How do you redesign themes that are made by others - myTouch 4G Themes and Apps

I wanted to know if there is a program that can do what you guys are talking about. I would like to make my own themes with themes made by other people. If the is no program then where would one start. Thx in advanced.

Ok I don't want to piss people off but how can I make a theme. Where do I start, is there a program to help you make themes instead of copying off of people. That's what I really like to know.

What mind of theme are you talking about? There are different methods for different types of themes.

I think u just need Photoshop and u have to edit the images then repack them to the zip for install just be sure u don't lose where the icons are placed and don't rename them... I think.... but I have no idea "/
CM7 wtf else....

Well I'm talking about themes poeple make that are in android market. I dont know what type of themes they are. Forgive me I'm new to android, I had a iPhone 4 and used winspc to change themes other people made on cydia.

Now do you just got to only use Photoshop cuz I use gimp is it the same.

You can use any image editing software. Read this thread. It pertains to the same thing that you are trying to do. You will use almost the exact same process to edit themes made by others.

Like the previous posters have mentioned, Photoshop or Gimp photo editor which is free would be your best bet, if you wanna make your own designs... If you want to theme your home screen using other people's work visit this thread, might help you out a bit.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=901649
It also has an instruction on how to change the icons after you make the design
Good luck!

If you use anything that is not yours, ask first. A lot of time goes into making a theme (even a not-so-good one) and I've seen too many people just say "credit goes to blah blah" but never asking. Please be considerate of the work of others.
As for actual theming it all depends on what you are theming. Some apps (launchers and widgets mainly) have built in theme functionality and should have a guide specific for them. Theming a ROM is a lot more time intensive and involves decompiling frameworks, setting up development tools, dealing with many possible problems, hoping compiling works, being frustrated about forgetting something, testing, etc. etc.

good info was looking for something very similar

Is making a them for a stock MT4G that uses the theme installer different than those made for custom ROMs?
It seems the androidian theme is the only one that can be installed and used on a stock MT4G. I'd love to see that exact theme with the green replaced by a dark gray.

Related

[Q] Creating a new lockscreen

I would like to develop a new lockscreen for the my Vibrant. I've looked at some of the app versions. I like the concepts, but it seems like a lot of people complain about battery life and lag of the screen. I would like to make an actual lockscreen, not an overlay.
I am currently running Bionix 1.2.1. I would like to either add the lockscreen as an option on the menu provided in the Bionix Rom or flash the lockscreen in clockwork.
My first questions is, is this possible? Second question is how, or where is there somewhere i can look to get started?
I've looked around in the forums and I haven't seen any guides or any good info on this.
This would be my first jump into development for Android, but I'm willing to put in the time and effort as long as I can find a starting point in this area or get some help.
If this is built deep into the ROM and a difficult process I can find a different project, but I'm always up for a challenge. Any help would be appreciated.
MechDan said:
I would like to develop a new lockscreen for the my Vibrant. I've looked at some of the app versions. I like the concepts, but it seems like a lot of people complain about battery life and lag of the screen. I would like to make an actual lockscreen, not an overlay.
I am currently running Bionix 1.2.1. I would like to either add the lockscreen as an option on the menu provided in the Bionix Rom or flash the lockscreen in clockwork.
My first questions is, is this possible? Second question is how, or where is there somewhere i can look to get started?
I've looked around in the forums and I haven't seen any guides or any good info on this.
This would be my first jump into development for Android, but I'm willing to put in the time and effort as long as I can find a starting point in this area or get some help.
If this is built deep into the ROM and a difficult process I can find a different project, but I'm always up for a challenge. Any help would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's built-in quite deep, a lot of files need to be edited. Whitehawkx actually PMed me on how to do this the other day, and it sounds quite complicated.
You'll first obviously need to create your .png's to dictate the lockscreens appearance. Then you will have to have coding knowledge, along with knowledge of smali/baksmali and editing .xmls. Thats a VERY brief overview until someone more knowledgable jumps in.
I can do some programming. I've done C++ and I have done some visual basic for work. I just haven't done any Java. I think with all the information here and on Google's developers page I could work my way though it. I would just need a general guideline. I can edit the .png's. I don't think that would be much of a problem.
It might be easier if I could edit an existing one. I like the concept of the puzzle lock. I just think it is kind of hokey. It would also be nice to have a little be more info on the screen and to have emails show up.
Would you be willing to send me what Whitehawkx sent to you? I'm not sure if that is ok.
I don't mind researching my way through it and learning as I go, I was just hoping someone had done something similar.
MechDan said:
I can do some programming. I've done C++ and I have done some visual basic for work. I just haven't done any Java. I think with all the information here and on Google's developers page I could work my way though it. I would just need a general guideline. I can edit the .png's. I don't think that would be much of a problem.
It might be easier if I could edit an existing one. I like the concept of the puzzle lock. I just think it is kind of hokey. It would also be nice to have a little be more info on the screen and to have emails show up.
Would you be willing to send me what Whitehawkx sent to you? I'm not sure if that is ok.
I don't mind researching my way through it and learning as I go, I was just hoping someone had done something similar.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
modifying would be the way to go... and unfortunately it has nothing to do with java coding, but dalvik bytecode (which is a major pain... untermensch & whitehawk are heroes with that bytecode).
Anyways, I believe it's in services.jar. You'd have to pull out classes.dex from it and decompile. check this post on how to decompile. and you're going to need the smali & baksmali jars...
anyways after you decompile you're stuck with lots of .smali files which contains the bytecode you would need to modify... it's really difficult to understand it heh
Whitehawkx said:
So you are using the other four lockscreens but want to get the rotary to work as well and are looking for what files are necessary for that to happen, correct?
The files I changed to get the rotary working on KB1 are as follows
Framework-res.apk
~public.xml
~strings.xml [I think one change here]
~Images are already in stock frameworks and already in place
android.policy.jar
~New smali used for rotary. All have "rotary" in their title
~changes to LockPatternKeyGuardView.smali
Settings.apk
~Changes to DisplaySettings.smali
~Changes to arrays.xml
I believe these are all the files I had to modify to get the rotary working.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
heres what he said when i inquired. unfortunately he didnt go into much detail, i did send him another PM....but keep in mind these are the steps to simply inject an outside lockscreen into your current ROM, not necessarily how to build one from scratch
hopefully these steps may still give you an idea of where everything is located
I always wanted one that opens from the middle of the screen like a matinee curtain. That would be awesome.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Thanks guys! I'll start working with that and see what I can come up with. It looks like I have a lot to learn about it.
I'll try working through it and hopefully I will come up with some more specific questions that may be easier to answer.
Also, if you think of something that may help, let me know. I would appreciate it very much.
With the starting points already given i would build the lockscreen using aosp then port it to your rom. Once compiled you can decompile then different it
Sent from my Incredible using Tapatalk

[Q] Skins Can they do MORE?

Im curious as to HOW skins do what they do... Is it possible to create a skin or even modify an "htc" skin that will change 'framework' files, not just common 'htc.resources' files.
Ive done some serious googling and searching on the MAKE UP of these skins. Ive edited/modded a few, ive even tried throwing in extra files. ( i know that some sort of control files mut be there for any given item changed, it was just ruling it out) But i wanted to see if for a novice like me that only knows how to manipulate images and replace them, could ADD to a skin, not just rename and recolor it. Simply put ; can we make a SKIN change say status bar icons. We can change the background!
I theme every ROM, MOD, FIX, etc etc i put on my phone. Ive been doing so since D1. Which requires pushing framework-res and others back n forth.
I HATE green... so ive made personal themes (some shared) to remove all green aspects from android. If i could mod a skin to allow for MORE changes it could make my (and others) theme process easier.
ANY Info on this would be appreciated... and passed on .. ASOP roms have figured this out.. HTC finally added some support to Sense.. but welp i want it all.. lol
THANX...
...BUMP...
Really no one... Bueller? Bueller?

If I want to create a theme for TB

If I wanted to create a Scene or a Skin for the Thunderbolt how would I go about doing this. I'm good with creating images but writing the script may be a bit hard for me. And what would be the difference between the Scene and the Skin?
Please don't bark at me, I know its a question you pros hear all the time. Its that I don't know if the sizes are the same far as docks, icons, etc....
johnny quest said:
If I wanted to create a Scene or a Skin for the Thunderbolt how would I go about doing this. I'm good with creating images but writing the script may be a bit hard for me. And what would be the difference between the Scene and the Skin?
Please don't bark at me, I know its a question you pros hear all the time. Its that I don't know if the sizes are the same far as docks, icons, etc....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I suggest looking at other themes already made. You know you can open them (the theme file) with most types of compression tools (7zip, winrar, tar, etc). Have you tried that yet and looked to see what the sizes are and what the files do?
Just download some from the app/theme forum and browse them on your computer
yareally said:
I suggest looking at other themes already made. You know you can open them (the theme file) with most types of compression tools (7zip, winrar, tar, etc). Have you tried that yet and looked to see what the sizes are and what the files do?
Just download some from the app/theme forum and browse them on your computer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks I'll do that.
Depending on how fancy you're trying to get, just using another them as a template should work out okay. If not, you can probably find more info on just generic theming for htc sense based phones in some other forums that have been around longer on xda. I honestly haven't seen anything really thunderbolt specific mentioned on the forums here. However, it should work out the same minus the sizes for any other htc phone (assuming it's for sense 2.x, which most are still).
I know however that I've seen tutorials for launcher theming around on xda. I saw one not long ago for go launcher, so I assume there are others for adw and the other launchers out there as well. Launcher theming wont let you mod everything of course (battery and those icons and such), but still quite a bit you can do and it should be something you can carry over to any phone, not just the thunderbolt.
I don't think anything theme wise should really require coding. Perhaps modding some existing xml and such, but that shouldnt be overly tricky. The hardest part is probably the graphics and that doesn't seem to be a problem for you.

[Q] Default themes for Theme Chooser? [ANSWERED]

Hi,
I have installed GingerDX (v027) on my X8. In the Theme Chooser I have two themes to choose from: ICS and System (which is the one I use).
I really like how my phone looks as it does now, the only thing I would like to change is the color of the icons in the status bar (and of the main icons, if possible, of Call, Messages, Browser and the like) from green to something else, preferably blue.
I asume the right way to do this is by changing the theme (please correct me if I'm wrong).
I've read that CyanogenMod usually comes with three default themes (one theme in three different colors) and I would like to know where I might be able to find those themes (again, I'm asuming that the one I'm using, System, is one of those three).
I have tried downloading CM7 and extracted the files in the hope that I could find .apk files for the themes, but if they're there I don't know what they're called (there is a ThemeChooser.apk (and a ThemeChooser.odex file that I don't know what does), which I asume would install the app Theme Chooser again, but I don't know if the themes are included in that install).
I am a bit worried, though, that I've misunderstood something, because when I try to apply the other theme, Ice Cream Sandwich, the color of the icons aren't changed (but, there is also a warning when I try to apply the theme about missing assets for my screen size, maybe that is what is screwing things up). But if I have misunderstood this entire thing and a theme doesn't change the colors, then what does (do I need to get a new launcher for that then)? (I have the Nemus Launcher that came with GingerDX by the way)
Okay, this got a bit lengthy, so to recap:
I want to change the standard green color (to blue) without changing much else (I'm not too fond of most other themes I've seen, so the default theme in other colors would be fantastic)
Is it possible to find those default themes, and if so, how and where?
Thank you for your help,
Erica
(A side question: how do I delete the ICS theme?)
The other two themes you are talking about are Cyanbread and Androidian. The ThemeChooser.apk it's the theme chooser itself. They are normal CM7 themes, like ICS. Devs have eventually removed those 2 themes from their ROMs because they were old and not maintained anymore. System theme is the default theme of CM7/Gingerbread. You can't uninstall that one.
The "missing assets for the screen size" it's a bug which appears whenever you try to apply an MDPI theme. It's not screwing up anything, I can assure you that.
Also, what colors are you trying to change? Maybe you could give some screenshots.
You can delete the ICS theme by going into system/apps/ with a file manager with root capabilities.
First of all, thank you for the quick reply! (that was so unexpected - I guess I'm used to slow moving forums)
Secondly, it worked! Once I knew the names of the themes it was easy to find them. Also, thank you for the general info - it's good to know (I'm slowly becomming a little less of a noob).
Erica
Also have a look at themed & apps section....
there are some nice themes created by Chris95X8 & achep...
Is it important how did i send this?
Can some help me get my hands on a free version of steel blue theme? It looks great!!!
(Neo_na, isn't that a bit off topic? Oh well.)
If anyone's curious, here's an update on my color problem.
Installing Cyanbread sort of solved the issue: it changed the icons in the status bar from green to blue and the icon color (as well) from green to blue, which was what I wanted.
It didn't though change the color of the dots at the top of the screen (the ones that show where you are on the desktop) which was still green. I'm guessing, now that I know a bit more about themes and their different options, that it would have been possible to choose to hide those dots, but since I didn't know better I went looking for another solution (another reason for that is also that although Cyanbread is blue, then it's not the right kind of blue that matches the cover color of my phone - yes, I'm a bit of a perfectionist...)
I went looking for themes and found that both ADW and Go Launcher EX had a lot of good ones. I quickly realized, though, that none of those themes changed the status bar (which meant that I was back to my original problem).
So, here's my final solution (at least until I dare try my hand at making my own theme):
I found and installed a CM7 theme whose status bar I liked.
Then found a (in this case AWD) theme whose icons I liked.
Then changed the background image.
= a phone without any green!
(In the end I veered away from blue and I've ended up with a nice light glassy white combination that works really well with my prefered wallpaper. I've still chosen to hide the status bar though, since it's not a complete match and the screen looks better without it. And I've went into the CM7 settings to customize the lockscreen to fit as well as posible - I tried finding Go Locker themes, but none of them were perfect. The only odd bits of stray color is now an orange line that shows when you hit the top and end of the app drawer and I've had to chose to hide the background of the dock icons, since it looked botched on my phone for some reason - both are things I can easily live with.)
Gnildryw said:
(Neo_na, isn't that a bit off topic? Oh well.)
If anyone's curious, here's an update on my color problem.
Iosen to hide the live with.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, I don't think so. Coz its under themes category with a thread named 'default themes for theme chooser' so I just posted my question in a similar thread, which is, I am looking for a theme called steel blue.
And also since Chris is a Guy famous for theming I was hoping for an answer from him.
@chris - And btw, your xperia s theme looks great mate!!
This might just be pouring fuel on the fire, but...
Neo_na: The reason why I think your post is off topic is because it has nothing to do with the original post (it might fit in with the title, but only if you haven't read the rest of the post).
I think you need to ask your question in another thread, possibly make a new thread for it, if you want it answered (especially since I've already labelled this thread as answered).
Though, just a warning, I think your request might clash with the forum rules (about not promoting or discussion "warez"). Just a heads up.
Gnildryw said:
This might just be pouring fuel on the fire, but...
Neo_na: The reason why I think your p
I think you need to ask your question in another thread, possibly make a new thread for it, if you want it answered (especially since I've already labelled this thread as answered).
Though, just a warning, I think your request might clash with the forum rules (about not promoting or discussion "warez"). Just a heads up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol, I'd rather post in existing threads that are very similar to my query rather than create threads for each and every question, like you probably do (which is like spamming and discouraged by xda). haha.... and no, you're not pouring fuel...... and btw, there's no such thing as private threads even if the thread was created by you..... you're acting like nobody can post or ask anything coz its YOUR thread and only your issues should be solved in this thread. Its like a Guy claiming a public phone Booth to be his alone....,..

Changing Resources in 4.0.4

Hi & 1st off if this is stupid please dont take the piss to badly lol...
years ago i was well into the whole Windows thing, Stripping its resources & making batch files that would find & replace icons that were of a better quality.. They would then be injected into the resource files of the OS so when it was installed it looked nicer...
Now to my idea...
Ive seen lots of nice Themes out there for my phone but dont seem to like any of the theme managers & how they change the feel of the phone & was wondering if its possible to strip the icons (.png ) from these & create an APK that just over writes them directly to the phones installed files..
An example would be the awesome Blue Theme for one of the custom roms you can get.... just having the png files on there own installed without the theme itself..?
Sorry if this is stupid as im only thinking from a windows point of view & dont no really if its possible or even an idea for android..
War3zuk said:
Hi & 1st off if this is stupid please dont take the piss to badly lol...
years ago i was well into the whole Windows thing, Stripping its resources & making batch files that would find & replace icons that were of a better quality.. They would then be injected into the resource files of the OS so when it was installed it looked nicer...
Now to my idea...
Ive seen lots of nice Themes out there for my phone but dont seem to like any of the theme managers & how they change the feel of the phone & was wondering if its possible to strip the icons (.png ) from these & create an APK that just over writes them directly to the phones installed files..
An example would be the awesome Blue Theme for one of the custom roms you can get.... just having the png files on there own installed without the theme itself..?
Sorry if this is stupid as im only thinking from a windows point of view & dont no really if its possible or even an idea for android..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
check the link below, it might be of some help to,also u can PM the OP of that post for any further clarification.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=28793952&postcount=134
Wicked
Thats wicked thankyou.... Just what i was after really as I want to learn to do this myself.. Thankz again

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