morph.zip located
Select the file
Press close on the on the pop up that appears
Press Apply all!
The device may freeze up at this point, if it does freeze up, then wait about 30 seconds, then pull the battery and boot your phone
If you device randomly reboots, then set the metamorph delay to 5000 and reapply just the .apk's that it either rebooted on, and if there were any that did not apply when it rebooted, then apply those as well.
Minimalist Lockscreen
Full Lockscreen with tabs and icons - http://bit.ly/dVBKRx
Just the lockscreen icons - http://bit.ly/dVj33T
Install Instructions: PLEASE READ!!!
Set MetaMorph delay to around 1000 (My exact number is 1054) then press Close
Press Unzip/Extract new theme
Navigate to where you have Minimalist_Lockscreen_Icons.zip located
Select the file
Press close on the on the pop up that appears
Press Apply all!
It WILL force close com.android.phone when it applies the Phone.apk, I do not know of any way around this.
While the force close pop up is on the screen, another pop up menu will appear behind the force close pop up and the buttons will say either Continue? or Stop; you must quickly press Force close on the force close pop up, then press Continue? on the other pop up menu; it will then start applying the framework-res.apk
The device may freeze up at this point, if it does freeze up (mine did), then wait about 30 seconds, then pull the battery and boot your phone
Everything should be applied now; if it is not, then go back and apply the .apk that did not apply
[/SIZE]
MinimalBread Calendar
Use for either MinimalBread or MinimalistBread
Updated 09-29-2011; added 10-04-2011.
If you have an odd bar in your calendar app using an old version of this, then this should fix that.
http://bit.ly/pYnE90
Install Instructions
Place file on sdcard
Reboot into recovery
Flash file
Reboot
Redo this anytime you flash a new ROM
Ubuntu Font
Use for either MinimalBread or MinimalistBread
http://bit.ly/i78FHb
Install Instructions
Place file on sdcard
Reboot into recovery
Flash file
Reboot
Redo this anytime you flash a new ROM
MinimalBread Launcher Pro Plus Widgets Theme
Free and Donate versions are the same.
Free Version - http://bit.ly/nXNKyp
Donate Version - http://bit.ly/ogDRlB
MinimalBread Themed Swype
These are for the 3.6.84.26668 beta of Swype.
Added just a flat black version with no buttons only letters.
Screenshot (too big for me to want to place directly in thread): http://bit.ly/fRi8RJ
GrayBG is on the left, MinimalBread is in the middle, LightBG is on the right.
These are ONLY QWERTY layout.
There are two ways to get this.
Method One (requires apk manager and knowledge of how to use it):
Download one (or all, just depends on which ones you want) of the following files: GrayBG | MinimalBread | LightBG | Flat Black
Get the com.swype.android.inputmethod.apk (sometimes has -1 or -2 before .apk) from /data/app/ and put it on your computer.
Drag the files from the above .zip file into the swype .apk file using your favorite archiving software (I prefer 7-zip).
Put the themed swype .apk into the place-apk-here-for-signing folder of apk manager.
Run apk manager and press 16 to sign the .apk.
Uninstall the current version of swype on your phone.
Install the edited version.
Anytime, either right after installing or at any time swype stops "swyping," then you will need to re-license swype through the swype installer.
Method Two:
PM/email me and give me some time to respond (specify which version, or if multiple version desired, say so).
Uninstall the current version of swype on your phone.
Install the edited version.
Anytime, either right after installing or at any time swype stops "swyping," then you will need to re-license swype through the swype installer.
MinimalBread Overlay Files
MinimaBread_Overlay_Morphs - Contains all of the files for ease of access.
battery_percent - Adds battery percentage (0-100) to the battery icons in the status bar.
black_pulldown_background - Changes the blue transparent background to a black of the same transparency (75%).
blue_fully_connected_status_bar_icons - Changes the status bar icons from white/gray when connected to google servers/not connected to google servers to blue/white respectively.
menu_icons_old - Replaces the menu icons with the old styled menu icons.
menu_icons_old_white - Replaces the menu icons with the old styled menu icons colored white. (NOTE: some of the icons will be invisible in certain places after applying this.)
new_menu_icons_white - Replaces the menu icons with icons that have been colored white. (NOTE: some of the icons will be invisible in certain places after applying this.)
new_menu_icons_white_black_background - Replaces the menu icons with icons that have been colored white and have a black background behind them so that they are visible in all places.
old_dialer - Replaces the dialer/incall buttons with the old images.
white_gb_status_bar_icons - Updated to include battery/download/upload images on 05-03-2011. Changes the status bar icons to the stock GingerBread status bar icons that have been themed white. (NOTE: not connected to google servers icons are 50% transparent of the connected to google servers icons, also the google voice status bar icons are just plain stock.)
white_mb_icons_data_battery_signal_apply_over_white_gb_icons - This is to only be used after using the white_gb_status_bar_icons overlay. It restores the MinimalBread data, signal, and battery (without battery percentage) status bar icons.
blue_status_bar_icons - Makes the status bar icons blue.
About
The files allow you to customize the theme to your liking based on either user requests/suggestions or on things that have changed through the theme.
There are a few different ways that you can go about applying these files, based on your comfort with working with .apk files.
Method One is written specifically for Windows, I assume similar directions would work on any other OS.
Test-signed copy of the latest Market release - 1.7.0 - http://bit.ly/qpl5aw
Method One
Advanced users (with simplified down instructions)
Requirements: ADB, APKManager, 7-Zip (or equivalent software), morph .zip files on computer, MinimalBread.apk found above, or current market release from /data/app/.
Step 1: Get apk from above or get the apk off of your phone, if you get the apk from above skip to step 3.
Step 2: If you are stubborn and not using the apk from above, then do the following
Code:
adb shell ls /data/app/
(look for com.david1171.minimalbread.apk it may have a -1 or -2 before .apk)
(the following command will place the apk in your working directory, if you do not want it there, then specify which directory you would like it to be placed in)
adb pull /data/app/com.david1171.minimalbread.apk MinimalBread.apk
Step 3: Open the .apk file with 7-Zip.
Step 4: Open each of the morph .zip files that you want to add to the .apk.
Step 5: Go into the MinimalBread folder and drag and drop the res folder from each morph .zip files that you want to use into the root directory of the .apk file.
Step 6: After adding all of the files to the .apk close the 7-Zip window.
Step 7: Drag and drop the .apk file in the place-apk-here-for-signing folder of APKManager.
Step 8: Start APKManager (run Script.bat)
Step 9: Enter 16 (sign an apk) into APKManager and press enter.
Step 10: Once it has finished signing the .apk, then you can install the .apk. If you have any previous version of the theme installed, then first uninstall that version.
Step 11: Install the .apk by either placing on your sdcard and installing like any .apk or with the following command
Code:
adb install -r MinimalBread.apk
Method Two
Easiest way if not able to do method one.
Requirements: ADB or Terminal, Zip Themer, morph .zip files on sdcard
Step 1: Run the following commands from with ADB or through the terminal
Code:
(if using ADB)
adb remount
adb shell
(if using terminal a.k.a. kicking yourself in the groin)
su
(or whatever the command to remount your /system partition as rw is for your phone)
mount -o rw,remount -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system
(rest of the commands will work with either ADB or terminal)
ls /data/app/
(look for com.david1171.minimalbread.apk it may have a -1 or -2 before .apk)
mv /data/app/com.david1171.minimalbread.apk /system/app/MinimalBread.apk
(use cp instead of mv if mv does not work)
Step 2: Open Zip Themer
Step 3: Press +Theme
Step 4: Navigate to where you have the morph .zip files stored on your sdcard
Step 5: Repeat Steps 3 and 4 as many times until you have all the morphs you want added, when done, proceed to Step 6.
Step 6: Press *Output
Step 7: If the name of the output file is satisfactory, press done and go on to step 8, otherwise, change the name of the output file to your liking.
Step 8: Press Build It!
Step 9: Create undo file if you feel the need to.
Step 10: Once Zip Themer has made the .zip file, then uninstall any version of MinimalBread in /data/app/.
Step 11: Reboot into recovery
Step 12: Select the .zip file that you created with Zip Themer.
Step 13: Flash it.
Step 14: Reboot your phone once the file is done being flashed.
Step 15: Open the Theme Chooser, apply MinimalBread, and reboot when finished.
Method Three
Most annoying way (to me at least)
Requirements: Requirements: ADB or Terminal, MetaMorph, morph .zip files on sdcard
Step 1: Run the following commands from with ADB or through the terminal
Code:
(if using ADB)
adb remount
adb shell
(if using terminal a.k.a. kicking yourself in the groin)
su
(or whatever the command to remount your /system partition as rw is for your phone)
mount -o rw,remount -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock3 /system
(rest of the commands will work with either ADB or terminal)
ls /data/app/
(look for com.david1171.minimalbread.apk it may have a -1 or -2 before .apk)
mv /data/app/com.david1171.minimalbread.apk /system/app/MinimalBread.apk
(use cp instead of mv if mv does not work)
Step 2: Uninstall any version of MinimalBread located in /data/app/.
Step 3: Apply the .zip files with MetaMorph (there are several different places in this post that document how to use metamorph, another one is redundant).
Step 4: Reboot your phone once you have applied all of the morphs that you would like to apply.
Step 5: Open the Theme Chooser, apply MinimalBread, and reboot when finished.
F.A.Q.
Q. Why are there morph files?
A. There are certain aspects where the theme engine does not work, such as: the lockscreen, the power menu, and layout .xml files.
Q. Why is my lockscreen transparent after applying MinimalBread Morph?
A. It is designed that way to keep a minimal look. There is a morph that will give you lockscreen tabs and icons or just icons if you so desire.
ill take that..thank you very much
Fantastic, your Desire themes are great, and the transistion to theme Chooser is a welcome one.. thanks
been waiting for this, cant wait to try it out, is your keyboard theme included in apk? if not can you add the zips to OP.
Beautiful. Exactly what i have been waiting for.
very nice theme, only two comments.
1) when a google account is sync'd, the status icons go from white to blue (which kinda seems to throw off the overall feel of the theme), can this be changed so they stay white?
2) the only way I can see my lockscreen is to use the "Lense" lockscreen (sliding tab and both rotaries show nothing, they still work, just don't show anything)
example of blue icons:
example of no lockscreen:
I like this look...definitely gonna try this
My Hero is eating grape poptarts
Kaik541 said:
very nice theme, only two comments.
1) when a google account is sync'd, the status icons go from white to blue (which kinda seems to throw off the overall feel of the theme), can this be changed so they stay white?
2) the only way I can see my lockscreen is to use the "Lense" lockscreen (sliding tab and both rotaries show nothing, they still work, just don't show anything)
example of blue icons:
example of no lockscreen:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The lockscreen slider are supposed to be transparent to keep the theme as minimal as possible
And I agree with you about the icons not really fitting in with the theme it puts me of using it. Just need to ask the dev nicely and he might change them for us.
Sent from my awesome DZ
Yeah no likey the blue icons. Keep them white. Maybe grey for no Google services and white once connected?
Been using this theme on other devices for awhile, love the themed gingerbread keyboard, keep up the good work dev.
Mytouch 4g / CM7 / Faux Kernel / Minimal Bread Theme
I do however wish something can be done with market colors as it makes my transparent market not attractive ...
Mytouch 4g / CM7 / Faux Kernel / Minimal Bread Theme
Beautiful theme. Only thing I feel needed changed is the progress bar (present in the browser, music app, etc.). All the rest is minor stuff like system incons.
Otherwise, great work. My main theme as of now.
Sent from my Droid
in my device the dial and contact menu background are all blue! please can you put a black background in the phone menu? i cant find what icon it is..
Nice dude, look perfect and complete really good my Theme, THX
After uploading all the work for this yesterday, I realized I could still make a version with transparent widget backgrounds, it would just require a morph to move the modified layout .xml files over and the modified apps to be in /system/app/. I will work on it when I have time and make a separate theme for the transparent widget backgrounds.
cjward23 said:
The lockscreen slider are supposed to be transparent to keep the theme as minimal as possible
And I agree with you about the icons not really fitting in with the theme it puts me of using it. Just need to ask the dev nicely and he might change them for us.
Sent from my awesome DZ
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can work on making the status bar fully icons white and the regular ones a dark gray.
smonme said:
I do however wish something can be done with market colors as it makes my transparent market not attractive ...
Mytouch 4g / CM7 / Faux Kernel / Minimal Bread Theme
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have never used a transparent market, so I'm not sure what all would have to be done to get it to work properly. I recommend decompiling the MinimalBread.apk, delete res/xml/com_android_vending.xml, open colors.xml and delete all the color lines that start with vending, then go into the drawable folders and delete everything that has "com_android_vending_" in the name. After you do that, recompile the .apk, sign it, then uninstall the version you have installed now, then install your modified version. That way the Vending.apk will not be touched by the theme, so anything you have done to your Vending.apk will be left alone.
EggoEspada said:
Beautiful theme. Only thing I feel needed changed is the progress bar (present in the browser, music app, etc.). All the rest is minor stuff like system incons.
Otherwise, great work. My main theme as of now.
Sent from my Droid
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whenever I was adding progress_horizontal.xml to the theme, it would cause the now playing screen in the music player to force close, I know it is that exact file because I removed every call to the music app from the theme and it still force closed, then removing the .xml but leaving all the music edits worked fine. That is why there is the morph in the OP that themes the progress_horizontal.xml along with other things that the theme engine is not capable of for the time being.
oppip93 said:
in my device the dial and contact menu background are all blue! please can you put a black background in the phone menu? i cant find what icon it is..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do not know what you are referencing. Can you take a screen shot?
doesnt matter i replace some icon and have done! but thank you anyway
Updated the OP with more info and downloads.
Awesome, twas just about to start building a themeengine port from your source this evening when I saw this.
Nice one mate. glad you moved to this one. hard to apply updates from you on Minimalist since its on major release only, and i'm using nightlies.
great job as always!
I have put MinimalBread in the market now. I will not put MinimalistBread in the market since everything needed for it to function properly cannot be included in the theme engine. There is a free and donate version of MinimalBread but both are the exact same except for the package name.
Introduction
This is going to be a long post! A few weeks ago I started thinking about making my own themes for my LG G5. I had installed some custom roms previously and used substratum a bit but I have always ended up going back to xpirt's Fulmics rom, which doesn't allow this. I started to think how I could do this and have today got to the first stage of being able to change the colours of my phone to precisely what I want, not only for the settings but in some of the stock apps. I thought I would share this with the community and provide some step by step instructions so you can try it yourself. This should work on LG G6, V10, V20 & V30 if you use an app made for these phones but I have no way of testing this so don't hold me to it. This has taken me about 5 full days to work this out and there is still more that I need to do.
I am not in anyway a developer or coder and have very little knowledge of Java so if anything goes wrong here it is likely that I will not be able to help you. I absolutely am a noob at this and do this only for a hobby, using just my common sense and our friend Google to overcome the problems I have come across. Saying that, I will try to offer assistance if I can.
I managed to make my theme from reverse engineering a free LG theme app that was readily available. If you do this method though please consider getting approval from the app developer first. There is a template on here posted by Raafat here. While this was helpful it was only basic and I could not work out exactly what to do. Reverse engineering an app was much easier. Here is how I did it with step by step instructions:
******DISCLAIMER******
I am in not responsible for what you do to your phone. If you decide to try and theme your phone make a backup first or be prepared to do a full reset if anything goes wrong. You do this at your own risk.
1. Programmes
The programmes/software needed for theming are:
• Notepad++
• Apktool
• Android Studio (I used version 2.3 as I was getting an error on re-signing with 3.0)
2. Installing Frameworks Using Apktool:
• Firstly, delete the files in your local temp directory. To do this open ‘Search’ and type in %temp% and delete all files in this folder. You may not be able to delete some of the files. This does not matter
• Next, extract the framework files from your rom/custom rom. For Fulmics 5.5 this was:
Frameworks-res.apk
lge-res.apk
• At a guess I would say that any rom will have these files named exactly as they are above, but I am not sure if these have been altered by xpirt for his rom so you may not be able to use them across other roms.
• Open a command prompt and navigate to the folder where the framework files are kept. This is easiest in a folder called C:/apktool so create a folder in your C:/ drive and place them there. You can of course name the folder or locate it where you want though.
• Use apktool to install the frameworks using this command in the command prompt in C:\apktool
apktool if framework-res.apk
apktool if lge-res.apk
• Once this is done you should find the following files Installed here: C:\Users\[your username]\AppData\Local\apktool\Framework
1.apk
2.apk
• If, like me, you get an error with apktool that says it cannot write to C:\Users\[your username]\AppData\Local\apktool\Framework and instead has placed them in the temp folder then go into the Local folder using the pathway above and create a folder called 'apktool' and then a subfolder called 'framework'. Try the commands again and it should then work.
• You should also find the following files in the C:\apktool folder (if that is the folder you are using). If they are not here you may have to copy and paste them from the apktool github download.
apktool.jar
apktool.bat
• If you have found these files then you are set to go with decoding the theme/app you have chosen as a basis to amend.
3. Decoding APKs Using Apktool
• Download the apk/app you want to use. I used Backup and Restore app from Play to get the app I wanted to use onto my PC. Once you have this on your PC place the main APK/app in the same folder as the apktool.bat and the apktool.jar (for me this this was C:\apktool)
• Point the command prompt at this place and type the following:
apktool d [app name]
• A folder with the name of the app you just decoded will appear in the directory that you use (in this case C:\apktool)
• In this folder you should find another folder called assets. There may be more sub APKs here in subfolders. This subfolder will likely be assets>overlays
• All the sub APKs in here will have to be decoded otherwise you will have different signing keys and the app, once compiled again, will not work. Decode all the sub APKs in this same folder. You will have to copy the following files to the folder you are decoding the sub APKs in. These are:
apktool.jar
apktool.bat
• Decode every sub apk using the command apktool d [sub_apkname]
• You should now have the same number of folders in the drive as the number of sub APKs, if you decoded them all.
4. Changing the Colours and other Themes from the Decoded APKs Using Notepad++
• Many theme APKs will have internal APKs, such as common, settings, phone, systemui, calendar etc, etc. This is what I have worked out so far:
Common: Changes the switches, brightness bar and the text headings in settings, changes swipe left panels in apps such as gallery, changes background, message icon & phone icon colour in contact/phone app, statusbar background, separating lines in settings (some themes do not have these), background bar of setting title (i.e. wireless network, device etc), settings text colour, secondary text (i.e. the text you see under Wifi and Bluetooth which shows you what you are connected to), the headings in apps such as clock where it shows 'Alarm' 'World Clock' 'Timer' etc
System UI: Changes the quick settings tiles & text and the non-heading text in settings
• To change the colour of these you have to amend the colors.xml located in one of the folders in the assets>overlays and then the folder of the overlay you want to change. I used Notepad++ to do this. Navigate to 'res' folder and then usually something like 'values-xxxhdpi-v4'. There is sometimes more than one color.xml file so you may need to look in more than one folder and amend all the color.xml files. The colours are at the end of the lines of text and will be standard Android colour coding, such as ffffffff (white) or 00000000 (black) or any other colours.
5. Building APKs & Signing with Android Studio
• If you are building the sub APKs from an app (these are the ones inside an APK such as common, systemui, phone etc) I found it best to use a different folder. For this I used C:\apktool builder
• Copy and paste the folder from the decoded APK (e.g. the [appname].LGE.common folder) that is in the asset>overlays folder to the apktool builder folder above
• Once you have made the colour amendments it is time to build the amended themes. To do this you will need Android Studio
• Open the splash screen of Android Studio and instead of the 'Open' command use the 'Import Project' command and navigate to the folder you want to import
• When opening Android Studio you have to configure the frameworks otherwise you will not be able to sign the app. This warning should come up automatically. THIS MUST BE DONE FOR IT TO WORK
• Navigate and find your APK in apktool builder and import it. If you do this more than once you will be prompted to overwrite the settings a few times.
• Go to ‘Build’ along the top and choose ‘Generate Signed APK’. If this is the first time it will ask for the Key Store Path. You will need to choose ‘Create New’. Select a place to store this key (I chose C:\apktool Builder) and input the passwords and the other data in the boxes. You must put a two-digit country code in the last box, for example US, UK etc). For ease I kept most of these very simple. For example, password was 'asdfgh'
• Once this has been completed and if there are no errors (warnings are ok) then it will generate a signed sub APK and save it to the location you are in (in this case C:\apktool builder). Copy and paste that sub APK over the one in the C:\apktool folder where the original sub APK was kept.
• Once you have done this then you need to sign the main app APK. Do the same as above and build in Android Studio. If there are no errors it will save it to your directory (in my case C:\apktool\[app name].
• Copy and paste this APK into your phone, apply the theme and it should work.
Everytime you amend a sub apk you will have to re-sign it through Android studio and then re-sign the main app apk. Once you get the hang of it though it is fairly straight forward.
6. Other Things
Nothing else in the app will change at this point. The name, wallpaper jpegs, screenshots and icons will all be the same. I am working on this at the moment but they don't actually need changing that much. The difficult thing for me is how to change the 9.png icon files and still get them to work. Once I have worked this out I will be able to finish it off.
7. Screenshots
Attached are some screenshots of how my phone now looks. I have made a few different apk's with different colours so I can now change this daily if I want a change (see post 2 for updated screenshots).
8. Thanks/Credits
@xpirt - Made it easy to get the framework files I needed for apktool and for a great custom rom!
@Raafat - for giving me the idea and the initial information
@iBotPeaches - for developing apktool.
.
Building Your Own LG Theme
I've been able to fine tune the themes over the past few weeks and have been able to colour the settings icons on the main settings page as well as putting a background behind it. I've also been able to theme the switches initially getting over a problem of the 'off' switch not showing. Here is some updated screenshots of a green/grey&blue theme.
I've also attached the updated blue & red theme from the initial post. I've not fully completed this yet though as I started to concentrate on the green/grey&blue theme as I preferred that.
Could someone make a stock theme just dark? I found one on play store but is not the best thing (it changes system sounds and other things that i don't like) I'd like a full stock theme but dark. Thanks in advance
Help
Can you help me? I tried changing package names in .json file and added new icons in the theme. I don't understand why it is failing on apply. It was running properly with only color change before doing this.
[email protected] said:
Can you help me? I tried changing package names in .json file and added new icons in the theme. I don't understand why it is failing on apply. It was running properly with only color change before doing this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here is the apk.
I probably won't be able to get round to this until the weekend due to work commitments but will have a look and let you know.
strikerman10 said:
I probably won't be able to get round to this until the weekend due to work commitments but will have a look and let you know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Take your time, and thanks. ?
[email protected] said:
Take your time, and thanks. ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In case you haven't checked the apk I provided earlier, I have found and fixed some package name errors but the result is still same. It get stuck at 90% and then fails. I have changed icons too, is there anything needed to do in public.xml ? New apk is attached below.
strikerman10 said:
I probably won't be able to get round to this until the weekend due to work commitments but will have a look and let you know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you took a look at it?