I'm wondering how one accesses the launcher icons. I'd like to be able to do my own tweaks if necessary. I've read up a bit on the android dev site, and saw the basics on creating them, but not on how to get to, and alter the stock icons. I'm guessing it may involved digging in with root explorer, but I have know idea where to look. Any direction on this?
I have never created my own due to the fact that there are so many already available from members of our great community, but have swapped out many png's in my system. Mostly status bar icons. But would be same process. What I usually do is copy apk from system to puter or extract from rom zip and open up with 7zip. Find said png, and copy new one to it's location. Close the zip at which time it may ask you if you would like to update, press yes. And then push the new apk to your system or create a flashable zip out of it.
How's that sound? Is that what you were looking for?
That sounds like what I would need to do, but it was a bit beyond my understanding at this point. I've never dug around in the system files, and barely understand all the terminology. I was kind a hoping for a go here, then there, then look for xxx.png, copy to pc, etc...
n8w said:
That sounds like what I would need to do, but it was a bit beyond my understanding at this point. I've never dug around in the system files, and barely understand all the terminology. I was kind a hoping for a go here, then there, then look for xxx.png, copy to pc, etc...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need to start looking in
Rosie.apk (/system/app/)
com.htc.resources.apk (/system/framework/)
framework-res.apk (/system/framework/)
Copy them to your PC
Then extract the res folder with 7zip, replace the png files you want to change then drag and drop the res folder back into 7zip
Typically icons start with either ic_ or icon_ but that is not always the case so search visually in the res sub folders
adb push them back to their respective folders
Related
Hey guys,
I'm trying to finish up my new homescreens, and my last widget is Audio Manager Pro. I've tried the metamorph on it, but it wasn't working. I've also tried to manually open the .apk and edit the .pngs i needed to edit, but have issues getting it signed. Any modders have some free time to help a theme noob?
What I am trying to do is make the background .pngs for the widgets transparent. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Bump, any help or suggestions would be great!
Sent from my Evo.
I will be keeping an eye on this. The transparent skin they have for AM is transparent BUT the little bars that show levels are yellow, orange, and green or red or some yucky (to me) color combo! (they match NONE of the wallpapers I use) I wrote the developer this morning and asked for transparent but with like white, or shiny metallic bars ....
Yea, the am transparent skin on the market isn't really fully transparent. I also want the background to the fuxia skin transparent.
Sent from my Evo.
I answered my own question, but I thought I'd share what I did to make it happen.
1. adb pulled the apk
2. Opened the .apk in betterzip (mac user) WITHOUT EXTRACTING, and pulled the folders that needed editing.
3. Edited .pngs in Photoshop
4. Dragged the folders back into Betterzip into the correct directories.
5. Saved the changes to the .apk
6. adb pushed the .apk to /system/app
7. Profit!
Hopefully that helped someone!
That would help me IF i knew what I was doing ... I don't have Photoshop and I def don't know how to do that.
I did see under standalone's on this following link, 6th one down had it. Isn't that it? I tried it but it didnt' work for me. Just like the Genie one won't. Everything else my phone had taken easy.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=652661
kyleblakepeters said:
I answered my own question, but I thought I'd share what I did to make it happen.
1. adb pulled the apk
2. Opened the .apk in betterzip (mac user) WITHOUT EXTRACTING, and pulled the folders that needed editing.
3. Edited .pngs in Photoshop
4. Dragged the folders back into Betterzip into the correct directories.
5. Saved the changes to the .apk
6. adb pushed the .apk to /system/app
7. Profit!
Hopefully that helped someone!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Having the same problem, also can't get SetCPU widget to go transparent.
So, open the apk in a zip program, take out what needs editing, edit, put back in?
Yes and push back to system/app. Make sure to delete the app from the phone before pushing back.
Sent from my Evo.
effluent said:
Having the same problem, also can't get SetCPU widget to go transparent.
So, open the apk in a zip program, take out what needs editing, edit, put back in?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Umm.. SetCPU has an option to make the background clear.. Just an FYI.. It's a setting you change when you first open the widget..
I've been opening up framework-res.apk as a zip file and changing around icons for my status bar with other themes. I just replaced the signal bars icons and the 3G icons, repackaged the framework into a zip file, and applied it via rom manager. No Icon change. I've been able to replace several before, any ideas why it wouldn't work now? I reopened the file and verified the icons had been changed.
The icons you are looking for are in com.htc.resources.apk
If you have something specifically you want changed I can tell you where it is located and what the filename is. I am building some theme tutorial videos because I had a hard time finding all of this information. I want to make it easier for others. I remember all the way back in June when I got frustrated finding what files went where. I am making a list to help others out, let me know what you are looking for.
[email protected] said:
The icons you are looking for are in com.htc.resources.apk
If you have something specifically you want changed I can tell you where it is located and what the filename is. I am building some theme tutorial videos because I had a hard time finding all of this information. I want to make it easier for others. I remember all the way back in June when I got frustrated finding what files went where. I am making a list to help others out, let me know what you are looking for.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Subscribed!
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
subscribed as well, a video with some info would be great. I am definitely no developer, but not afraid to mess around a bit. I was also interested in making similar changes as OP.
In fact I am using Jerick's smooth sense mod with white letter mod by squintz, and a couple of the icons were coming up out of order. I was not cool enough to be able to repair the info that points to an icon so I found the icons in framework-res.apk and changed the names of them so that I would get the correct icon in status bar. But obvously that is not the correct fix. However this is where the icons OP is talking about. So if I can make a name change to a png can't you also replace that png. I believe that the apk has to be signed correctly after manipulating?
Anyways any basic info about doing such would be greatly appreciated
spjoneser said:
subscribed as well, a video with some info would be great. I am definitely no developer, but not afraid to mess around a bit. I was also interested in making similar changes as OP.
In fact I am using Jerick's smooth sense mod with white letter mod by squintz, and a couple of the icons were coming up out of order. I was not cool enough to be able to repair the info that points to an icon so I found the icons in framework-res.apk and changed the names of them so that I would get the correct icon in status bar. But obvously that is not the correct fix. However this is where the icons OP is talking about. So if I can make a name change to a png can't you also replace that png. I believe that the apk has to be signed correctly after manipulating?
Anyways any basic info about doing such would be greatly appreciated
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't need to resign the apk unless you completely extract it. Then good luck trying to get a system apk to work. Just open the archive and replace needed imgs then update the archive and you're done. All depends on what os your using. Linux makes it easy to edit apks without extracting. In win you have to rename to .zip then do line I said then rename back to .apk
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
Which files specifically are the signal meter? I just want to change those ones back to the stock icons.
jskolm said:
Which files specifically are the signal meter? I just want to change those ones back to the stock icons.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can tell you later (i dont have the dump on hand) but the signal meter pngs are located in com.htc.resources.apk under /res/drawlablehdpi/ thay have a name like sys_status_cdma1 or something like that. I think if you get that far the images might jump out at you. If you want the exact ones I can tell you when I get back from work.
[email protected] said:
I can tell you later (i dont have the dump on hand) but the signal meter pngs are located in com.htc.resources.apk under /res/drawlablehdpi/ thay have a name like sys_status_cdma1 or something like that. I think if you get that far the images might jump out at you. If you want the exact ones I can tell you when I get back from work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Found them. Thanks for the direction. I was looking through the folders and I couldn't find them, because they are transparent backgrounds, so the white on white blended right in. I changed out the signals for the ones I wanted and everything looks like its working now.
Thanks for your help!
I saw this in an article on droid-life: Here
Original Thread: Animated status bar pulldown for GB roms
Hope this could help some devs/themers get this going for us EVO users
The Author of this is: Alastrionia
Youtube Demo
MODS: If this should not be here, please remove, and my sincere apologizes.
Animated status bar pulldown for GB roms
First off this should work with all GB based roms that use systemui.apk
there may be subtle differences but the basics should be the same all around.
after much trial and error and ripping what little hair I have left out
success was mine and it's time to share this with everyone
and it's so simple that you'll love how fast you can integrate this into ROM's / themes / whatever your heart desires
1. take your systemui.apk and decompile it
2. navigate to layout folder
3. grab "status_bar_tracking.xml" and open it up in your editor
(now for the fun)
4. to the first line - "com.android.systemui.statusbar.TrackingView" add this ""android:background="@drawable/...anim.xml""
<com.android.systemui.statusbar.TrackingView android:background="@drawable/...anim.xml...>
5. after saving that, navigate back into the drawable folder and add your animation.xml file there
5a. next navigate into the drawable/hdpi folder and add your animated images
6. also in the drawable/hdpi folder find and open up the shade_bg.png with your editor and make it 100% transparent
7. now it's time to recompile your apk , following all the usual directions with that
8. enjoy your newly created systemui.apk with a pretty animated background. new and fresh and unlike anything before
that's it. done deal. it's super easy and fast and breathes life into true customization.
I used the stat_sys_upload.xml from the framework-res.apk as my base
all I had to do was change the timing and change the image names.
also you'll notice above - don't copy it word for word on the xml.
I did the "..." meaning whatever you decide to name your file.
I'll try to throw up a video shortly of my success with this so everyone can see it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You lost me at "decompile"
SantinoInc said:
You lost me at "decompile"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think by that he means to open the systemui.apk
I used 7zip to open a cm7 nightly just now and it's located in the system/app folder. Inside the .apk theres:
res (folder)
AndroidManifest.xml
classes.dex
resources.arsc
Inside the res folder:
anim (folder)
drawable (folder)
drawable-hdpi (folder)
layout (folder)
xml (folder)
Hopefully some themers can get some pretty nice/cool things done with this.
No you would have to decompile the apk with a apk decompiler..Unzipping it will not work.Thats just for replacing images.
1 Aw3s0m3 M0d!!
i'll help people if they're having trouble. probably won't do this personally.
and yeah, to see .xml files correctly, you need an apk decompiler.
Nice find! Will definitely try this.
forgive me if im not reading this right.... is this for aosp of sense?
What will they think of next
Evolutionmods said:
forgive me if im not reading this right.... is this for aosp of sense?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe this is for AOSP but reading through the entire thread someone says "this also works on the com.htc.resources.apk for sense ROMs."
Subbed and Definitely Interested!
More demos with different animations are starting to appear. This is looking really awesome.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gf7lFsAkxFA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vte37qjSiEc
Oh yeah. I got big plans for this one. Cant wait to get some time to sit down and code it. It really is as simple as stated.
It's not just for gingerbread. I shot this with my crappy 5 year old digicam.
Another demo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAHoKJ2N0Xw
Has anyone given this a go on the EVO yet??
Yeah, I got it working...Needs some tweaking. I tried it with a 24 frame boot animation.. very laggy. I suspect that a 8-15 frame animation would do well
blassilando said:
Another demo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAHoKJ2N0Xw
Has anyone given this a go on the EVO yet??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The vid I posted above yours is on an evo.
Would either of you mind posting your xml so i could use it as a reference? Not totally clear on that part of it. Thanks.
http://www.dropbox.com/referrals/NTEyOTE1MzA3OQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEKsfTiaif0
Ill gladly be a testbot for anyone working on this for our evos
would be nice to get a zip we can flash. so everyone including us noobs can get this mod.
thanks for the info great job
Title say all , i have a Nexus 5 lolipop 5.1 and i want to full dim 0 my visor . Softkeys inclued.
Need help please.
If you want to dim the navigation bar (why would you need to?) you'll probably have to decompile SystemUI, modify the drawables then recompile, or use Xposed.
It's not necessary to decompile. As .apk is actually a .zip, you can simply change .png-s inside drawable folders.
But if you use 5.1 it will be much harder to change original SystemUI with yours, because of security changes in system partition.
zagorteney said:
It's not necessary to decompile. As .apk is actually a .zip, you can simply change .png-s inside drawable folders.
But if you use 5.1 it will be much harder to change original SystemUI with yours, because of security changes in system partition.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This one is tricky though since you have to make sure, not to damage the signature. Some PNG use a "special" format and need to be decompiled first --> modified --> recompiled --> injected again in the Framework.
Gorgtech said:
This one is tricky though since you have to make sure, not to damage the signature. Some PNG use a "special" format and need to be decompiled first --> modified --> recompiled --> injected again in the Framework.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wrote this many times: you DON'T need to decompile apps which came from factory image. And even .9.png-s can be simplycomment on this are changed. For example: We wish to change background of power widget. 1. Pull the Settings.apk from /data/priv-app. Copy to PC. Rename it to .zip (you don't need any extra tool for this) or use TotalCommander - you even don't need to rename .apk to .zip with it. We must look for appropriate image (appwidget_bg_holo.9.png in /res/drawable-xxhdpi-v4) inside. Make some regullary png in Photoshop in size and resolution of original one - you can free your imaginations about colors as you like. Now copy the name of original image and with paste rename your own. Put your renamed image into .zip (overwrite original one) and thats all philosophy.
This is possible just with apps from factory image and you will not brake any signature. This works for me since Xperia X10 until Nexus 5 with 5.0.2. On 5.1 biggest problem is (at least for me) that I don't know how to integrate updates of system apps into rom. But if you are on 5.0.2 or above, you can simply try. Just remember to backup first.
Regards, Zagor
P.S. Any further informations are welcome, but at least people try this first. And it's a little annoying to write this down over and over again.
Extracting and inserting pictures is not the problem but like I mentioned before, the "9" PNG. If you simply copy them, edit them and reinsert them again, it might turn out to be a mess and these pictures are not displayed the right way. I gave up theming stuff a long time ago since it´s not really worth the trouble anymore. At least if you use a legal Gfx tool ( since I have my doubts that most people own a real licensed version of Photoshop anyway ) like eg. GIMP, you might expect some trouble if you don´t decompile "9" PNGs first. At least I can tell that I had to go through the trouble while I still had my old Galaxy S3 in order to make them usable, the way I wanted them to be
I know the procedure, don´t worry
Gorgtech said:
Extracting and inserting pictures is not the problem but like I mentioned before, the "9" PNG. If you simply copy them, edit them and reinsert them again, it might turn out to be a mess and these pictures are not displayed the right way. I gave up theming stuff a long time ago since it´s not really worth the trouble anymore. At least if you use a legal Gfx tool ( since I have my doubts that most people own a real licensed version of Photoshop anyway ) like eg. GIMP, you might expect some trouble if you don´t decompile "9" PNGs first. At least I can tell that I had to go through the trouble while I still had my old Galaxy S3 in order to make them usable, the way I wanted them to be
I know the procedure, don´t worry
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I said: you must not copy and edit existing .9.png. You have to create a new one and just name it with the procedure as I wrote above. So you have to copy the name of .9.png and paste that in the name of your own image. Am I clear enough now?
Forgive me to say, but you don't know this. Sorry.
Best regards, Zagor
I guess you don´t read what I write ? If you want to color a existing image ( "9" ), it will be displayed faulty if you don´t proceed like I did. End of the story. You can replace it with another image you can rename but it won´t be displayed the right way in some circumstances. I´m out.
zagorteney said:
As I said: you must not copy and edit existing .9.png. You have to create a new one and just name it with the procedure as I wrote above. So you have to copy the name of .9.png and paste that in the name of your own image. Am I clear enough now?
Forgive me to say, but you don't know this. Sorry.
Best regards, Zagor
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gorgtech said:
I guess you don´t read what I write ? If you want to color a existing image ( "9" ), it will be displayed faulty if you don´t proceed like I did. End of the story. You can replace it with another image you can rename but it won´t be displayed the right way in some circumstances. I´m out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Out of what? Space?
I don't guess, I conclude: You don't read or understood what I wrote.
Back to topic: OP: If you want to change navbars buttons (those are ordinary .png-s) you can simply pull them off, modify them and put back into .apk as I already described. You don't need to decompile, compile, undercompile or hipercompile anything.
Regards from Jupiter (yes, I'm also out), Zagor
And the last and for all!
This has been done without superduperpuper compiling. Just pure windows and photoshop.
@Elluel, @Gorgtech and all of the other sceptics: Look at the navbars of attached screenshot and next time, please check the informations before you disagree with them.
Regards, Zagor
IMO @zagorteney is right as long as you do not unzip/extract the apk. If you check the .9.png with a zip viewer then you can see the black border of 1px. Modifying the icon/log/picture without touching the black borders should not create bugs.
Regarding the navbar buttons it's easier as explained above.
@Primokorn
I've changed almost all of Xperia S UI on that way, to looks more AOSP. But at the end I figured it out, that it's simplier if I get Nexus.
Just to notice you. The problem is because in photoshop you can't create .9.png-s. But if you create your own png and rename it with the mentioned method, there will be no problem with those images either. For example, you can try to change power widget background on this way.
zagorteney said:
@Primokorn
I've changed almost all of Xperia S UI on that way, to looks more AOSP. But at the end I figured it out, that it's simplier if I get Nexus.
Just to notice you. The problem is because in photoshop you can't create .9.png-s. But if you create your own png and rename it with the mentioned method, there will be no problem with those images either. For example, you can try to change power widget background on this way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually you can create .9.png files with Photoshop. I did it a lot of times.
Anyways all my modded apks have been decompiled/modified/recompiled because you cannot use this method for .xml files, can you? Moreover, theming files with a phone is a mess compared to a comfortable destop version of PS lol
@Primokorn
Yes, its true if we are talking about some serious theming. But OP just want to get little different nav buttons. So, I just want to say, that you don't need to change any .xml for that purpose, you don't need to decompile and recompile and you don't need to worry that you'll break signatures. As simple as that.
That's all folks.
zagorteney said:
@Primokorn
Yes, its true if we are talking about some serious theming. But OP just want to get little different nav buttons. So, I just want to say, that you don't need to change any .xml for that purpose, you don't need to decompile and recompile and you don't need to worry that you'll break signatures. As simple as that.
That's all folks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I know. Everything is clear on my side
Primokorn said:
Yes, I know. Everything is clear on my side
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At least one who deserves all of those thanx.
zagorteney said:
At least one who deserves all of those thanx.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do not be rude. Nobody can know everything and it is one of the goals of XDA to learn every day. All recognized members deserve their status.
A app that do that easy and without so much work is nice , my know how on this stuffs are limited :crying: , im kitkat i use a app that does that without so many work , now i use another but just dim the visor the softkeys still are very white full light... :crying:
Primokorn said:
Do not be rude. Nobody can know everything and it is one of the goals of XDA to learn every day. All recognized members deserve their status.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem is that n00bs are mislead by recognized members who think that they know everything. At least they could check before post.
And no, I'm not rude. Rude are exactly those contributors.
Hey Everyone,
I'm looking to get back into de-compiling, modifying, and recompiling APKs again (after many many years) and I'm finding it a bit difficult this time around. For starters, why are there so many "drawable-xxxx" folders now and how do I know which folder to modify the .png files that I want to customize? Also, how do I go about modifying the .xml file for an app to change the font color/style, theme, etc.?
Does anyone know of a good resource to refresh my memory on all of this?
Thanks for the help!
BMWPower06 said:
Hey Everyone,
I'm looking to get back into de-compiling, modifying, and recompiling APKs again (after many many years) and I'm finding it a bit difficult this time around. For starters, why are there so many "drawable-xxxx" folders now and how do I know which folder to modify the .png files that I want to customize? Also, how do I go about modifying the .xml file for an app to change the font color/style, theme, etc.?
Does anyone know of a good resource to refresh my memory on all of this?
Thanks for the help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
I've made some, I don't claim they're the best or something, but I think it's a good place to start.
For everything I could think of: [GUIDE][INDEX]How to modify an apk
For colors and png:
[GUIDE][THEMING]How to find in the code what you want to theme
[THEME & GUIDE][XDA]XDA Reloaded
My last guide was the INDEX, in previous guides I use methods to sign or align apks that I don't really recommend anymore. Read the index first for signing and aligning, then other guides
I also have made themes, the link is in my signature, click it to see