[GUIDE][TOOL] Creating splash images for the HTC Hero - Hero CDMA Themes and Apps

I know this is a bit late in the HTC Hero game but I still have mine and I still mess around with it a lot and while it wasnt until recently that I decided to see if I could dig up info on changing the splash screen and found some info and decided that I would create a nice little tool just to make it a bit quicker for me so I thought I would share it.
Huge than you to tehdarkknight for his original tutorial. Without it this would have not been possible.
All I did was simply create a easy to use batch file to make converting the images and automatically renaming them much easier for everyone.
tehdarkknights original HowTo can be found here - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=7847088
What is a Splashscreen?
The splashscreen is the image that shows up before recovery/your ROM's bootscreen/etc... By default, it is the white screen with green HTC lettering (if you have flashed Sprint's 2.1 release.)
The method used here is for flashing the HERCIMG.zip via the bootloader (HBoot)
All of the instructions are included in the download and its pretty self explanatory.
Hope this is of use and hope it works for you.
DOWNLOAD:
http://bit.ly/KrBLYe
Code:
DISCLAIMER:
THIS IS FOR THE HTC HERO ONLY
YOU ARE USING THIS TOOL AT YOUR OWN RISK AND I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE
FOR ANY DAMAGE THAT MAY OCCUR FROM YOU MODIFYING YOUR PHONE.
v0.10
Initial release

Thanks for providing this. I find that bright white HTC screen rather annoying. It would be great to replace it with something far more muted.
By the way, have you ever replaced the boot animation screen that follows? I discovered UOT Kitchen, but I've been a bit leery to try it for fear of wrecking the bootloader and becoming stuck.. I'm on CM 7.2 with TWRP and the last CM ROM supported on UOT is 7.1. Plus, it only mentions being compatible with CWM 3. The boot animation doesn't require modifying any APK files, so that's one thing that is less concerning. But... you never know, until you hear about someone having tried it successfully.
Incidentally, I'm finding CM7.2 with TWRP to be a terrific combination. The phone is quite a lot better than it was. I missed having HTC Sense, but Fancy Widgets provides a nearly identical clock/weather widget so the home screen looks good. And of course functionally, you're so much more liberated with CM7. I wish I'd done this over a year ago!

cytherian said:
Thanks for providing this. I find that bright white HTC screen rather annoying. It would be great to replace it with something far more muted.
By the way, have you ever replaced the boot animation screen that follows? I discovered UOT Kitchen, but I've been a bit leery to try it for fear of wrecking the bootloader and becoming stuck.. I'm on CM 7.2 with TWRP and the last CM ROM supported on UOT is 7.1. Plus, it only mentions being compatible with CWM 3. The boot animation doesn't require modifying any APK files, so that's one thing that is less concerning. But... you never know, until you hear about someone having tried it successfully.
Incidentally, I'm finding CM7.2 with TWRP to be a terrific combination. The phone is quite a lot better than it was. I missed having HTC Sense, but Fancy Widgets provides a nearly identical clock/weather widget so the home screen looks good. And of course functionally, you're so much more liberated with CM7. I wish I'd done this over a year ago!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
UOT Kitchen won't "wreck your bootloader."
The boot animation is just a zip file in /system/media. It will either work or not. It won't stop anything.
Everybody has used UOT, you're just a litttttle bit late to the game.
Any questions just ask
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

What he said.

Thanks for the help, guys. Btw ajrty, I saw one of your more recent themes from earlier this year... looks really nice and dimensional. Did you create those icons or find them on-line?
Yeah, I do realize that I'm very late to the party... I missed a lot of the excitement with new ROMs and the tension in the early stages of getting things to work right. But on the flipside, a lot of the work has already been done making it easy for those who show up later. I do have a few questions about UOT Kitchen, as there's not a lot of info provided on the website. I know a series of GIF files wouldn't cause any harm, but I just worried that the other files that direct their usage might not be compatible. It's good to know this isn't the case. In retrospect, it makes sense that Android would be more robust and simply skip any incompatible scripting like that and proceed to normal boot.
Can you use UOT kitchen to generate font updates and various indicator replacements on the Hero with CM 7.2? Do you have to select "Amend scripting" versus "Edify scripting"? Concerning Cyanbread.apk and Androidian.apk, which one is preferable or required to upload so that the theme update works on the Hero? Lastly, is there a particular thread you recommend reading that provides a lot of useful tips and examples on using UOT Kitchen for the Hero?

Switched over to dev-host so should be easier to download for people. Guess Mediafire was requiring people to register to download the files and I know how that can be a pain sometimes just to DL a file.

Updated the download link if anyone want this still.

Related

[ROM]Damaged_BURST.v3.FINAL

hello everyone. heres another one of those crazy things i do here. this time i built on damage so i could use dconfig again. I had the idea to put this together when i saw koni's transparent mod,then the aosp zip and burst's theme. This is mish mash of all of that work+ some of what i do. since its built on damage and the biggest add on to theme was burst's theme. But while i was ripping them apart i realized that the aosp theme was basically using the same framework as burst with a few tweaks. Then got it to boot. I did have some serious issues with the kbs and the notifier but i learned what i was doing and fixed it then decided to post...Didnt take as long to finish this(about a day), because i didnt do ALL the themeing. I just found it and mixed it all together with some of my own tweaks added in both visually and performance wise.
HERES WHY YOU SHOULD FLASH:
1 CUSTOM BOOT
1 CUSTOM HTC KB (THEMED GREEN)
1 LATIN_IME MT KB FROM DROID_X
1 HTC_IME MOD
4 INTERACTIVE LWP FROM...(sorry i forget what device)
1 INVISABLE taskbar by KONIKUB
1 THEMED HTC clock widget(by me)
1 THEMED rosie(by me)
INCLUDED APPS
adw. its my fave and most stable imo
andro for file browsing and app backup
dconfig for tweaking(thank treve)
updater for new roms and themes ota
sys tray (to monitor ram)
battery widget (to monitor battery%)
titanium backup
left the sprint apps for once....
sorry all, i forgot to toss the nextel tikl in(ill toss up an update.zip with it)
i didnt throw in all the extra crap this time so this rom is a normal size(170mb)
screens
NOTE: THIS THREAD IS FOR IMPROVEMENT AND FEEDBACK ON THIS ROM TO HELP MAKE IT BETTER. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO POST MAKE SURE YOU FLASH IT FIRST. THIS IS AN ATTEMPT BY ME TO KEEP THE THREAD ON TOPIC AND USEFUL TO THOSE THAT CHOOSE TO USE THIS MOD. IF YOU DIDNT FLASH IT WHAT KIND OF HELP COULD YOU POSSIBLY OFFER IN THE WAY OF IMPROVEMENT? PLEASE FLASH BEFORE POSTING!!!!!THANK YOU.....
DOWNLOAD DAMAGED_BURST.v3
UPDATE.ZIP FONTS
DOWNLOAD ADD'L FONTS
DOWNLOAD STOCK FONT
DOWNLOAD COMFORTAA
DOWNLOAD CAVIARDREAMS
DOWNLOAD SONYSKETCH
DOWNLOAD LONDONBETWEEN
DOWNLOAD DROIDLOGO​​​
Please thank these guys if you like this mod
Damage(self explanitory)
Treve(dconfig)
Konikub(transparent noty mod)
MrPuffin(aosp pngs i used)
Burst(all the other ones)
Thanks and happy flashing​
​
Holy moly!!!
hey awesome rom. I was wondering if you could put all the wallpapers you use in a .zip file? That would be awesome for us to download. THanks for the hard work!
Does the 3VO appear over the phone like in the screenshots? If it doesn't, I'm all over this.
EtherealRemnant said:
Does the 3VO appear over the phone like in the screenshots? If it doesn't, I'm all over this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm pretty sure it does, it slides corresponding to the screen you swipe to.
rock99rock said:
I'm pretty sure it does, it slides corresponding to the screen you swipe to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's unfortunate. I love the look of the ROM otherwise.
Sorry to be the debbie downer but I think it looks garbage. :/ A bunch of poorly done photoshop filters slapped into a single rom. Different strokes for different folks I suppose.
i must say this looks better than the previous RED theme.
so do I flash this by itself? or do I flash it over DamageControl's ROM??
Damn..this is nice and fast. The customizations is great. Nice job!
Do you know where I can get the HTC News Widget? I don't see it in here.
Thanks
i flashed this and the screen does not look like those pictures on post one. the taskbar is white with white fonts so the time is invisible.
Fadakar said:
Sorry to be the debbie downer but I think it looks garbage. :/ A bunch of poorly done photoshop filters slapped into a single rom. Different strokes for different folks I suppose.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if anything you should be downloading the rom and then ripping it apart and learning how to do what i do. Then MAYBE ill have a little respect for your opinion and what you have to say about me or my work.I am not a dev nor to i claim to be.it is your choice to choose this rom. so what was your reason?
your right; those 1000+photos did take me some time to filter EACH INDIVIDUAL FILE,then integrate the two themes and add konis transparent taskbar(took me a bit) then make it all boot. ive not had bootloop with neither of my mods so far on evo.had it all the time on cdma hero
thank you for your opinion and keeping on topic.but did you flash the rom? as the op states; its a prerequisite to posting in this thread. If not please follow the rules or dont post. Thanks
​
tommy96814 said:
i flashed this and the screen does not look like those pictures on post one. the taskbar is white with white fonts so the time is invisible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hope not cus thats version 1 or 2 and i didnt ul either of those betas. ill double check the link and upload my personal that i just flashed 8hrs ago. So far it performs well w/o configuring dconfig. im on 70% battery after heavy use.not sure if thats good or bad. Its acceptable to me, but not remarkable like damager.FYI​
Had a lot of problems, lots pf FCs and random system restarts.....
i havent had any fc's yet. please list your procedure so i can see what the problem is. i test everything extensively before i put it up for others. that would be very bad if i put up roms before i got them working then told pps i support them...
By any chance have you had luck with flash in the browsers? I'm currently using your finisher rom but would love to switch to this one, however if the flash issues still stand I'll try a different one for the mean time. Looks great BTW.
notoriouspyro said:
By any chance have you had luck with flash in the browsers? I'm currently using your finisher rom but would love to switch to this one, however if the flash issues still stand I'll try a different one for the mean time. Looks great BTW.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wasnt sure if i was just crazy, but i posted this in my finisher thread as a bug i found 3days after running it. When i went use a site that needed full flash(shockwave) adobe test said my sware was 10.blablabla and that it installed correctly. well i used my site and tried to use a java music player and when it goes to play, browser dissappears (no fc just gone) It worked fine before, but i thought maybe i was mistaken. no one responded so i figured it was just a problem for me. I NEVER edited anything with the wlan-ko, the browser or anything internet releated, so i cant narrow down the problem. Also, this is a damage based so not sure whats going on with this issue. if i find anything ill definately pm you. if you hear anything ill ask you do the same. thanks.
Neotelos_com said:
I completely agree with him, and the fact that people (including myself) have told you your forums fonts are annoying and obnoxious doesn't seem to sway you. I'm going to defend him as he was only stating him opinion; which he is completely entitled to.
AND, if anything...with the attitude you have towards development, why don't I see instructing threads from you?
(but seriously, if you just stopped using those fonts on the forums I'd be content and keep my opinions to myself, but sh*t you can't even do that)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
did you flash the rom? if not please refer to ops. i am not a dev,instructor,or teacher. i am a tinkerer that ul's his roms so that anyone else like himself can have the same. I personally dont care if you ever read another word i type. cant really understand why you think your voice or opinion is SO valuable, or why you are any different from any of the other 20million haters out there. I cant see the "mod" title under your user name, so im pretty sure im completely safe in completely ignoring any outlandish,whiny requests you may have. Did the site just become facist overnite and maybe i missed something?Obivously my threads are riddled with the fonts you speak of so why bother to read them or post off topic comments that do not follow the ops in them? also, i do not encourage YOU or anyone else to keep their opinions to themselves. i welcome adversity. i can tell however, that you do not, since something simple as font/color which is our tool to use freely is able to prejudice you toward me or what i do here. it lets me see immediately how closed minded you are, and obviously would not like my work(it goes w/o saying that what i do is not for the normal crowd_more well received by the out of the box style of thinkers), so its no surprise that you would come to another haters defense.no loss to me boss.keep up the good fight, keep discouraging developers on the largest android dev site......glad im not a dev or i might be a bit offended by your words...if you want to whine more just pm me. this is a thread for rom related issues and developement as stated in the op in LARGE COLORED FONT, not the why i dont agree with the ops decision of fonts/sizes thread....WHY not go post in a thread where you LIKE the work? just another one of those crazy thoughts i have, just like those CRAYYYYYYZY FONTS.......Why hate on me? does it pay THAT well?
SOMETHING tells me that you dont get invited to a whole lot of parties.....ID be mad too.(is this color a little better for you?)
​
Guys,
I cleaned up the thread. Please stay on topic. Thank you.

Bluetopia port (Theme Request)

So as we all love the roms in this forum I stumble upon this rom set. I would like to see these ported to our Dinc phones as I think the themes absolutely kick ass. I like them both however I would love to see the Bluetopia ported. Here is the link to check out what I am talking about. I fsomeone can do this a considerable donation would be coming from myself. Although I am sure donations would come from many on this one.
Link below:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=820696
Cheers,
Shokouhi
shokouhi said:
So as we all love the roms in this forum I stumble upon this rom set. I would like to see these ported to our Dinc phones as I think the themes absolutely kick ass. I like them both however I would love to see the Bluetopia ported. Here is the link to check out what I am talking about. I fsomeone can do this a considerable donation would be coming from myself. Although I am sure donations would come from many on this one.
Link below:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=820696
Cheers,
Shokouhi
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Porting the rom would be ridiculous, especially considering some of it is broken and would be too much work making it functional for the incredible. If it is just the theme you want, that's easy to pull, but I'm downloading it right now to take a look at it.
That is correct. I would like that theme. but I would like to see it cooked into a rom you know. Please let me kow once you have looked at it. Cheers...
shokouhi said:
That is correct. I would like that theme. but I would like to see it cooked into a rom you know. Please let me kow once you have looked at it. Cheers...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whether it is just ported over as a theme to be flashed/metamorphed or its "cooked" into a rom, it is the same. a flashable theme is much more convenient, since you are only replacing files in your current system, as opposed to wiping and starting over just to gain different aesthetics in the same exact rom, and having to go through the annoying process of setting back up again for basically nothing. Right now, I am about to try it on SR 3.3.3 and see how it goes, then in Desire Z rom. If all goes well, I'll post it in the themes section and let you know, otherwise I will post failure here and let you know if it isn't working lol.
Well for the most part, in SR 3.3.3 it seemed to work. Everything functioned and almost all of the theme elements were there. But it was definitely incomplete. For one, most incredible roms incorporate smooth sense icons. The theme does not have this since it is from the desire, so that creates an issue because only 5 of the 100 battery icons were themed lol. same with the sync icon. For some reason the signal bars did not change even though I ported the com.htc.resources also. I think a couple system apps did not theme (People app for sure, not sure what others) and the dockbar was espresso style but did not have the themes color. I'm sure there were other missing elements but as it stands, this will become too much work for me to correct, especially since more people will want it on different roms, which means porting and troubleshooting those as well.
Thanks for your attempt. If I may ask one request can you please post the Expresso bar and lockscreen with the black clock in an update.zip form. Those are the 3 elements that i would really like to have. I appreciate it once again.
Cheers,
Shokouhi

We need a program like the Palm Pre has!!

When I had my pre there was a program I downloaded off of precentral that would let me connect my phone via usb, and select what I wanted to mod (lock screen, battery icon, and millions of other things) Is there anyway possible something like this can be mimicked? I would love to have something like this just because of the simplicity of its concept. All you do is plug it in and select what you want to do other then going into bootloader and doing all the crazy **** to root and change you android phone. Please let there be someone out there capable of creating something like this amazing tool!!!
That was a nice program but most of the mods on the pre were patches to the same code that every device shared. Android phones have different roms which make each device unique, so I think a program like this would have to be rom independent. It's not impossible but it would be a lot of work for a rom maintainer so I don't think it's likely. Flashing roms, mods, kernels and radios are all basically the same process so I think your best bet is to get used to it.
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk
yeh loved that lil feature program of the pre
if it had a 4.3 inch screen i would have stuck with it
a 4.3 inch screen a not so crappy slider, more flash memory, oh and an sd card slot. No, I don't want it to make my toast, I want french toast! Or if someone could write a mod to transform it into an IHOP, we'd be good!
UOT Kitchen is awesome. I wish it would work with Evo.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
So this would be an impossible feat wouldnt it?
antianalog said:
That was a nice program but most of the mods on the pre were patches to the same code that every device shared. Android phones have different roms which make each device unique, so I think a program like this would have to be rom independent. It's not impossible but it would be a lot of work for a rom maintainer so I don't think it's likely. Flashing roms, mods, kernels and radios are all basically the same process so I think your best bet is to get used to it.
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
on a second thought, i dont think a repository of themes would bee that hard
basically it'll just be this forum in a program, meaning, the program would hold the files(that most simply flash). Just like if you find a theme in this forum,normally in the topic or first post it'll tell you whats needed(prerequisites).
For starters every phone will be an EVO, then simply hold the themes in categories, as my phone now, to get to it, i would click say CM6 category, then the theme(all themes in that category should work on CM6) .
I just came from fresh, but if i had that, say i could just click a sense 2.2 category,then the theme. Most themes that works on a sense rom 2.2 rom (odexed i believe),will work on most 2.2 phones,other than CM6
, theres not many themes that will ONLY work on one rom, such as fresh only.
(i used themes as an example but same scenerio could be supplied to mods/lock screens etc)
the only tricky thing to keep in order is what type of rom/kernel is needed to run each them. But when u come to xda to get a them ,from what i see, every theme tells you what its compatible with anyway. So i say use same method for the program
(i used themes as an example but same scenerio could be supplied to mods/lock screens etc)

Splash Screens by Watcher07

I recently started learning how to do some work in the community with splash screens. Initially I just did three as copies of an image from another community member (got his permission), but I seem to be making more and more thus the need for a singular thread.
So far, these are all simply splash screens for the Synergy Roms, however as splash screens go, well it doesn't matter what rom you're running, would just be a bit strange running savaged mod with a Synergy splash, but thats on y'all.
Anyway, as I get better then I'll branch into boot animations or lockscreen mods and maybe even theming roms, but for the moment this is it.
If you have a particular image you want made into one, I can give it a shot. I wish I had more talent as a digital artist, but since I don't then I use images I can find and get permission when at all possible.
Thanks for stopping by.
Instructions for installing any of my splash screens:
1) Remove everything after the "-" from the filename so it is just "PC36IMG" or if you have file extensions set to show, it will read "PC36IMG.zip".
2) Copy it to the root of your SD Card.
3) Reboot the phone into bootloader.
4) Bootloader should automatically detect it and ask you if you want to install it, hit Volume up for yes.
5) A couple seconds later it will prompt you to reboot with another Volume up, go fer it.
6) Your new splash screen will show up, the peasants will rejoice, and peace will reign across the land. Well, can't guarantee all that, but look for one of the above to happen.
Some examples of whats going on in this thread:
Synergy Splash Screens
So this is the set that I took the image from whiterider13 with his permission, they turned out pretty decent.
Some other Rom Splash Screens
More Synergy Screens
Miscellaneous Splash Screens
Testing out this style, seems to have gotten good reception so far. Will probably tweak it so it doesn't look quite so hacked together a little later, but let me know what you think. I'll probably start sorting through a green and red version later.
Three more I just wrapped up, feels like a step backwards from my last one, but they look decent. I think I did them just to offer variety more than anything.
Watcher07 said:
I recently started learning how to do some work in the community with splash screens. Initially I just did three as copies of an image from another community member (got his permission), but I seem to be making more and more thus the need for a singular thread.
So far, these are all simply splash screens for the Synergy Roms, however as splash screens go, well it doesn't matter what rom you're running, would just be a bit strange running savaged mod with a Synergy splash, but thats on y'all.
Anyway, as I get better then I'll branch into boot animations or lockscreen mods and maybe even theming roms, but for the moment this is it.
If you have a particular image you want made into one, I can give it a shot. I wish I had more talent as a digital artist, but since I don't then I use images I can find and get permission when at all possible.
Thanks for stopping by.
Instructions for installing any of my splash screens:
1) Remove everything after the "-" from the filename so it is just "PC36IMG" or if you have file extensions set to show, it will read "PC36IMG.zip".
2) Copy it to the root of your SD Card.
3) Reboot the phone into bootloader.
4) Bootloader should automatically detect it and ask you if you want to install it, hit Volume up for yes.
5) A couple seconds later it will prompt you to reboot with another Volume up, go fer it.
6) Your new splash screen will show up, the peasants will rejoice, and peace will reign across the land. Well, can't guarantee all that, but look for one of the above to happen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glade you did these maybe now I will switch from the one I made for someone 6 months ago lol
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Next batch
Alright, I gotta admit, these look pretty slick in my opinion, despite the simplicity. Getting the color to change right was a big pain, and I'm still going to work on getting the blue one to look a hair cleaner than it does, but overall I think they look good. Hope you all enjoy.
Watcher07 said:
Testing out this style, seems to have gotten good reception so far. Will probably tweak it so it doesn't look quite so hacked together a little later, but let me know what you think. I'll probably start sorting through a green and red version later.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
beautiful!
Mar5hall said:
beautiful!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you!
would anyone help me make this into a splash screen?
Mar5hall said:
would anyone help me make this into a splash screen?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, got it done.
Digital Green
Hello again forum. So I spent quite a bit more time on this than the original blue one, I tried pretty hard to make sure it doesn't look too "busy". I'm still not entirely satisfied with it, but it appears to be coming along as a work in progress. However I do think it looks pretty cool for what it is right now. Let me know what you guys think though, thanks.
Crafted a simple signature, nothing fancy, just functional.
Great job on the splash screens....I have personally chosen the green swoosh splash as my splash screen...Thanks and once again, great work.
K-Driod said:
Great job on the splash screens....I have personally chosen the green swoosh splash as my splash screen...Thanks and once again, great work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the support.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Damn all of these splash screens look sick! Simple but very elegant looking. I don't know which one to choose lol. Great job watcher
ncfastls1 said:
Damn all of these splash screens look sick! Simple but very elegant looking. I don't know which one to choose lol. Great job watcher
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol thanks. Appreciate the compliment.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
ncfastls1 said:
Damn all of these splash screens look sick! Simple but very elegant looking. I don't know which one to choose lol. Great job watcher
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+100
Exactly what i was thinking.
OP, every one of these is beautiful. I will be changing my splash, i guess. I've been using the same one since about august '10.
Thanks for these, and thanks for always offering a blue version.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA Premium App
Now if you could add some animation to that it could also make an awesome bootanimation
Watcher07 said:
Hello again forum. So I spent quite a bit more time on this than the original blue one, I tried pretty hard to make sure it doesn't look too "busy". I'm still not entirely satisfied with it, but it appears to be coming along as a work in progress. However I do think it looks pretty cool for what it is right now. Let me know what you guys think though, thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually that is kind of the plan, gotta fix the way Gimp is processing the font, clean everything up a bit, make a couple of small tweaks to it, generate the red version and reverse produce the final product for the other colors, then animate it. I'm also tempted to do a "noir" version of each splash screen cause I know there's anti-color folks out there. I don't want them to be simple black, white and shades of gray....I'm looking for them to maintain the same feel, just a lot more subtly. But that will be a bit further down the road. Thanks though for all the praise.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

Can I use Ep4P themes on Ep4d? NO!! Heres Why.

With the OTA on the horizon and the leaked ota "roms" out there allready this is a question that I've heard alot. This thread is to help you understand what a theme acctually is, and why you should not Cross-Flash Themes from one build to another.
Alot of people think when they are flashing a theme all they are doing is changing the 'look' and that's not even close to whats really happening behind the scenes.
In each theme zip there are folders that contain themed apk's that can theme anything from the clock to the system. Here is a look at what is inside the zip.
Code:
[COLOR="Blue"]EP4P[/COLOR]_Theme.zip
---------------META-INF (This file tells the zip what, where and How to flash)
---------------System
----------------------app
-------------------------Camera.apk
-------------------------ClockPackage.apk
-------------------------Contacts.apk
-------------------------DialerTabActivity.apk
-------------------------DownloadProvider.apk
-------------------------Gallery3D.apk
-------------------------Phone.apk
-------------------------Settings.apk
-------------------------SystemUI.apk
----------------------framework
-------------------------framework-res.apk
-------------------------twframework.apk
If you notice in this example the theme is for ep4p. That means that each apk file is based off the original ep4p leak. Then if you were to look into the apks they are made up of .pngs .jpgs .xmls .dex etc. Then if you were to break it down even further each .dex file has .smali files in them which contain java code.
Why is all this important you ask? And then you think Well as long as it works what do I care?
Well, let me tell you. Ep4d for one has a later build date than Ep4p, secondly and more obvious they have a differnt build name. That means SOMETHING was changed from one version to another. What exactly was changed is anybodys guess, let's just say for this example, in ep4d that they added a tweak into the framework-res.apk file that added speed and battery life, now you decide you want to flash a ep4p over the top. "Hey! it works" you say, Well guess what, you just overwrote the new tweaks by replacing the framework from an older version. Now, I see you posting a thread and asking why everyone else is getting more speed and battery life than you are when your both on ep4d. It's because you overwrote the tweak that everyone else still has.
The same goes from 'rom' to 'rom', if you flash a theme from one rom to another you could lose things such as tsm parts, power mod, accu battery, etc.
Hopefully, this can help people to understand more about what is going on behind the scenes, and as you can tell I could go on and on about this. So the moral of the story is ,
If your gonna flash an ep4p theme over ep4d 'rom' then why did you flash ep4d in the first place?
thank you for the info ... I had been wondering since the new build dropped.
Nice write up you said it well for what I've been saying for awhile.
Sent from my SCH-I510 using xda premium
adrynalyne has been howling about themers should go back to using metamorph like the og droid days where most themers were in that format for awhile, and im inclined to agree
an update-zip theme isn't really a *theme* as it is a mini rom...once you replace actual system apks or jars and not just inject images in, thats what it really is
now these type of themes are usually fine when made by a knowledgeable individual who doesnt just randomly drop any apk in without consideration for the consequences
however by my own informal and internal quick poll of themers i notice in forums i go to that number would probably be less than 1 in 3
even *popular* themers out there who put some nice screenshots in their op are really idiots, whose apks when you pull them apart are a disaster
not picking on any one individual, but be careful what you flash on your phone
nitsuj17 said:
adrynalyne has been howling about themers should go back to using metamorph like the og droid days where most themers were in that format for awhile, and im inclined to agree
an update-zip theme isn't really a *theme* as it is a mini rom...once you replace actual system apks or jars and not just inject images in, thats what it really is
now these type of themes are usually fine when made by a knowledgeable individual who doesnt just randomly drop any apk in without consideration for the consequences
however by my own informal and internal quick poll of themers i notice in forums i go to that number would probably be less than 1 in 3
even *popular* themers out there who put some nice screenshots in their op are really idiots, whose apks when you pull them apart are a disaster
not picking on any one individual, but be careful what you flash on your phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I personally use zipthemer, it's basically the same thing as metamorph only it builds a flashable zip for you. As long as you run zipthemer every time you change a rom/build then you are good to go.
I will have to say you are definetly right about the apks bieng trashed. I still have images in the theme I use from my moto days. You have given me the motivation to clean my theme up and optipng the images, who knows, it may make my phone faster and will definetly clear up some space.
jsminnis said:
I personally use zipthemer, it's basically the same thing as metamorph only it builds a flashable zip for you. As long as you run zipthemer every time you change a rom/build then you are good to go.
I will have to say you are definetly right about the apks bieng trashed. I still have images in the theme I use from my moto days. You have given me the motivation to clean my theme up and optipng the images, who knows, it may make my phone faster and will definetly clear up some space.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah, zipthemer is a neat tool as well
when i first starting making themes over a year ago i was guilty of putting out what i know consider garbage
its a learning curve, but still gotta be careful
nitsuj17 said:
yeah, zipthemer is a neat tool as well
when i first starting making themes over a year ago i was guilty of putting out what i know consider garbage
its a learning curve, but still gotta be careful
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree, Well, I just got done cleaning my theme up and it went from 49 meg down to 34 meg. WOW, alot of junk in there, now my phone won't have to look through so much crap to find what it needs.
I confess to wanting to try and successfully flash one of gunnermike's themes over a Humble ROM just to see if I could make his head explode through time and space... (also because he's a gnarly themer...)
I've compiled a ZIP file that can be installed via CWM that completely restores the default EP4D theme.
It contains the commonly themed apps that most theme developers modify, namely...
Camera.apk
ClockPackage.apk
Contacts.apk
DialerTabActivity.apk
DownloadProvider.apk
Gallery3D.apk
JobManager.apk
MediaProvider.apk
Mms.apk
Phone.apk
Settings.apk
SystemUI.apk
TouchWizCalendar.apk
As well as...
android.policy.jar
framework-res.apk
framework.jar
twframework-res.apk
What edify setting should a user fire the charge choose in zip themer? Captivate doesn't work
Sent from my SCH-I510 using Tapatalk
cmdrfrog said:
What edify setting should a user fire the charge choose in zip themer? Captivate doesn't work
Sent from my SCH-I510 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First download this file and put on you /sdcard
Press menu/Update Edify/Browse/ then select the UpdateEdify4Charge.zip You just downloaded, then press configure. Done!
nitsuj17 said:
adrynalyne has been howling about themers should go back to using metamorph like the og droid days where most themers were in that format for awhile, and im inclined to agree
an update-zip theme isn't really a *theme* as it is a mini rom...once you replace actual system apks or jars and not just inject images in, thats what it really is
now these type of themes are usually fine when made by a knowledgeable individual who doesnt just randomly drop any apk in without consideration for the consequences
however by my own informal and internal quick poll of themers i notice in forums i go to that number would probably be less than 1 in 3
even *popular* themers out there who put some nice screenshots in their op are really idiots, whose apks when you pull them apart are a disaster
not picking on any one individual, but be careful what you flash on your phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well considering there isnt that many themers, whats the deal? What do you see wrong with some of the APK's. I'd like to know some examples.
ForeverSupra said:
Well considering there isnt that many themers, whats the deal? What do you see wrong with some of the APK's. I'd like to know some examples.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He isn't talking Just DRIOD Charge, he's talking themers from various forums/devices/carriers, so a wide array of different people, and just from browsing some other people's work on other devices, I agree. The other option would be to use asserts to verify the build version before flashing, which may be another good option, so the average end-user can flash a theme for a ROM it wasn't meant for.
ForeverSupra said:
Well considering there isnt that many themers, whats the deal? What do you see wrong with some of the APK's. I'd like to know some examples.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
imnuts said:
He isn't talking Just DRIOD Charge, he's talking themers from various forums/devices/carriers, so a wide array of different people, and just from browsing some other people's work on other devices, I agree. The other option would be to use asserts to verify the build version before flashing, which may be another good option, so the average end-user can flash a theme for a ROM it wasn't meant for.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yup, i was referring to all themes/themers across the various forums i peruse
while i dont enjoy particularly calling individuals out, themuffstuff was (i dont know if he still does) notorious for putting unpatched .9 images in his themes (and refused to patch them) and putting anywhere from 100-200 additional images in apks and frameworks as he copy/pasted images from other phones
hes an alright kid in general, but that used to bug the crap out of me
many other themers on sgs will even grab entire apks from the roms/themes of other sgs phones and package them in...this is fine *if* you make a note of it so people know what to expect...they often dont though, but i notice it
the fascinate also had many many themers do this back in its heyday
i do like the idea of adding the prop assert into themes...if i still actively made independent themes its something id strongly consider doing
but in general, its just a good idea for themers to be aware that yes, their update.zip themes are in fact mini partial roms. they should take the same care that rom developers do (or hopefully should do...but thats another topic) when releasing something.
the return of metamorph to the mainstream would be welcomed by me though as a stop gap measure for a lot of the shoddy work out there
so how can I tell what all i have installed on my phone after I have done the root. I have done a lot of things trying to get to this point so it is a lil hazy as far as wht verisions I have on there and after the recovery I have to redo it all. and I just wanna make sure if mine is ep4p or ep4d
So i think I found it out...... I have all of the crap on my phone still .. so I installed a theme and it got rid of a few things like my camera button.. I am still looking in the file itself to find out how to tell them apart. any sugestions on finding it

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