Database Info

Swype DIY Themes + Vector Templates

Alright, so we all love swype, and with the developers not wanting to share means you cannot load a theme'd apk file, this seems like the next best route, teach you how to make your own and gives the tools to make it easy!
I am not distributing Swype here, so plz don't ask, this is how to theme your current Swype set up.
Disclaimer: This is my first attempt at themes, and since im just offering my work for freeeee, don't give me crap if I overlook'd something just politely inform me and I'll do what I can. Also I only have my Droid X for testing so its kinda on you if your keyboard is not similar to mine for now. Also, im not even going to attempt to water mark this or put some symbol to show I made it since I'm giving you the files you could just remove it anyway plus they are annoying to look at, so plz just dont take credit for my work.
So first things first, to ensure this post is quick and to the point you will need to already have a few things up and running,
Currently I use keyboard manager so portrait orientation is Swype, and landscape is multi-touch since its too wide to be efficient with swype, therefore; I only created templates for portait swype so far, sorry.
ADB
WinRar(for exploring apk)
Adobe Illustrator version CS 1 and up (for editing templates)
Adobe Photoshop (for resizing keyboard images)
Side Note: Other programs will work, and other methods work, these are just tried and proven so your on your own or at least quite possibly beyond the realm of my help by using different editors.
Step 1:
ADB pull the Swype.apk file from system/app
Step 2:
Back up said Swype.apk file to ensure you can revert to stock
Step 3:
Open apk and extract "assets" folder to an easily accessible location with WinRar
Step 4:
Download 4 Illustrator Templates attatched
Step 5:
Edit templates as you see fit (font, size, color, button color, background color, GO CRAZY!)
Step 6:
From Illustrator export as .png file (make sure to keep the same file names!)
Step 7:
In Photoshop, resize images to same size as the stock ones in the folder /assets/keyboards, (480 x 320 for Droid X but you should check yours to make sure)
Step 8:
Place your newly made and sized .png files into the previously mentioned /assets/keyboards folder overwriting existing. You can make other changes here, I was focusing on the keyboards here because they are the most tedious to change but go ahead, Run Amok. "Amok Amok Amok Amok" yeahh line from the movie "Hocus Pocus" ANYWAY
Step 9:
re inject Assets folder into Swype.apk overwriting old, (i usually delete Assets, then inject to ensure overwrite)
Step 10:
ADB push back to phone and switch input method back to Swype
Step 11:
Show off your newly customized keyboard!
Step 12:
Post your .png files to help the community and show off what you did!
Alternate Lazy Way: Sit around wait for a cool keyboard to be posted and leach, simply inject someones .png files into your Swype.apk

Daves Dark Theme 1
Alright so here is the .png files for my first theme, just to get the ball rolling. Lets see what you got!

HOLY SHYTE I was planning to create AI files for this and Launcher Pro Icons, this will save some time
Any chance you have LP Icons in vector format too?

Dude.
Thanks for providing .AI files, what a great contribution! I was going to take the stock png's and photoshop them. This is much cleaner!
You don't have full-width .AI's laying around do you?

Morkai
sorry I just started making themes last night, so I don't have any Icon files lying around. Although, in the newer versions of Illustrator you can use "live trace" to make vector formats from raster images.
Jeftep
You're asking about the landscape aspect ratio keyboard right? Currently I didn't make it yet if I do landscape it will be for the stock multi-touch keyboard first then maybe id get around to swype. The keys are just too spaced out to be efficient to use with 1 finger.
And yes, thats exactly where I started too, "well lemme just see what I can do with photoshop.... awww screww it Fresh Start in illustrator"
So sorry thats a no to both questions, but come on, I just started.

SharkBaitDave said:
Morkai
sorry I just started making themes last night, so I don't have any Icon files lying around. Although, in the newer versions of Illustrator you can use "live trace" to make vector formats from raster images.
Jeftep
You're asking about the landscape aspect ratio keyboard right? Currently I didn't make it yet if I do landscape it will be for the stock multi-touch keyboard first then maybe id get around to swype. The keys are just too spaced out to be efficient to use with 1 finger.
And yes, thats exactly where I started too, "well lemme just see what I can do with photoshop.... awww screww it Fresh Start in illustrator"
So sorry thats a no to both questions, but come on, I just started.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you saying you can use one keyboard portrait and the other Landscape? Please say you are.. and do tell how!!

Morkai Almandragon said:
Are you saying you can use one keyboard portrait and the other Landscape? Please say you are.. and do tell how!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yepp! and its Amazing!!!
http://getandroidstuff.com/download-keyboard-manager-android-dual-keyboard-switch-portraitlandscape/

Batman Theme
Thinking about Batman Theme'ng out my phone, I'm not sure what the keyboard needs, but its not quite there yet...

SharkBaitDave said:
Alright, so we all love swype, and with the developers not wanting to share means you cannot load a theme'd apk file, .......
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
.......?
Ummm.. I have always shared how to theme with whom ever has asked.. plus all mine are simple to load... some swypes are custom to certain themes, and in those cases the dev's aren't going to spend time explaining how to do each part.
Not trying to bash, just stating a point.
As many know i have made quite a few swype themes(check sig), and many custom order for other devices who "technically" arent supposed to have swype.
If anyone needs help modding the tracer, or if you run into the "amp&" issue when playing with any other KB's i will be happy to help.
Good work btw, all the extra people theming makes more stuff avail, never anything wrong with that.

Swype C&D
Alright thats my fault, I meant the developers of Swype, not the XDA community.
http://www.xda-developers.com/announcements/xda-notice-swype/
this is what I was talking about with not really being able to share swype on the forum in an installable format. I was just trying to show a new way we can still all share themes while keeping the forum out of the firing range of C&D letters or worse.
While I'm certainly not claiming this to be a breakthrough in any means as its simply another way we can continue to share themes for this great app. I definitely agree there is a better way to install than this run around...
Have you modified the tracer for version 1.64.40.9380? I found a few forums that showed how to do it, but only in the newer versions and not droid X. Is libSwypecore.so different by Swype version? manufacturer?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=801770
Says to modify 5b410, 5b411, and 5b412 for Blue, Green, Red but it doesn't seem to change the color after I push it back to the phone. I got a newer version, but it was configured for 800x480 not our screen and repeadly threw errors.
Thanks

ahh, agreed. The creators are definitly unfriendly towards devs.
you are correct on the file to edit for the tracer. If you open up an unmodified .so file and search for the string "dda25bff" that is the hex color part. Since its in hex its backwards. The proper color code would be ffb52add. So say you wanted to make the color black = ff000000. You would type it in reverse 000000ff.
Only change that string and you should be good.

Tracer Edit worked like a charm, thanks.

Sketch theme
just found an new ADW theme and wanted a sketchey/hand drawn style KB

how do i complete step 4? where are the 4 Illustrator Templates attatched?

Change the default orange highlight color

Android seems to prefer orange color. It's used in highlight focused edit control. Also, in Gingerbread it's used to indicate you scroll to top/bottom.
How do I change the color, I really don't like it and want something bluish.
Thanks!

I have been wondering this for a while too! Anyone know?

Would interrest me too...
No one knows???

List selector resource ... but it is in the os applications which you cannot access without rout access

I have root but don't completely understand what u mean. Could you add a little detail please
Thanks in advance

From what I know resource are located in /system/framework/framework-res.apk.
Now you have to Disassemble this apk , modify the png's you are interested in , reassemble the apk an copy back to phone.
Now .. disassemble/assemble you can use apk-tool.
You should search for list_selector_background_focus.9.png and other list_selector....png modify those .
I don't know how to copy the reassembled apk back to the phone as I don't have a rooted phone and can't guarantee it will work, but if there are no other replies from more experienced users ... you can give it a try

Youll find the images in framework-res.apk/res/drawable-mdpi.
If your new to Modding and the like I'd advise apk-manager.It uses apk-tool but is more user friendly and will allow you to push(copy) the edited framework. There's a link for it in my sig.
Hope this helps.

Find a ROM, metamorph or Theme you like and apply it. Quickest and easiest solution!

[DL17][EC03] Softkey Themes & Ticker Clock Requests?

So, in case you didn't know already, the Continuum's soft keys are actually part of the one full screen... Which means we can change them with a little effort
Hit me with ideas with what you want to see within this thread
Here are the zips so far you need CWM
Here are the zips for 2.2 Froyo on the Continuum! Thank you biznazz for taking the time and porting them over He deserves all the credit for porting, and if you are grateful, click http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=16496004&postcount=135 and click thanks
If you are ready to download, you can head over to the thread listed above and this one: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=16497349&postcount=136, being sure to thank him along the way!
Located at the bottom of this post (ONLY FOR 2.1 DL17!!!):
Original (duh )
Dark Green
Light Green
Light Blue
Purple
Dots!
Text!
Cool Font [Courtesy of Circa881]
Continued...
Red! [Courtesy of biznazz] :
(DL17)
CWM: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=X819XKAT
Multi-Colored Dots (Softkeys Remapped [Circa881]):
(DL17)
CWM2 : http://www.mediafire.com/?4w2m55uka70wpl8
CWM3 : http://www.mediafire.com/?06i9h5p3a86ean7
***NEXUS S THEME***
This will change your Softkey Functions and looks to match that of the Nexus S! Just to warn you...
Nexus S:
(DL17)
CWM 2 : http://www.mediafire.com/?8hzfp63j1o2824q
CWM 3 : http://www.mediafire.com/?k12f85pu8b0vr6o
If you want the default Softkey Functions back (like when you want to try any of the other softkey themes) Then flash the Default_Softkey_Actions.zip
Default Softkey Actions:
(DL17)
CWM 2 : http://www.mediafire.com/?u5t12dg6lzyyues
CWM 3 : http://www.mediafire.com/?05e83h878ztz4zq
***NOTE ABOUT CWM 3***
Not all the packages are CWM 3 compatible... The Nexus Theme is, and so is the Defaul Softkey Action zip.... For now if you want to flash any of the other themes, download the old Blue cwm 2 and flash that from within the new yellow cwm 3. Then you can flash the files
If you want a certain theme converted, i will do that... I just don't wanna waste any extra energy doing that if i don't have to
***DIY***
THEMING:
If you wanna try tackling this yourself, there really isn't much you have to do... Before embarking, however, make sure you have at least a little knowledge in what your doing....
What You'll Need:
-The Framework-res.apk from /system/framework
-7-zip (easy way)
-(optional) Update-Zip-Packager (not my creation, thank the developer of this batch for his wonderful project )
Steps:
Now, right click on the APK and go to 7-zip --> Open Archive..
A window will appear, where you now maneuver yourself to assets --> images...
Select all of the four google_key_icon_*.png images within that folder, and drag "Copy To" your deskop...
Now, add your special touches to those images
When done, just drag those images back into that same folder you got them from within 7-zip Manager, and you are set
To throw this apk into a flashable zip, i just used Update-Zip-Packager found on XDA... However, you can use ClockWorkRecovery/ADB also... Whatever you want
NOTICE: Backup your old framework-res.apk just in case :3
BUTTON MAPPING:
What You'll Need:
-ADB (or Root Explorer )
-Text Editor (on your computer )
Steps:
The button configuration for the Continuum is located at /system/usr/keylayout, and the file name is qwerty.kl
First we need to mount System as RW... To do this, Use ADB, and type "adb shell /system/bin/mount -o remount,rw -t rfs /dev/block/stl9 /system"
Now that it is mounted properly, we have to copy the qwerty.kl to the computer... Type "adb pull /system/usr/keylayout/qwerty.kl"
(Of course you can just use Root Explorer or another such app if you so choose, but that cost money this is free )
Now, open the file open in your favorite text editor, it doesn't really matter...
Here is a list of the codes and the corresponding button... This is important, because there are more than one buttons labeled as, for example, "Menu":
key 158 = Back
key 139 = Menu
key 217 = Search
key 102 = Home
Make your appropriate changes, and save...
Now you gotta push it back to the phone, which you can either use the Update-Zip-Packager again, or you can just use ADB in CWM
Step 42: Profit
Any modifications that you make yourself, don't be stingy Share with the community, for everyone to use! Just send me the framework-res.apk and/or qwerty.kl, and i will do the rest
Or you could make the zip yourself, that works too
Ticker Clock Colors:
We have managed to figure out how [Thank you Jaizero for helping me with this ] to change the color of the Ticker Clock (and also the date, music info text, etc )... If you want to see a certain color, just ask nicely below, providing at the same time the Hex code you would like to see exactly! If you aren't sure how to find the Hex Code of the color you want, just do a google search for, say, "Blue Hex Value" or something along that lines
If you are thankful just hit thanks<3

Hmm, that sounds interesting. What were you thinking about modifying then to?
Sent from my SCH-I400 using XDA App

can you change the functions as well? or just the icons...

It would be nice to have the ability to lock them during game play because I have the tendency to bump them on accident from time to time and the ability it change the color would be absolutely appreciated
Sent from my Rooted Space Time Continuum w/h a 2600mAh battery

1) yeah, I thought this was a cool little hidden plus for our phone and I was thinking maybe for the "clean"people maybe just dots, and maybe for the metro ui people the actual words, like "Menu" "Home" and the works...
2) Yeah, I can change the function, but that doesn't involve what I am talking about.. I'm pretty sure there is a *.ko file in system I can edit to modify the soft keys... idk why you would want to though
3) I don't know how to lock them, sorry froyo has a default setting to make them time out after a while, however... So maybe when we get a froyo rom I can check it out for you
Also, I can change the colors, sure... Just so you know though, once you flash a themed file, you can't change the color until you flash another file... So no automatic color changing if that's what your thinking.. It can be done, I just don't know how to program apps xP
Sent from my SCH-I400 using XDA Premium App

That sound like it will be awesome. I would love to chane the colors also
Sent from my SCH-I400 using XDA App

Thats awesome but my only question is would o have to flash it through the recovery or odin
Sent from my Rooted Space Time Continuum w/h a 2600mAh battery

Another question, will I be able to change a certain softkey a different color eg. Home, blue search, green or would they all have to be the same color.
Sorry for all of these questions but one of the main things I wanted to do besides updating to 2.2 was to change the softkeys and since you discovered the ability to do so I figured it's better to ask then to wonder. LoL
Sent from my Rooted Space Time Continuum w/h a 2600mAh battery

lol, i like answering questions, so its no problem
They don't all have to be the same, i can make each one a different color if i wanted... Just give me a template with what you want done, and i'll try and get it done Like, what color do you want for what, and what should they look like? (original, words, "dot", etc)...
and i can make a recovery package for you if you want it when/if i finish

I would say let's start off simple and work from there let's keep the original icons and go with a cyanogen blue
And with the recovery package will it work with the stock recovery or will I have to install cwm
Sent from my Rooted Space Time Continuum w/h a 2600mAh battery

Just so you know before i start, whatever i make is going to be "grayed" down because of that gray strip we have where the softkeys are.....
and your going to need cwm It's pretty easy to do it nowadays

*Duplicate *

Thats fine with me, but will I also need cwm to install the new soft key theme
Sent from my Rooted Space Time Continuum w/h a 2600mAh battery

Yes, you will..
Here is a quick pic of cyan-like softkeys... The blue is much more pronounced when you actually have it installed... Would something like that be good?

Hells yea. LoL
But is there a way to make them brighter with out having to adjust the screen brightness like the icons I have now
Sent from my Rooted Space Time Continuum w/h a 2600mAh battery

I like the idea of having cyan colored keys. Great work
Sent from my SCH-I400 using XDA App

For me I would love to see green, thanks for doing this btw.

I can do green next and no problem its actually pretty easy lol..
Lincoln3828: Here's the thing, with the screen shot the cyan blue is very bright... Whatever you set the brightness for the screen, the soft keys follow... Also, even though those icons look really bright, when you flash it it is a lot more darker/not as bright... It looks more blue, but yeah, not as bright... There isn't anything I can do for that... Thanks to the grey stripe :l
EDIT:
Green Softkeys i think they might be a litttle too dark green when you actually flash it, imo
Do you like it though? haha

Green looks awesome man, cant wait till you upload some stuff lol. Thanks again man

I would love to see some different icons man, Say some text icons maybe? Idk how it would look though because it doesnt look like there is enough room to fit the full words.

[Ticker][Mod] New Event Wave

I want to share with all you guys the beginning of something great, I hope xD
You know that blue wave that you see when you scroll to the Notification Screen (where all the Icons are at) in the ticker? Well, I made it so that when you get a new text message or email, that wave goes through that screen...
I just made it do the wave for simplicity sake, I can make it do whatever.... I just don't have the graphic skills to make a newly colored wave...
check it out! I personally like the effect Adds a little bit of spice i think it deserves
http://www.mediafire.com/?57hklwwhjeaz99z
***HOW TO:***
I personally figured out how to do this by reading up on the " Pulldown Notification Animation Mod".. I just used this knowledge, and applied it to the ticker basically...
So, let's begin..
WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
apk manager...
text editor...
Basic Idea with this kinda stuff
Since we are going to be editing xml's, you have to use apk manager... Hopefully you have some basic knowledge with this "program", it takes a little getting used to..
first, decompile the framework-res.apk (9).. Go to the projects folder, and navigate to "framework-res.apk\res\layout".. This is where, as the name implies, all the layouts for the ticker are placed... they are in xml format, so you can easily use notepad or such...
The XML for this specific mod that we are looking for is "ticker_new_message_view.xml". Open it up in your text editor... Don't be intimidated, i know it looks confusing lol.. We are only messing with a little part...
Navigate to the second line down, aka "<FrameLayout androidrientation="vertical" blah blah blah". You should see within that line "android:background="@drawable/tt_noti_bg_01" "... This is saying that the background for the ticker when you get a new message is "tt_noti_bg_01", which is located in the drawable folder.. This is what we are going to change...
By changing this part of the line to, say, "android:background="@anim/new_message_wave" " you are now saying that the background should be "new_message_wave" in the anim folder... Easy Enough, right?
Now, go to the anim folder... This is where the magic happens
The original wave is defined in the xml in that folder named "missed_notification_view.xml"... i suggest go taking a peek in the file, and get a feel for how android defines it's objects...
So what I personally did was just copied and renamed that xml to "new_message_wave.xml"
The hard part is done!
All we have to do now is recompile the apk, which can be tricky if you don't know what your doing..
P.S if you know how to do this, you are done!
To compile in apk manager, just type 11! if you get a compile error, then you did something wrong That shouldn't happen though, this is a relatively easy mod
Wait a while until you get a "Is this a system apk?" message... type "y".... then type y again for the next message... Now do what it says!
Don't forget to delete the "resources.arsc" file, and the "ticker_new_message_view.xml" file!
now you are done Just replace that framework using whatever method you use
Whether that be with adb when the phone is in recovery, or making a flashable zip

I just installed it. Pretty cool

Sounds like you are on a promising breakthrough there Trail, thanks for your hard work!

I'd like to work on this some more. How exactly would I go about changing it?
Sent from my SCH-I400 using XDA Premium App
---------------------------------
Jill plays tricks, Jack plays God

It's kinda hard to explain it in simple enough terms through on my phone, but I'll be home from vacation on Monday, and then I'll make a relatively easy tutorial for everyone xP
Sent from my Continuum

Sounds good
Sent from my SCH-I400 using XDA Premium App
---------------------------------
Jill plays tricks, Jack plays God

Check Da OP

Circa, did you ever work on this more?
Sent from my SCH-I400 using XDA Premium App

Nope. I completely forgot to. I will though
Sent from my SCH-I400 using XDA Premium App
---------------------------------
Jill plays tricks, Jack plays God

[Theme] Spearoid's Clean and Blue

I have finally taken the time to try to get my icons the way I want them to look on this phone. I stopped developing my tweaking skills in the days of WinMo 6.5, but I decided to tinker with a framework-res.apk in one of Trailblazer's mods to swap out all the icons I wanted to change.
After sifting through many other themes mostly made for the Fascinate, I have repacked the file with the icons I wanted. I also blanked out the Ticker History button and the "No Data" button for the Weather on the Ticker. See Screenshot.
I am sure there is a better way to install this file, but I took the framework-res file out of Trailblazer's Touchwiz Accurate Theme, replaced all the icons I wanted in the file and then I copied it back into his .zip file. I was then able to flash the .zip file in Recovery. I am sure you can use Root Explorer or some sort of file manager program to replace the file, but I haven't had the best of luck replacing files that way so I went with what I knew would work.
I figured I would share my work in case anyone else has wanted a different look for their Continuum.

spearoid said:
I have finally taken the time to try to get my icons the way I want them to look on this phone. I stopped developing my tweaking skills in the days of WinMo 6.5, but I decided to tinker with a framework-res.apk in one of Trailblazer's mods to swap out all the icons I wanted to change.
After sifting through many other themes mostly made for the Fascinate, I have repacked the file with the icons I wanted. I also blanked out the Ticker History button and the "No Data" button for the Weather on the Ticker. See Screenshot.
I am sure there is a better way to install this file, but I took the framework-res file out of Trailblazer's Touchwiz Accurate Theme, replaced all the icons I wanted in the file and then I copied it back into his .zip file. I was then able to flash the .zip file in Recovery. I am sure you can use Root Explorer or some sort of file manager program to replace the file, but I haven't had the best of luck replacing files that way so I went with what I knew would work.
I figured I would share my work in case anyone else has wanted a different look for their Continuum.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome! I have one question for you though... You stated you "blanked out the Ticker History button and the "No Data" button for the Weather"... Are the blanked out so if your finger/hand/palm, what ever touches those areas, it doesn't open the damn address search (for weather) or the ticker history? If that is the case, I have been wanting something like this for a while, I just haven't had the time to dive into exploring this, and TrailBlazer seemed to have been working on it, so I figured I'd wait for him. Thanks dude!

I've been working on my batch so that it actually removes the buttons, like totally (not just blank images)... Finished it yesterday, just need someone to test it any volunteers? Lol
You can choose the clock color, softkey images, button remaps, hide/show history and/or weather icon.....
Sent from my SCH-I400 using xda premium

trailblazer101 said:
I've been working on my batch so that it actually removes the buttons, like totally (not just blank images)... Finished it yesterday, just need someone to test it any volunteers? Lol
You can choose the clock color, softkey images, button remaps, hide/show history and/or weather icon.....
Sent from my SCH-I400 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
im off early today and setting up a my rom kitchen... ill give her another try... in irc to boot

Spearoid, I tried using root explorer to replace the apk from blazers theme with the one you posted. No luck.
Blazer, I would be more than willing to volunteer to try your batch out.it includes all the things I want to change.

turboblue385 said:
Spearoid, I tried using root explorer to replace the apk from blazers theme with the one you posted. No luck.
Blazer, I would be more than willing to volunteer to try your batch out.it includes all the things I want to change.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I've had little luck doing file replacements on vital system files that way.
I took the .apk in the OP and overwrote that file in Trailblazer's Touchwiz Accurate theme .zip file.
I open Trailblazer's zip file with a program like WinRar....then browse to the system/framework folder...and drag and drop my new .apk into that folder....it overwrites...and I copy the zip file to my SD card and flash from recovery.
all is good from there
I wish I knew how to take files like these and put them in a new flashable zip file. I'd probably be more inclined to do more tweaking if I could

And Moon Shadow, they are just transparent png files. The buttons still function.
But I'm with you, I'd much rather have them be invisible AND non-functioning

Trailblazer, post up the link. Now that I have this thing working right, again, I'll beta

Looks great. Just got it working last night. I really like the blue. And three battery icon is bigger which makes it easier to see. Great work!

turboblue385 said:
Looks great. Just got it working last night. I really like the blue. And three battery icon is bigger which makes it easier to see. Great work!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sweet, I'm glad someone likes it!
The battery icon was my primary motivation for making the new file. The white text on green was almost impossible for me to see.