I have the basics down... which files to move over, decompiling them, recompiling them, etc. However, I can't for the life of me figure out where to look to either make my own APM/EQS or fix someone else's.
I'm using the latest stock T-Mobile USA ROM and the text strings are, for the most part, incorrect. I haven't found a good introduction anywhere on which one of the hundreds of files to look in once the APK's are decompiled
Any help would be appreciated... I'm lost.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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!
im running steelh and i have the blue epic style battery. how can i get the battery percentage into that without using different icons? i tired the online kitchen but my phone is stuck in a bootloop.
anybody? the kitchen just gives me errors.
ive used the online kitchen before with no issues, but id like to know how to this manually.
Sent from my panty-dropper.
ericwgarza1 said:
ive used the online kitchen before with no issues, but id like to know how to this manually.
Sent from my panty-dropper.
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i cannot get it to work no matter what i do. can any dev help out here? i want the blue epic style battery with percentage. aside from the png's what files do you need to get this working on a sense rom? all of this hassle is making me want to go back to cm6, at least on that we can use the settings to accomplish alot of things we cannot on sense roms.
can you add the battery percentage mod into a rom that doesn't by default come with it? i heard about needing a modded services.jar file? or do i have to go with a different rom here for what i need? the online kitchen will simply not work for me.
The battery mods are accomplished by editing xmls and pngs in framework-res.apk
SteelH said:
The battery mods are accomplished by editing xmls and pngs in framework-res.apk
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i have the png's but i have no clue how to mod xml files. im pretty good at Frankensteining themes together but for the life of me i cannot get this to work.
A couple of things: are you using a deodexed or odexed rom? Are you trying to add the circle battery to your existing theme or are you just trying to add the battery period?
I made a "dummy" flash file a while back that "prepped" odex roms before flashing the battery percentage mods.
You can also decompile the framework you want and transfer over the pngs and xmls for the battery mod into your existing framework.
Decompiling would be the best route as you would have to recompile it with the new xmls added to the resource list.
I would/could help but I won't flash anything on my evo right now since I currently have it hooked up to debug an app. Just send me the framework file from your phone and the battery mod you want and I can take a look at them and hopefully recompile it for you.
lovethyEVO said:
A couple of things: are you using a deodexed or odexed rom? Are you trying to add the circle battery to your existing theme or are you just trying to add the battery period?
I made a "dummy" flash file a while back that "prepped" odex roms before flashing the battery percentage mods.
You can also decompile the framework you want and transfer over the pngs and xmls for the battery mod into your existing framework.
Decompiling would be the best route as you would have to recompile it with the new xmls added to the resource list.
I would/could help but I won't flash anything on my evo right now since I currently have it hooked up to debug an app. Just send me the framework file from your phone and the battery mod you want and I can take a look at them and hopefully recompile it for you.
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its the steelh deodexed rom. i have alot of themes going on and i do not want to loose them. i just want the battery with the percentage in it. ive attached what you may need, thank you.
I'll take a look at them now.
Give me some time.
lovethyEVO said:
I'll take a look at them now.
Give me some time.
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thanks for taking the time!
Found a clue about the problem.
The online kitchen I believe has a disclaimer about .9pngs in the framework.
Basically if some .9s are not edited correctly it can cause an error in the decompile/compile process.
The framework you gave me throws an error when trying to compile. I have seen this error many times before and it always results in the changed files (xml and pngs) not being inserted into the newly compiled framework.
I decompiled/compiled three times, same error and the changed files were not inserted into the compiled apk.
Your problem lies in the framework and the tools ability to properly process the .9s.
Also, the epic zip you gave me does not have any xml files to tell the framework what png to display and it has 80 more pngs for the battery charge animation.
This is not something I want to spend more time on right now but the info I'm giving will hopefully get you in the right direction.
I think the two .xmls that needs to be edited are:
stat_sys_battery.xml
stat_sys_battery_charge.xml
Decompile a framework-res that already has the mod included and you should get an idea of what to do.
Someoneplease let me know if I'm wrong. Thanks!
ericwgarza1 said:
I think the two .xmls that needs to be edited are:
stat_sys_battery.xml
stat_sys_battery_charge.xml
Decompile a framework-res that already has the mod included and you should get an idea of what to do.
Someoneplease let me know if I'm wrong. Thanks!
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There are actually 3 xmls needed for the battery mod.
The op stated he has a theme going and he doesn't want to lose it. The only way to incorporate the battery mod and keep his theme is to add the battery to his existing framework.
As I explained above, .9s are special pngs and if they are not edited correctly will cause the decompile/compile tool to throw an error. Themers will edit .9s and although they will show properly on the phone the tool used to decompile/compile the apks will notice if the .9s are incorrect.
What the online kitchen does and what I did manually are the same thing and more than likely with the same tools. The epic pngs the op supplied did not have any xmls and so im surprised the online kitchen was able to produce an apk.
If I spent more time on it I could probably figure it out but I am already occupied with another time consuming task.
What is the other .xml named?
I'd like to personally (for learning purposes) add the battery percentage to a stock framework-res.apk manually. Thanks!
Try this. I give no guarantees at all since I manually inserted the xmls and pngs. Also since there are 80 more pngs for the charge animation there's no way of telling how it will look.
lovethyEVO said:
There are actually 3 xmls needed for the battery mod.
The op stated he has a theme going and he doesn't want to lose it. The only way to incorporate the battery mod and keep his theme is to add the battery to his existing framework.
As I explained above, .9s are special pngs and if they are not edited correctly will cause the decompile/compile tool to throw an error. Themers will edit .9s and although they will show properly on the phone the tool used to decompile/compile the apks will notice if the .9s are incorrect.
What the online kitchen does and what I did manually are the same thing and more than likely with the same tools. The epic pngs the op supplied did not have any xmls and so im surprised the online kitchen was able to produce an apk.
If I spent more time on it I could probably figure it out but I am already occupied with another time consuming task.
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Good explanation thank you. I think I have the similar problem I unzipped my framework and changed my battery and it worked. The only problem is I can only use the six charging animations. A little research last night and I realized I needed to edit the xml. Decompiling my framework would not work and I think your explanation helps me understand why.
ericwgarza1 said:
What is the other .xml named?
I'd like to personally (for learning purposes) add the battery percentage to a stock framework-res.apk manually. Thanks!
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maybe public.xml
does anyone know where, on here, can i get some mods for my notification bar? like wifi and 3g and signal bars? i need to be able to use metamorph to apply them cause i am not too good at this stuff. i have done the search but have only came up with batts. any help would be appreciated.
What rom?
sent from dinc
Clockwork recovery
mills23 said:
Clockwork recovery
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That's not a ROM, but since you dont know that, I'm going to assume that you have the stock rom. Just look in this forum, theyre all over the place.
Lol yeah im not sure what I got! That's part of why I'm looking for easy ways to do mods.
Don't worry: we all had to start somewhere.
With that said, if you don't yet know the difference between recovery and a rom, I'd shy away from jumping into MetaMorph themes for your notification bar for now.
First, I'd recommend you do a bit of reading on the terminology: roms, recovery, kernels, etc. Then familiarize yourself with how to make a nandroid backup and how to restore it: this is going to be critical once you decide to move forward with theming. Finally, people may disagree with me on this last point, but I'd recommend you educate yourself on how MetaMorph is working and how apks store their icons.
If you are semi-proficient with computers, none of the above should be too hard. In fact, you'll probably be surprised at how easy it ends up being. With a little bit of reading, and trial-and-error, you'll be able to find almost any theme you like, pull only the png files you want, then make your own MetaMorph theme.
You can open any apk file (like a copy of your system's framework) using a zip program (like 7zip) and see what png icons it contains. MetaMorph does nothing more than replace these png files with new files that you give it. A MetaMorph theme will have an XML control file that instructs it where to place the png files, which will also be dictated by the folder structure.
Jumping straight into MM themes without an understanding of these concepts is a bit of a risky move. Since signal/wifi/etc icons are part of the framework-res.apk, it's quite easy to throw yourself into a bootloop.
Again, I know some people will disagree with this advice: it's just my personal opinion. I know you are eager to tweak your device, but without a decent understanding of what you are doing, you could find yourself trying to fix a problem that takes a lot more time than my suggested path of first learning.
I agree! Read read read, then flash
sent from dinc
I just don't have alot of time with a 18 month old runing around. So I was just looking for something easy.
Droidpirate.com
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
mills23 said:
I just don't have alot of time with a 18 month old runing around. So I was just looking for something easy.
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Understood; some of us definitely have more time than others when it comes to tinkering.
I'll make you a deal: if you find a theme that you like (doesn't have to be MetaMorph... could just be a rom that visually appeals to you), point me to the link. If I'm able to, I will make a MetaMorph theme file for you to try. For simplicity's sake, find something that would use the same number of icons as your current setup. In other words, if you are currently running a rom that uses a 4-bar signal icon (which is most likely the case), let's avoid the 6-bar signal icons. If the theme you want is solely visual in nature (i.e. no functional changes, like the 4 -> 6 bar change), then I should be able to make the MM pack and give you instructions on its use.
Ok great thank you! I will get them together and pm them to you.
Let me preface this by saying I am a noob at theming, but wanted to give it a whack. I did some research and asked questions and made some progress until I hit a brick wall. I am on a stock based ROM and that makes a big difference.
So I pulled the framework and sytemui apk's. I de-compiled these and made made the changes I wanted and that's when the ish hit the fan. Apparently there is no way to re-compile the stock ASUS apk's.
So now how to I go about making these changes if I can not re-compile the apk's? Is there a work around or do I need to change the files in another way? Can I change the regular png files or do I need to use the .9 png files? Any help or pointers is appreciated. I am still learning this stuff. I learned how to batch change colors which helped immensely.
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!
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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