Related
A lot of threads pop up after users root/s-off and flash a custom ROM asking why they lost their H+? Here's the thing - ATT is one of the only (if not the only) carrier that uses this icon. Everyone else simply uses an H icon. So any ROMs that are ported from other devices or built from different builds will not have this H+ icon built in. This doesn't mean you're not connecting to ATT's faster network, it simply means the icon indicating your connected to that network has changed. To verify what network you're actually connected to, go to Settings - About Phone - Network. Now if it bugs you too much, you can change this icon to whatever you want, and here's how.
This walkthrough will also guide you through changing your signal strength meter (from 4 bar to whatever) and will also instruct you on making battery mods with your newly created SystemUI.apk.
The process might seem long, but I can do these mods in about 10 minutes now (unless I'm waiting on the kitchen). Sorry for the length - I wanted to be as thorough as possible.
AS ALWAYS, BE SURE TO MAKE A NANDROID BEFORE FLASHING ANYTHING. I TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR BAD FLASHES, FLASH MOBS, or UGLY FLASHERS
Note: This walkthrough is for SENSE based ROMs. AOSP/CM7 bases will use different filenames/icons. It will be the same process to change them, you just need to figure out what they're called.
1. First thing you need to do is get yourself a program that will extract SystemUI.apk (I use WinRAR).
2. Create a folder (I put it on my desktop) that will be your working folder
3. Open the .zip of your ROM using whatever unzipper you have, or whatever you downloaded in step 1. Find SystemUI.apk in the .zip of your ROM (located in /system/app/) and drag it to your working folder
4. Open SystemUI.apk in WinRAR and navigate to /res/drawable-hdpi/.
4a. If this is the first time you're doing this, this is a good time to find new icons you may want to use. Extract all of the files from SystemUI.apk to a subfolder in your working folder. Now go through all of the .png files and pick out some icons you may want to use in the future, and copy them to a new Icons folder.
4b. If you already have the icons you want to use, you'll need to rename them at this point. The signal strength meter images that need replaced are the following:
stat_sys_signal_null
stat_sys_signal_0
stat_sys_signal_1
stat_sys_signal_2
stat_sys_signal_3
stat_sys_signal_4
Note: There are only 6 files that the ROM looks for (no signal, 0 bars, 1 bar, 2 bars, 3 bars, 4 bars) and I have no idea how to tell the ROM to look for additional images, or how to calibrate the ROM to display different icons at different signal strengths, so when replacing with a 5 bar signal mod (which has 7 images - null, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) you need to choose which image you're going to skip - . I usually use no signal image (for _null), 1 bar image (for _0), 2 bar image (for _1), 3 bar image (for _2), 4 bar image(for _3), 5 bar image (for _4) skipping the 0 bar image.
5. Now you need to rename your new images to the original file names (stat_sys_signal_null, _0, etc)
6. Once the files are renamed, drag all the files back into the SystemUI.apk which you have opened in WinRAR. You will be prompted to choose a compression method, choose Store and click OK.
7. The old images will be replaced with the new images, and the .apk will be automatically saved.
To change the network indicator icons, there will be a bunch of images you'll need to change, depending on what network's icons you want to change. The Inspire reports being connected to 4 different networks - GSM (G icon), EDGE (E icon), UMTS (3G icon), HSDPA (H+ icon in stock, H icon on DHD ROMs). The images that will need to be replaced are as follows (where X=e, g, 3g, h - depending on which network's icons you want to change)
stat_sys_data_connected_X
stat_sys_data_in_X
stat_sys_data_out_X
stat_sys_data_inandout_X
Note: The Inspire doesn't actually report being connected to HSPA+, at least not from anything I've ever seen, read, or experienced, however there are also icon sets for _h+, which would be displayed IF the phone reported being connected to HSPA+, so if you want to change that icon set too it won't hurt anything.
Now it's the same process, rename your new icons to the corresponding original image file name, then drag the images back into SystemUI.apk while open in WinRAR using Store compression. Again, your .apk will be automatically saved.
At this point you can push SystemUI.apk back to your device and get your changes, or you can take the next step for battery mods or an easy way to make a flashable .zip since I don't know how to make them from scratch.
Battery Mods (or getting a flashable .zip) using UOT Kitchen (http://uot.dakra.lt)
1. Open your ROM .zip in the app you use to unzip. Navigate to /system/framework/ and extract framework-res.apk and com.htc.resources.apk to your working folder
2. Go to the kitchen and click the "Kitchen" tab (If it tells you the kitchen is full, just keep refreshing - it should allow you into the kitchen within 20 minutes or so)
3. Click on the Upload Files tab and put a dot in the option for "System Files". It will now ask you to upload 3 files (SystemUI.apk, framework-res.apk, and com.htc.resources.apk). Make sure you use your newly modded SystemUI.apk and not the stock one, or you won't have your changes.
3a. If you don't want any battery mods, just a flashable .zip, at this point go to step 5, otherwise continue to step 4
4. Once the files are uploaded go to the Battery tab and put a check in "Use this mod". Change the battery however you'd like. There's a Generate Preview button at the top so you can see how it might look when you're finished.
5. Once finished, go to the "Submit Work" tab. As long as no sections are in Red, click Submit work to kitchen. You'll get a pickup number. Go to the Pickup section and wait for your mods to cook. You will be given a flashable .zip you can name whatever you want - with all your changes in it.
Well done.
When I did this, my data indicator would change back when connected to wifi. Went back in and checked, and there are also files for capable. They need to be changed as well. But thank you for the walkthrough on this. I was wanting to know how to do this.
Thanks!
I followed the instructions to change my 3G and H icons to 4G in TMOus Sensation!
Just wondering if anyone is interested in this? I learned how from the original back on the Motorola Droid and have made it work for other phones. I used to be a themer but have since been spending my free time on other things. However, I still have the urge every once in awhile. For those not familiar, this will create a little looped video playing on the pull down screen.
Guide:
Instructions for Windows users... (Linux users: You should be able to follow along, as the idea is the same in both)
Things you will need:
The knowledge that whatever you do with this information is YOUR responsibility and not mine, nor the creators / developers of the mod and / or rom.
Basics -
Working computer.
Time.
Patience.
Animation images / Idea for making your own animation.
Computer Programs:
Java: http://www.java.com/en/download/index.jsp
Apk Manager: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=695701
Text Editor (Suggested - Notepad++: http://notepad-plus-plus.org/download/v5.9.6.2.html )*
Archive Managing program (ie WinZip, WinRar, 7zip) (Suggested - 7zip: http://www.7-zip.org/download.html )*
Image Manipulation program > Whether it be Photoshop, Paint.Net, or GIMP, we'll refer to it as PIMP for short from now on.
(Suggested - Dark Silent GIMP: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9903887/PCApps/Dark_Gimp.rar )*
Batch Renamer > if you are making your own (Suggested - http://www.den4b.com/?x=downloads&product=renamer )*
You'll also need the SystemUI.apk from your favorite rom.
(Found in: rom.zip > system > app > SystemUI.apk)
If wanting to make one with images from a video, you'll need:
A short vid (if you are wanting to use one from, say, http://www.youtube.com/ then you would copy/paste that web address to a site like http://www.savevid.com/) and export the video as a file to your computer.
Video Editor (Suggested - iWiSoft Free Video Converter: http://www.iwisoft.com/videoconverter/ )*
It's easiest to export the images as PNGs.
Alternatively, you can make your own images with PIMP or kang them from someone else's already made animation (Don't forget to send them a thanks if you do!).
Common Questions:
*How big does the image need to be? - The screen size is 480 x 800.
*How many images can I have? - I'm not sure. The one I made has 14 and there have been no issues whatsoever. I've used as many as 30 on my Atrix and didn't have any issues, but others did and the apk will get a little bloated with that many images, especially if it's not very transparent or there are a lot of colors.
*What duration should I change the animation to? - Again, this really depends on what you are going for. How the animation looks, how many images you have, etc. The default on mine is "200" Trial and error ftw!
*What kind of animation should I do? - Only you can answer that! If you are having trouble thinking of something, browse the forums and see if you can't find some ideas. Search YouTube for a cool video. Play with some creating some logos. Only limitation is your imagination.
After editing images or finding the ones you want to use...
Place your SystemUI.apk in the Apk Manager's place-apk-here-for-modding folder.
Double Click the Script.
Choose 22.
Choose the number of SystemUI.apk and hit Enter.
Choose 9 for Decompile.
Naviage to Apk Manager > projects > SystemUI > res > drawable hdpi (or drawable hdpi v4, depending on rom)>
Place your images resized and renamed as status_bar_background_animationX.pngs here. (where X is the number of the image in sequential order)
Navigate to Apk Manager > projects > SystemUI > res > drawable > and place this: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9903887/status_bar_background_animation.xml in there.
The one I posted here is just the normal one I use that has 14 images, but you can adjust for the amount of images you want and the speed of the image changes using your Text Editor. You can just go from 1 - "X" number sequentially or you can have the images go 1-2-3-4-5-6-5-4-3-2 etc. depending on the style of animation or if you are trying to keep the image number down.
After that... (it really does not matter what order you do these in, but this might help you the first time or two to have a set path)
Navigate to Apk Manager > projects > SystemUI > res > layout > status_bar_tracking.xml and open with Text Editor.
Find:
com.android.systemui.statusbar.TrackingView in the second line and right after that (leave a space) add:
android:background="@drawable/status_bar_background_animation"
Make sure there is a space after this too, then save the xml.
After you have edited your images and xml and saved all of them go back to the script for Apk Manager and choose 11 to compile. After it finishes it will ask you if it is a system apk (Y/N). "Y" + Enter. It will ask you if you want to keep blah blah blah (Y/N). "Y" + Enter.
Go to the "keep" folder in Apk Manager > keep and delete the "res" folder and the resources.arsc file (this is the lazy/easy way).
Go back to the Apk Manager script and hit Enter.
The apk will be completed and named unsignedSystemUI.apk and you will find it in the "place-here-for-modding" folder. Even though it says unsigned, it is signed and you will not need to do anything else to it beyond renaming it to SystemUI.apk. This new finished SystemUI.apk will be added to a flashable zip file in this format (open zip as archive to not break the signature):
flashable.zip > system > app > replace previous SystemUI.apk
Place this on your SD card and install via ClockworkMod Recovery. You will not need to wipe data or cache for this.
The very first time you pull down the screen it will be static, but any other time it should start to animate. This is the same with every phone I have seen and not sure why this is.
Sorry if this seems crazy difficult, but I just wanted to be thorough so even relatively new people can at least see how it is made. If you need help, hit me up on Talk with my screen name. Enjoy!
*I receive no form of compensation for these recommendations. I merely suggest them as they are free, have a fair amount of support, and work well enough for me.*
I have attached for you to use/edit as you see fit:
*status_bar_background_animation.txt http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9903887/status_bar_background_animation.xml
*14 multicolored Honeycomb images inspired / kanged from the boot animation.
*status_bar_tracking.txt - Pretty sure these are similar/same between CM7 and Stock or just use as reference guide.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9903887/status_bar_tracking.xml
*Empty flashable zip for ClockWorkMod - Use the Archive Manager to open as archive and place your SystemUI.apk inside /system/app. Do NOT unzip and rezip as it will break the signature and not flash correctly.
es0tericcha0s said:
Just wondering if anyone is interested in this? I learned how from the original back on the Motorola Droid and have made it work for other phones. I used to be a themer but have since been spending my free time on other things. However, I still have the urge every once in awhile. I'll post a how to if there is interest. For those not familiar, this will create a little looped video playing on the pull down screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm interested, but how much does this impact the battery? Does it run while the statusbar is up? A little more info would be helpful but I'm certainly interested.
Nah, it only runs while the screen is down so the effects on the battery are negligible.
This one is NOT mine, but just so you get the idea:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5ZD6WzwS0k
And it's built into the SystemUI.apk, not framework for our phones.
es0tericcha0s said:
Nah, it only runs while the screen is down so the effects on the battery are negligible.
This one is NOT mine, but just so you get the idea:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5ZD6WzwS0k
And it's built into the SystemUI.apk, not framework for our phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very nice, that would be something of interest.
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda premium
Alrighty then. It's dinner and movie time with the lady. I'll post it up here a little later on.
OP edited with detailed instructions!
es0tericcha0s said:
Nah, it only runs while the screen is down so the effects on the battery are negligible.
This one is NOT mine, but just so you get the idea:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5ZD6WzwS0k
And it's built into the SystemUI.apk, not framework for our phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 for negligible battery loss. I've ran this with my G2x for a few months now, only minor issues if the person who puts the animation gets too crazy.
es0tericcha0s said:
Just wondering if anyone is interested in this? I learned how from the original back on the Motorola Droid and have made it work for other phones. I used to be a themer but have since been spending my free time on other things. However, I still have the urge every once in awhile. For those not familiar, this will create a little looped video playing on the pull down screen.
Guide:
Instructions for Windows users... (Linux users: You should be able to follow along, as the idea is the same in both)
Things you will need:
The knowledge that whatever you do with this information is YOUR responsibility and not mine, nor the creators / developers of the mod and / or rom.
Basics -
Working computer.
Time.
Patience.
Animation images / Idea for making your own animation.
Computer Programs:
Java: http://www.java.com/en/download/index.jsp
Apk Manager: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=695701
Text Editor (Suggested - Notepad++: http://notepad-plus-plus.org/download/v5.9.6.2.html )*
Archive Managing program (ie WinZip, WinRar, 7zip) (Suggested - 7zip: http://www.7-zip.org/download.html )*
Image Manipulation program > Whether it be Photoshop, Paint.Net, or GIMP, we'll refer to it as PIMP for short from now on.
(Suggested - Dark Silent GIMP: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9903887/PCApps/Dark_Gimp.rar )*
Batch Renamer > if you are making your own (Suggested - http://www.den4b.com/?x=downloads&product=renamer )*
You'll also need the SystemUI.apk from your favorite rom.
(Found in: rom.zip > system > app > SystemUI.apk)
If wanting to make one with images from a video, you'll need:
A short vid (if you are wanting to use one from, say, http://www.youtube.com/ then you would copy/paste that web address to a site like http://www.savevid.com/) and export the video as a file to your computer.
Video Editor (Suggested - iWiSoft Free Video Converter: http://www.iwisoft.com/videoconverter/ )*
It's easiest to export the images as PNGs.
Alternatively, you can make your own images with PIMP or kang them from someone else's already made animation (Don't forget to send them a thanks if you do!).
Common Questions:
*How big does the image need to be? - The screen size is 480 x 800.
*How many images can I have? - I'm not sure. The one I made has 14 and there have been no issues whatsoever. I've used as many as 30 on my Atrix and didn't have any issues, but others did and the apk will get a little bloated with that many images, especially if it's not very transparent or there are a lot of colors.
*What duration should I change the animation to? - Again, this really depends on what you are going for. How the animation looks, how many images you have, etc. The default on mine is "200" Trial and error ftw!
*What kind of animation should I do? - Only you can answer that! If you are having trouble thinking of something, browse the forums and see if you can't find some ideas. Search YouTube for a cool video. Play with some creating some logos. Only limitation is your imagination.
After editing images or finding the ones you want to use...
Place your SystemUI.apk in the Apk Manager's place-apk-here-for-modding folder.
Double Click the Script.
Choose 22.
Choose the number of SystemUI.apk and hit Enter.
Choose 9 for Decompile.
Naviage to Apk Manager > projects > SystemUI > res > drawable hdpi >
Place your images resized and renamed as status_bar_animationX.pngs here. (where X is the number of the image in sequential order)
Navigate to Apk Manager > projects > SystemUI > res > drawable > and place this: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9903887/status_bar_background_animation.xml in there.
The one I posted here is just the normal one I use that has 14 images, but you can adjust for the amount of images you want and the speed of the image changes using your Text Editor. You can just go from 1 - "X" number sequentially or you can have the images go 1-2-3-4-5-6-5-4-3-2 etc. depending on the style of animation or if you are trying to keep the image number down.
After that... (it really does not matter what order you do these in, but this might help you the first time or two to have a set path)
Navigate to Apk Manager > projects > SystemUI > res > layout > status_bar_tracking.xml and open with Text Editor.
Find:
com.android.systemui.statusbar.TrackingView in the second line and right after that (leave a space) add:
android:background="@drawable/status_bar_background_animation"
Make sure there is a space after this too, then save the xml.
After you have edited your images and xml and saved all of them go back to the script for Apk Manager and choose 11 to compile. After it finishes it will ask you if it is a system apk (Y/N). "Y" + Enter. It will ask you if you want to keep blah blah blah (Y/N). "Y" + Enter.
Go to the "keep" folder in Apk Manager > keep and delete the "res" folder and the resources.arsc file (this is the lazy/easy way).
Go back to the Apk Manager script and hit Enter.
The apk will be completed and named unsignedSystemUI.apk and you will find it in the "place-here-for-modding" folder. Even though it says unsigned, it is signed and you will not need to do anything else to it beyond renaming it to SystemUI.apk. This new finished SystemUI.apk will be added to a flashable zip file in this format (open zip as archive to not break the signature):
flashable.zip > system > app > replace previous SystemUI.apk
Place this on your SD card and install via ClockworkMod Recovery. You will not need to wipe data or cache for this.
The very first time you pull down the screen it will be static, but any other time it should start to animate. This is the same with every phone I have seen and not sure why this is.
Sorry if this seems crazy difficult, but I just wanted to be thorough so even relatively new people can at least see how it is made. If you need help, hit me up on Talk with my screen name. Enjoy!
*I receive no form of compensation for these recommendations. I merely suggest them as they are free, have a fair amount of support, and work well enough for me.*
I have attached for you to use/edit as you see fit:
*status_bar_background_animation.txt http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9903887/status_bar_tracking.xml
*14 multicolored Honeycomb images inspired / kanged from the boot animation.
*status_bar_tracking.txt - Pretty sure these are similar/same between CM7 and Stock or just use as reference guide.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9903887/status_bar_tracking.xml
*Empty flashable zip for ClockWorkMod - Use the Archive Manager to open as archive and place your SystemUI.apk inside /system/app. Do NOT unzip and rezip as it will break the signature and not flash correctly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can I use Clockmod Recovery to flash the MultiColored Honeycomb Animation.zip or is there something else I need or need to do?
The Honeycomb zip ONLY has the 14 images of the animation. It won't do anything if you try to flash it. And, to get those to work, you'd have to follow the guide in the opening post. It's pretty thorough. If you get stuck, let me know.
Hi, I'm extremely interested in getting this working.
I spent a good four hours designing a custom set of frames to match my current background, all before I realized that for some reason my current ROM's SystemUI.apk will not decompile correctly, and therefore won't RE-compile correctly. I spent a couple hours trying different versions of APKtool and aapt, all proving the same result. Finally I felt stupid when I tried it out on a random APK I had from a backup, decompiled and recompiled perfectly...
Has anyone tried this on an MIUI ROM? If so, I'm really interested in finishing this half-a-day project I've just started and could use some help xD
If you want, hit me up on Talk using my screen name.
Sent via telepathy
k4p741nkrunch said:
Hi, I'm extremely interested in getting this working.
I spent a good four hours designing a custom set of frames to match my current background, all before I realized that for some reason my current ROM's SystemUI.apk will not decompile correctly, and therefore won't RE-compile correctly. I spent a couple hours trying different versions of APKtool and aapt, all proving the same result. Finally I felt stupid when I tried it out on a random APK I had from a backup, decompiled and recompiled perfectly...
Has anyone tried this on an MIUI ROM? If so, I'm really interested in finishing this half-a-day project I've just started and could use some help xD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This would be awesome on MIUI.
k4p741nkrunch said:
Hi, I'm extremely interested in getting this working.
I spent a good four hours designing a custom set of frames to match my current background, all before I realized that for some reason my current ROM's SystemUI.apk will not decompile correctly, and therefore won't RE-compile correctly. I spent a couple hours trying different versions of APKtool and aapt, all proving the same result. Finally I felt stupid when I tried it out on a random APK I had from a backup, decompiled and recompiled perfectly...
Has anyone tried this on an MIUI ROM? If so, I'm really interested in finishing this half-a-day project I've just started and could use some help xD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The key to decompiling certain system apps with MIUI is using apktool and then installing the framework from the MIUI rom as a dependency.
Windows Users (Linux Users - if you can use Linux, you probably know how to use the CMD Prompt well enough to follow these directions for your system too):
1) Place the framework-res.apk and SystemUI.apk from the rom in the folder where your apktool is located.
2) Open CMD Prompt and navigate (change directories / cd) to your folder with apktool and apps.
3) apktool.jar if framework-res.apk
4) apktool.jar d SystemUI.apk
5) This will create a subfolder in the main folder that will be named SystemUI.
6) Make your edits following the guide in the OP.
7) When finished, compile the apk with this:
apktool.jar b SystemUI
8) This will build the app for you and you will find it located in the subfolder Dist inside of the SystemUI folder.
I threw one together here*: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9903887/MIUISystemUI.apk
This SystemUI is from the stock based MIUI rom ported by stormageddon posted here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1421713
It has:
1) status_bar_background_animation.xml added to res/drawable (14 image version)
2) 14 Honeycomb themed images in /res/drawable-hdpi
3) status_bar_tracking.xml edit in /res/layout
4) This version IS able to be decompiled without errors by Apk Manager, so if it doesn't work, at least you can decompile and make the needed edits.
* I have NOT tested this. I am not currently running MIUI as I NEED wifi calling and my SIM card will not work with it. I purchased another SIM card from some suggestions I have seen around the forum, but unfortunately was not paying close enough attention and purchased the same one I already had instead and am not interested in spending an hour with a nandroid backup, flashing MIUI, testing, then nandroid restoring back to my current rom. So, good luck and let me know if I can help any more.
Thank you es0triccha0s!
That got me to decompile and compile correctly! Yes I am on Linux, and yes it was the if (install framework) command. Got a new problem though, the animation doesn't show. I noticed a few things though..
For one, I'm using a Galnet MIUI based of ICS. Inside the Res folder is a "drawable-hdpi-v4" folder, not sure if that v4 is going to mess anything up with this mod. I'm going to nandroid and then test with a GB version right now.
Secondly, in the scripts you provided in the OP, in the file status_bar_background_animation.xml you have all the images referenced as status_bar_background_animationX, but also in the OP, you mention we should place our created pngs into the drawable-hdpi folder as "status_bar_animationX". I simply removed all "_background"s from the file and it compiled, but I'm not sure if that is causing them not to be seen.
I'm gonna check a few things and report back.
Okay I put it on the Galnet 2.16 MIUI build. Made sure verything was as it should be as far as mod instructions are concerned. It booted, but there is NO status bar whatsoever.. Do you think its a permissions issue or something? Next thing I'm going to try is manually pushing it to the phone with ADB. This is just a test ROM, I have my actually useful nandroid backup when I get tired of this. Once again, will report back.
k4p741nkrunch said:
Thank you es0triccha0s!
That got me to decompile and compile correctly! Yes I am on Linux, and yes it was the if (install framework) command. Got a new problem though, the animation doesn't show. I noticed a few things though..
For one, I'm using a Galnet MIUI based of ICS. Inside the Res folder is a "drawable-hdpi-v4" folder, not sure if that v4 is going to mess anything up with this mod. I'm going to nandroid and then test with a GB version right now.
Secondly, in the scripts you provided in the OP, in the file status_bar_background_animation.xml you have all the images referenced as status_bar_background_animationX, but also in the OP, you mention we should place our created pngs into the drawable-hdpi folder as "status_bar_animationX". I simply removed all "_background"s from the file and it compiled, but I'm not sure if that is causing them not to be seen.
I'm gonna check a few things and report back.
Okay I put it on the Galnet 2.16 MIUI build. Made sure verything was as it should be as far as mod instructions are concerned. It booted, but there is NO status bar whatsoever.. Do you think its a permissions issue or something? Next thing I'm going to try is manually pushing it to the phone with ADB. This is just a test ROM, I have my actually useful nandroid backup when I get tired of this. Once again, will report back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for pointing out the _background deal. Missed that in my proof reading stage. I'm going to update the OP in a bit. The drawable_hdpi vs drawable_hdpi-v4 thing seems to be dependent on either the apktool version or rom, not entirely sure. Have seen it on other phones / roms I have worked with, but seems random. Never really delved into the whys and hows. However, not really sure why the status bar disappeared on you. It might have something to do with update.zip's update script. I haven't messed with theming MIUI in a long time and am not sure if there needs to be any changes made to the update script that would be different vs. AOSP or CM7. It will almost certainly not work adb pushing the SystemUI though. That always messes things up, from my experience. Since it is just your test rom, try to put the SystemUI into the rom zip with an archive manager via opening as an archive (do not unzip, add, then rezip) and reflash.
I liked this idea. went ahead an made my own blue flames, and it looks nice (although I may mess with it a bit to get it a little smoother).
Just a note though: Unless you also remove the reference to shade_bg in status_bar_tracking.xml, you'll end up with both an animated and non-animated background.
Also, I'd recommend you have people only delete the resources.arsc and the status_bar_tracking.xml files from the keep folder when compiling. Otherwise, it's not uncommon that certain decompiling errors will transfer over to your finished product and give issues like the previous poster was having.
I'm not sure why I had never though of doing this before, but I'm glad you brought it to my attention
Okay, I'm trying something new tonight.
I went and checked every XML file and did some manual comparisons to see if I could find what was causing it not to show. For one, I think the Animation Flasher zip isn't doing the job so from now on I'll be packing it into the MIUI zip. Secondly, I noticed a lot more references to other status bar BG files in status_bar_tracking.xml. I replaced every reference of background="@drawable/blah blah bg" to background="@drawable/status_bar_animation"
I'm gonna see how this goes, will report back xD
Edit: Okay, so DON'T do that xD. At least I know my edits are recognized. Going back and removing the unnecessary edits, then packing it into the ROM Zip again, will report back.
Edit2: Okay, I'm very close to having this working with MIUI. Now that I've included it into the ROM ZIP, the statusbar is appearing completely white with the animation going on behind it. I can barely see the animation at the bottom of the status bar. Something is drawing that white background on the status bar, perhaps a default theme. I think that may be what is causing the general incompatibility with MIUI, the built in theming. I'm gonna fiddle around with the themes, see if I can find a way to use NO status bar theme. Will report back.
k4p741nkrunch said:
Okay, I'm trying something new tonight.
I went and checked every XML file and did some manual comparisons to see if I could find what was causing it not to show. For one, I think the Animation Flasher zip isn't doing the job so from now on I'll be packing it into the MIUI zip. Secondly, I noticed a lot more references to other status bar BG files in status_bar_tracking.xml. I replaced every reference of background="@drawable/blah blah bg" to background="@drawable/status_bar_animation"
I'm gonna see how this goes, will report back xD
Edit: Okay, so DON'T do that xD. At least I know my edits are recognized. Going back and removing the unnecessary edits, then packing it into the ROM Zip again, will report back.
Edit2: Okay, I'm very close to having this working with MIUI. Now that I've included it into the ROM ZIP, the statusbar is appearing completely white with the animation going on behind it. I can barely see the animation at the bottom of the status bar. Something is drawing that white background on the status bar, perhaps a default theme. I think that may be what is causing the general incompatibility with MIUI, the built in theming. I'm gonna fiddle around with the themes, see if I can find a way to use NO status bar theme. Will report back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you need to delete android:background="@drawable/shade_bg"
It's possible that MIUI calls it something different like statusbar_background or status_bar_background. Either way, it needs to be deleted, not modified.
MWBehr said:
I liked this idea. went ahead an made my own blue flames, and it looks nice (although I may mess with it a bit to get it a little smoother).
Just a note though: Unless you also remove the reference to shade_bg in status_bar_tracking.xml, you'll end up with both an animated and non-animated background.
Also, I'd recommend you have people only delete the resources.arsc and the status_bar_tracking.xml files from the keep folder when compiling. Otherwise, it's not uncommon that certain decompiling errors will transfer over to your finished product and give issues like the previous poster was having.
I'm not sure why I had never though of doing this before, but I'm glad you brought it to my attention
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Didn't think about the shade_bg as it's not linked to that in every rom. You don't have to actually remove it. You can also do this instead:
android:background="@android:color/transparent"
Also, I am of the school of thought that if the app decompiles with errors then you shouldn't use that as your base. I've done a ton of theming and I just won't use an app that decompiles wrong. It usually only happens if you are trying to decompile an app that has already been modified by the dev. Best to find a "stock" base framework or SystemUI to work with.
Easy
Can anyone make a flashable zip?
Of what and/or for what?
Sent via telepathy
So Sense 6 is finally here, and it brings with it another round of the cat and mouse game that HTC loves to play with XDA themers.
Veteran HTC themers will know that each version of Sense brings new challenges, and sadly Sense 6 is no exception. I had made a bunch of reference guides for Sense 5.5, but other than sending out the Dropbox link, never got around to doing much with them.
I figured this time I'd hit the ground running and create a central thread where we could all share what we've found, rather than scattered posts in various mod/theme/rom threads. The aim of this thread is to create a place to share our findings, rather than all trying to overcome Sense 6's idiosyncrasies individually. As such, it is not intended to be a How-to theme guide. Most of the information posted here will assume at least a basic knowledge of theming, xml editing and apk manipulation. There are lots of such guides already available on XDA, and are easily found with little effort. However, I have added a couple of links to the bottom of this post to get you started.
Please feel free to add any theming stuff you find while exploring Sense 6, requests for help etc. Pictures of your themes/mods are welcome, provided you are also explaining how you did them if the info isn't already posted in the thread.
INDEX
Post 2: General tips, pointers and observations
Working with Sense 6
Troublesome apks
Frameworks and tags
Public id's
Post 3: fisha21's Guide to HTC's built in themes
Sense 6 themes
What are they
Where are they
How to change them
How to add new themes
How to stop the 4x1 weather clock changing colour according to time of day
Post 4: Fringe theming - hosted by @Pneuma1985
Internalizing color in htcclockweatherwidget.apk & Inverting 4x1 clock
Change small / large weather icons to white in smali
Change the vertical divider in 4x1 clock to an image that can be themed
Removing the SystemUI notification drawer bg fade in/fade out..
Changing fonts selectively in any apps not causing a global change
Animate the status_bar_close_on and keep the carrier label at the same time
Add Operator_name to statusbar
Move signal_cluster to the left
Turn on spinning 3g icon in stock SystemUI
Post 5: Theming on the razor's edge - hosted by Raymond Ebertt
Transparent Prism Appdrawer Background
Custom Panels for the WeatherClockWidget.apk
Inverting Issues
Inverting Data Usage Background
Inverting Weather.apk Backgrounds
Background in Browser.apk when Navigating Tabs
Pop-up Window on HTC_IME - Word Correction
Theme controlled fontcolors - thanks @ineedone and @PuNkA.YaNoU
Change which weather icons sets are used for day and night clocks - thanks @2WildFirE
HTC app buttons - thanks @ineedone
Ok / cancel buttons in HTC apps - thanks @ViNOK16Bit
Entry field background in pop up Contact card - thanks @ineedone
Middle white box behind Phone, Message etc icons on pop up Contact card (when clicking on Contact's thumbnail in Phone, Messages, Mail etc (see screenshot for Entry field background) - thanks @Basil3
Remove On / Off labels from HTC settings toggles - thanks @ineedone
Moving signal cluster to lefthand side of statusbar - thanks @Pneuma1985
SIM PIN lock entry field in Settings - thanks @Onepagebook
Icon PSD's for HTC apps - thanks @Pfaffinator (the icon king!)
How to remove coloured overlays from Settings page icons - thanks @Basil3
HTC mini+ launch screen
Inverting the background for the Send SMS window you get, after declining a call - thanks @billbowers
Changing the colour of tab number in Browser - thanks @PuNkA.YaNoU
"Release to refresh" text colour (screenshot in post) - thanks @PuNkA.YaNoU
"Accounts and folders" header in HTC Mail app (screenshot in post) - thanks @PuNkA.YaNoU
Blinkfeed side menu issues with newer versions of Blinkfeed - thanks @Basil3 and @Raymond Ebertt
Redirect app drawer Playstore icon to within Prism.apk - thanks @[email protected]
Full-screen caller contact photo - thanks @Kiray1982
USEFUL RESOURCES FOR BEGINNERS
List of useful guides etc compiled by superthemer @pstevep - the parent thread is also well worth a read. Although some of the stuff refers to older versions of Sense, there are still some hugely useful tips and techniques in there. Of course I'm a little biased, since his thread was what inspired me to make this one
[GUIDE] Want to learn how to theme? - by @theimpaler747
VTS website - there are several tools you can use for apk/jar manipulation, but in my experience this is by far the most complete. The VTS website also has a bunch of tutorials on how to get started with VTS, and also how to get started with apk manipulation in general
Official Android developers' website
THINGS THAT STILL NEED FINDING
General tips
Working with Sense 6
By now people have found that Sense 6 apks are a little troublesome and it takes a bit of effort to decompile/recompile some of them. The main thing, as Raymond Ebertt stated in his post, is to make sure you are using the most up to date files. There is some conflict about which version of apktool to use, 1.4.2 or 2.0.0. It is complicated by the fact that the public release version of VTS doesn't yet work with apktool 2.0. Either version of apktool will work fine, but both might require a little tinkering with the apk. Now that the new version of VTS is out, it makes things a lot simpler, since apktool 2.x is now supported.
Those people using manual apktool, I would suggest making sure you use apktool 2.0.0beta9 - that's worked me for me where earlier versions of 2.0 failed.
As for smali, I have been using 2.0.3 since Sense 6 dropped, and not had any issues with that.
If you're using VTS, you need to put the updated binaries in the appropriate folders in C:\Program Files (or Program Files(x86))\Virtuous Ten Studio\External. The newest version of VTS ships with apktool 1.4.2 and 2.0beta9, and smali 1.5.2 and 2.0.3, so you shouldn't need to add any additional binaries.
There are also a few special-case apks:
Troublesome apks
You may have found that there are some apks that give you public.xml errors on trying to recompile them. The cause seems to be some broken images in the apk itself, and seem to affect the images used in the Sense 6 themes. You can see which ones they are by opening the apk as a zip archive and looking in the drawable-*dpi folders - the broken images all have a filesize of 0bytes.
The easiest way to fix this is to replace those images in the apk before decompiling it. Once you've done this, the apk should recompile without the above errors.
You can get all the required files from com.htc.resources.apk, but to make things a bit easier, I have zipped up the required files for most of the faulty apks.
You can download them here
Note that these zips contain compiled 9.pngs, so you need to copy them into the apk before decompiling - they won't work properly if you put them into an already decompiled project.
If there are any problems with the zips, please let me know.
If your apk still fails to compile, just double check all the drawable-*dpi folders and make sure there are no 0byte images. If there aren't, then there is another issue with your project.
========
Phone.apk. This app often fails to compile due to some issues with strings.xml. Basically, there is a special character (٪) that gets replaced with a normal % on decompiling.
You have 2 options to fix this:
1. use the error log to identify which symbols need replacing (the log will tell you which xml, and which line, needs fixing)
2. grab the fixed files I added to the folder I linked above - these are decompiled files, so will need to be placed into your decompiled apk
========
There is another reason I've found for some apks not to compile. Some of the apks, eg Messages, have issues with apktool 2.0 whereby the package name of the apk gets altered.
If you get an error saying that it could not find resources for package com.htc, you need to check the AndroidManifest.xml - you'll find that package name has been changed to com.htc.
Two ways to deal with this - either re-edit the package name to the original (which can usually be found somewhere further down in the AndroidManifest.xml, or use apktool 1.4.2 to de/recompile the apk. Thanks to @hawknest for pointing out the cause of this one.
Frameworks and tags
Just a short note on frameworks, since many people seem to misunderstand them. When you install a framework, the resources.arsc is taken out of the file and put inside an .apk file in your C\:<User>\apktool\framework folder, where it essentially acts as a look up table for decoding the resources inside any given apk. By default, framework-res gets installed as 1.apk, com.htc.resources as 2.apk. Go take a look in your installed framework folder, you'll see what I mean.
The reason you need to install frameworks for each Android distro you're using is precisely because of their function as a look up table. Let's say you install AOSP frameworks - great, you can now decompile AOSP apks just fine. But what if you're using a MIUI rom, or Sense, or Touchwiz? These distro variants all contain resources that the stock Android doesn't and so when you try to decompile a Sense apk that has non-standard resources within, the AOSP frameworks will fail. Ok, no problem, install the Sense rom frameworks instead and it'll work just fine. Problem is, when you installed the Sense frameworks they overwrote the AOSP ones. So now, if you want to go to use an AOSP apk, you first need to reinstall those frameworks again. What a pain, right?
This is where tags come in. If you install the frameworks using a tag specific to the Android distro, in the apktool/framework folder you'd see 1-aosp.apk, 1-sense.apk, 1-miui.apk etc. Now, when you're decompiling apks from a particular distro, just use the tag you assigned the frameworks to let apktool know which set of frameworks to use. This way, you can have frameworks for multiple distros installed at the same time.
Just to clarify, all the frameworks from a given distro need to have the same tag. So, for example, your installed frameworks from AOSP would be called 1-AOSP.apk, 2-AOSP.apk, 127-AOSP.apk etc. When you decompile using a tag, you're telling apktool to use all the frameworks with that tag as reference tables for the decompile. If all your frameworks from one distro have different tags, apktool won't find all the references it needs, and you'll get an error about missing resources and a failed decompile.
As for when you need to install frameworks - as I said, the purpose of installing them is to provide a lookup table for decompiling resources. So you really only need a set of frameworks when you're working with something that's likely to have unique resources. This will either be when dealing with different distros - AOSP, MIUI, Sense etc - or when there has been a version change - 4.3 to 4.4, or Sense 5 to Sense 6 etc. If you're working with a Sense 6 build of one rom, say Renovate, and you want to decompile an apk from InsertCoin, you can use the same frameworks for both, since they are both based on Sense 6, and we rarely tend to add new resources to framework files.
Public id's
Public id's are how smali code call on a particular resource. Public.xml lists all the public ids for every resource contained within a particular apk. Pretty much all apks use a public id format of 0x7fxxxxxx, which means that the resource attached to that id can only be used by the apk it is contained in. So, if for example, you're looking in smali and you see the id 0x7f100000. You search public.xml and you see that 0x7f100000 is allocated to type="string" name="app_label". So you know that that bit of smali code is setting the app label. This can also work the other way round - say you have an image and you want to find the smali code that draws it on screen. Find the name of that image and look it up in public.xml. Say it has an id of 0x7f000010. So you just search all the smali for that reference and have a look at the resulting files.
This is true for all apks in HTC roms except for three. Since com.htc.resources.apk, framework-res.apk and framework-res-htc.apk act as central repositories of resources for other apps to use, they each have their own unique public ids so system apps know which one to call a resource from.
Code:
framework-res = 0x01xxxxxx
com.htc.resources = 0x02xxxxxx
framework-res-htc=0x03xxxxxx
So, next time you're looking in smali and you see an external reference with one of the above 3 formats, you'll know exactly which framework apk to look in
Note: the formats shown above are how they appear in the decompiled public.xml of that apk. When other apps call these public ids in smali, the first 0 after the x is dropped.
For example, say the clock widget wants to use an image from com.htc.resources. In com.htc.resources/public.xml, that image might have the public id 0x02000001. But in the clock widget smali where that image is called, the public id would be given as 0x2000001.
What are the Sense 6 themes?
This is the easy bit! If you open Settings/Personalise/Theme, you'll be presented with the four built-in themes:
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
Where are the Sense 6 themes?
This is where things get complicated.
There are four themes, each of which is split into five categories. The themes are called:
The system wide theme is controlled by hex colour codes located in colors.xml and styles.xml of com.htc.resources. This controls the majority of system apps.
If you look at com.htc.resources.apk/styles.xml line 2047 for example, you'll see that there are entries called:
Code:
etc, starting from line 2047
Categories 1-4 are represented by the four boxes along the top of the theme preview. The fifth category is defined by HTC within apks as Category 0, and this is the default category. It is used when the code within the apk doesn't specify which category to use (more on this later). With the default theme, you'll probably have noticed that various HTC apps have different coloured header bars, which correspond to the four boxes on the preview image:
So if you wanted to change the colour of the dialer, you'd edit the colour codes for HtcDeviceDefault.CategoryOne. If you were using the second theme, the orange one, you'd edit ThemeOne.CategoryOne to change dialer header, and so on...
I've managed to track down which category each HTC app uses, but if there are any I'm missing, please let me know
Category 0
HTC Backup
Internet
Settings
Setup
Tips & Help
Scribble
All apps launched while in Car mode
Category 1
Calendar
Contacts
Mail
Message
Tasks
Phone
Category 2
Calculator
Clock
Stocks
Voice recorder
Weather
Category 3
Camera
FM radio
Music
Category 4
Didn't actually find any apps that seemed to use this category
All of these apps use the specified category from com.htc.resources, so that's where you should edit it. There are some HTC apps that have seem to have their own internal themes:
Prism.apk
HMS_Gallery.apk
HTC-IME.apk
Video_Center.apk
HtcExtremePowerSaverLauncher.apk
EasyAccessService.apk
so they have their own specified themes and categories within the colors and styles.xml of their own apk. There may be other apks as well, I just haven't spotted them yet. They read the system flag to determine which Theme to use, but then use their own categories for various elements within the app.
So Prism for example will set the overall Theme according to what's been set in the Theme picker but then will use its own internal categories. From my testing so far, all aspects of Prism (app drawer header, Blinkfeed, app drawer icon overlay) seem to use Category 4 colours from within Prism.apk. Haven't looked into any of the other apps listed above!
How are the Sense 6 themes used?
So, which theme the system is using is determined by you, via the Theme Picker. As for which category an app uses, that is determined within the java code - thanks to @Mikanoshi for some more detailed info
Still not sure where the current theme flag is set, so that the other themed apps (Gallery, Prism etc) know which theme to use. I'm guessing framework2.jar or framework3.jar, though I guess it doesn't really matter!
As for the preview images, these are generated the first time the theme picker is opened, and then cached in /data/data/com.htc.home.personalize/files/themePreview/ - again, thanks to @Mikanoshi for more detailed info. The colour bar across the top of the previw image is the multiply_color from categories 1-4 of that theme.
If you want the Theme picker screen to show your edited themes, rather than the default ones, you'll need to delete these cached images. This can be done by full wiping, but obviously not so convenient. The other option is to add the following line
Code:
delete_recursive("/data/data/com.htc.home.personalize/files/themePreview");
somewhere in the updater-script of your rom/theme zip.
How to add a new theme
The four built in themes offer a great way to offer multiple variations of your theme. But what if 4 options aren't enough? Why not add a 5th?
To add your own theme, it's probably easiest to start with com.htc.resources as this requires the most edits. The two folders you'll need to focus on are drawable and values.
In values/styles.xml, the easiest thing to do will be to duplicate the whole block of Theme.Three entries, rename them all to Theme.Four and change the colours as you want them. You'll also need to duplicate all the htcprogress_themethree_*.xmls in the drawable folder, rename them to themefour and edit the colours,
The last step is to edit values/arrays.xmls. This will register your new theme as a usable resource. You need to
add your new theme to the multipleColorThemes array - this tells the system that ThemeFour now exists
add a new ThemeFourarray, which lists the 5 categories -
add a 5th entry to the wallpapersand wallpaper_themesarrays - this will set the default wallpaper for your theme (you can also edit this array if you want our default wallpapers to have a different filename or file type)
create new progressBarArrayarrays for ThemeFour and the four categories
If in doubt, just look for all the ThemeThree stuff, duplicate it and rename to ThemeFour. That's com.htc.resources done. Now you just need to add the ThemeFour stuff to the other 6 apps that use the theme system (see previous list). In each apk, you need to edit arrays.xml, add all the new htcprogress_themefour_*.xmls to the drawable folder, and the new ThemeFour stuff to styles.xml. If you don't add ThemeFour to an app, if you've applied your theme centrally and then open that app, the app will default to the stock green theme.
And that's it! Wipe the theme preview cache as previously mentioned, and your theme will show up nicely. Not sure if there is a limit to the number of new themes that can be added...maybe it just depends on how bored you get
There is one small issue that remains. As previously mentioned, the colour bar across the top of the preview is generated by the multiply_color entries of categories 1-4. However, for your new theme, you'll note that the colour bar remains green. Since the themes always revert to the green one when there is missing info relating to the new theme, I suspect there must be a smali array somewhere where the themes are also registered. Since the new theme is not declared there, the preview generator doesn't know to look for ThemeFour.
It is the only remaining bug, but it does annoy me! So if anyone finds where in smali these preview colours are generated, please do let me know!!
Well, that's all for now. Apologies for the slightly wordy post, a consequence of me thinking out loud. I will say one more thing though. When Sense 6 first landed, I was not a fan of these new themes at all. But having spent time exploring and getting to know how they work, I actually really like them now. Overall, theming Sense 6 requires less smali edits than Sense 5/5.5 did, and the theme picker aspect is actually quite powerful....how else could you offer 4 variants of a theme so easily. I suspect that it's better for themers like myself, who theme specific roms, than it is for standalone themers.
Happy theming!!
Article originally posted here
How to stop the 4x1 weather clock changing colour according to time of day
In Sense 6 the 4x1 weather clock widget has a white background for daytime clocks, and dark for night clocks. Pretty neat feature, but maybe it doesn't fit with a theme you're making?
If you open
Code:
HtcWeatherClockWidget.apk/smali/com/htc/widget/weatherclock/view/WeatherClock4x1View.smali
and search for
Code:
.method protected getControls
Scroll down and you'll see
Code:
const-string v2, "background_day"
const v3, 0x7f02004d
The 0x7f02004d is the public id for common_panel_light.9.png in the drawable-xxhdpi folder. Scroll a bit further down and you'll see
Code:
const-string v2, "background_night"
const v3, 0x2080100
The 0x2080100 is the public id for common_panel.9.png in com.htc.resources. If you want to use the same image for both day and night clocks, just replace 0x2080100 with 0x7f02004d, and the clock will use the common_panel_light.9.png image for both day and night clocks. Just theme that image how you want it to look, recompile and you're done
Fringe Theming...
Ok Since fisha is so awesome and got me a spot for number 4 I will be adding to this as we progress and figure other stuff out enjoy for now!
My Tutorials are not limited to any app or by anything! I will cover how do some crazy complex theming and I will try to be as cohesive as I possibly can, within the tutorials. My main goals are usually against the grain as far as theming goes: This is stuff you won't see in other sense themes! Enjoy
Updated all links so they properly work for everyone.
Internalizing color in htcclockweatherwidget.apk & Inverting 4x1 clock
No longer applies to the updated ota.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Change small weather icons to white in smali
Oh someone forgot to point out how to change the weather icon for the small weather widget
weatherview.smali line 77 if you have smali debugging turned on/ may be slightly different if you don't, possibly a few lines away.
Change both to dark.
Small Weather Icons:
Change large weather icons to white in smali
Yeah props to whoever found this not sure who but I'll add it to this as well.
goto: WeatherClock4x1View.smali
search for vectorgraphic_light_xl
change them both to vectorgraphic_dark_xl
Large Weather Icons:
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Change the vertical divider in 4x1 clock to an image that can be themed, never using com.htc.resources calls to do it.
No longer applies to the recent versions of sense 6
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Removing the SystemUI notification drawer bg fade in/fade out..
Ok guys I got another one i just figured out... If anyone figures out how to edit the transparency of the fade itself that would be awesome...
I tried but the only thing i could get it to do without crashing was removing it.
The main purpose of this is to expose the statusbar all the time which is only possible when disabling this animated smali fade method.
Any other questions about the ui feel free to ask.
In SystemUI.apk you'll be looking in PhoneStatusBarView.smali
Search for this:
Code:
.method public panelExpansionChanged
Delete that entire method from lines 581-875 (lines will match) - if you have smali debugging turned on which I always do when playing in smali enjoy.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CHANGING FONTS SELECTIVELY IN ANY APP NOT CAUSING A GLOBAL CHANGE
This tutorial is somewhat complex and not for the faint at heart!
Oh and I'm not responsible if you bootloop your phone from this; symlinking the wrong things can cause bootloops. So please pay close attention. And look at my .zip which I will be adding!
This is not a font pack or anything like that! There is only one other person we know has been able to do this @Ajthescot for NEVER telling us, lol no need though after a year of tinkering I figured it out.
Ok this is a special tutorial for the SystemUI, but can work anywhere in any app. I'm going to go over one of the most epic changes I have ever managed to accomplish. I managed to change a selective font that htc does not use, then call on its class/font-family within styles. Look at the clock font vs everything else. This change is selective not global, which is exactly what we are after!
Though if an app calls on monospace like a market app it will display this new font we are about to use. Like some apps specifically logcat apps like using monospace b/c its easier to see the code so keep that in mind before doing this and choose your font wisely!
Example:
First were going to need a font we want to use select any font you can find you may want to selectively use... I chose arame-regular.ttf
We are also going to need SystemUI.apk decompiled.
I'm gonna break-down how android font family's and how font styles work in general first b/c you need to have an understanding of them to change them selectively.
Htc uses a fontfamily known as sans-serif but in actuality those fonts are basically anything with droid as a prefix and both sans or serif as a suffix. Not that it uses all of them. Ok thats what base htc does right but through the updater script they manage to symlink them
Example of symlinking:
Code:
symlink("Roboto-Regular.ttf", "/system/fonts/DroidSans.ttf");
This essentially is saying: ok for every spot DroidSans.ttf would be used now Roboto-Regular will fall in its place.
Example and list of roboto styles that have been symlinked in sense 6.0
Code:
android:fontFamily="sans-serif" // roboto regular
android:fontFamily="sans-serif-light" // roboto light
android:fontFamily="sans-serif-condensed" // roboto condensed
android:fontFamily="sans-serif-thin" // roboto thin
Now each family has a style as you can see here
these are the 12 style variants that are possible: android:textStyle=" "
Regular
Italic
Bold
Bold-italic
Light
Light-italic
Thin
Thin-italic
Condensed regular
Condensed italic
Condensed bold
Condensed bold-italic
Ok enough of that lets get down to brass tacks... We need the SystemUI (the app i chose for demonstration) decompiled and an updater script and a .zip
Empty everything out of the .zip except the system/fonts folder and the meta-inf folder and the system/priv-app folder everything else delete it. Delete everything within the system/priv-app folder and then you can even delete all the fonts inside of the system/fonts folder as well.
I decided on a font family that htc does not use anywhere or any place its known as monospace the real font name is DroidSansMono.ttf. It's what we will be symlinking to.
Now that we have our .zip with nothing left in it except the meta-inf stuff and some empty folders we are going to add our custom font to the system/fonts folder make sure it is a standard .ttf font and make sure it has all the characters you'll be needing when you apply the font to wherever you want.
Then we are going to open our updater-script and simply delete everything (use your rom .zip and it's updater-script) its easier that way. We are going to add our symlink lines into it. I used a font called arame to do this but any true type font will suffice. This is how your updater-script should look the mount ext's may be different if your on the m8
Code:
ui_print("");
ui_print("............................................");
ui_print(": :");
ui_print(": Installing :");
ui_print("............................................");
ui_print("");
ui_print("");
set_progress(0.01);
ui_print("");
ui_print("");
ui_print(">>> Mounting partitions");
assert(mount("ext4", "EMMC", "/dev/block/mmcblk0p37", "/system") || ui_print("(system is mounted already)"));
assert(mount("ext4", "EMMC", "/dev/block/mmcblk0p39", "/data") || ui_print("(data is mounted already)"));
ui_print("");
ui_print("");
ui_print("");
ui_print("");
ui_print(">>> Writing Data & System");
package_extract_dir("data", "/data");
package_extract_dir("system", "/system");
ui_print("");
ui_print("");
ui_print("-- Creating additional symlinks");
symlink("Arame-Regular.ttf", "/system/fonts/DroidSansMono.ttf");
assert(unmount("/data") || ui_print("(Data is unmounted already)"));
assert(unmount("/system") || ui_print("(System is unmounted already)"));
set_progress(1.0);
ui_print("--");
ui_print("--Installation Complete!");
ui_print("--");
ui_print("--");
Ok now save and close you're updater-script and add it back into our .zip at META-INF\com\google\android\ overwriting the original.
Now lets switch gears and go back to the decompiled SystemUI.apk.
Lets open status_bar_expanded_header.xml if you look at line 5
you'll see the style I was after: highlighted:
Code:
@style/ExpandedClock
Now lets open that style Data/res/values/styles.xml Search for:
Code:
<style name="ExpandedClock" parent="@*android:style/TextAppearance">
Now were going to change the android:fontFamily for that given style: we are going to change it to monospace. It was originally sans-serif-light.. Your new style will look like:
Code:
<style name="ExpandedClock" parent="@*android:style/TextAppearance">
<item name="android:textSize">@dimen/clock_fontsize</item>
<item name="android:textStyle">normal</item>
<item name="android:textColor">@com.htc:color/cellitem_avatar_stroke</item>
<item name="android:fontFamily">monospace</item>
</style>
Recompile the systemUI.apk and either add it to your .zip in system/priv-app folder or push it to system/priv-app, but honestly if you didnt know that you probably shouldn't be doing this tutorial.
Flash the font tester.zip and push the ui
Changing the mono font and then selectively choosing it using the monospace font family. Now whenever you want to use your special font somewhere for design or whatever, you can use it just by either replacing the android:fontFamily with monospace or adding an android:fontFamily line, to the style you want to specifically change.
Here is my .zip: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2yohzroxz9ilsab/Font_Tester.zip
It took me a year to get this. Enjoy
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Animate the status_bar_close_on and keep the carrier label at the same time.
Ok I stated above if you had any questions about the ui feel free to ask. This tutorial is a result of one of those questions.
Example:
I made several attempts at this and it was weird, it didnt want to work at first, but after I tried a few different ways, I got this way to work.
The methods we have used since ICS still work don't get me wrong but they dont work if you want to keep the carrier_label. The SB image itself will cover the carrier_label. If you try to move the carrierlabel process to expanded_layout or try adding and ImageView into either .xml like we've done in previous builds: Ics/jb/even kk. Just wanted to point that out.
Ok lets get down to it we are going to need a decompiled systemui.apk and VTS.
You will obviously need some knowledge of photoshop or after-effects or some program that will allow you to manipulate images within .9 patches.
Also for the second part or even the first you will need to know how to manipulate .9 images using the draw9patch tool provided in your android-sdk. Windows=ie:start/run/cmd/draw9patch hit enter if you have java properly in your paths it'll load the draw9patch tool. If you need I can cover .9 images in a different tutorial but there are enough tutorials on xda already about them please do some searching if you have any questions feel free to ask. Some images are very hard to patch given the complexity of the image. And depending on the animation in no way can the patch touch an abstract animation that isn't uniform so it can get crazy with the patches.
Ok lets get started we are gonna open two separate layouts
carrier_label_generic.xml
status_bar_close.xml
Ok first we're gonna go into carrier_label_generic.xml and change line 2:
From:
Code:
<com.android.systemui.statusbar.phone.CarrierLabel android:gravity="center" android:id="@id/handle" android:background= [user=3944923]@drawab[/user]le/status_bar_close_on" android:visibility="invisible" android:layout_width="fill_parent" android:layout_height="@dimen/close_handle_height"
To:
Code:
<com.android.systemui.statusbar.phone.CarrierLabel android:gravity="center" android:id="@id/handle" android:background= [user=3944923]@drawab[/user]le/status_bar_close" android:visibility="invisible" android:layout_width="fill_parent" android:layout_height="@dimen/close_handle_height"
We are changing the android:background from an image (status_bar_close_on.9.png) to (status_bar_close.xml)
If you want the results you saw in the first example you'll need to change your status_bar_close_off.9.png
Ok that in itself will animate between status_bar_close_on.9 and status_bar_close_off.9 but we can take it further than that if we want.
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Add Operator_name to statusbar move signal_cluster to the left and then move wifi to the right of the signal itself
My findings:
Really I found that the real carrier_label id can't be called on in the status_bar without it crashing! The method they use in CM does not work and my guess is b/c the ID for handle is actually in some way tied to the carrier_label_generic id itself thus we can't call on it b/c it wants to expand the handle layouts as well. Makes sense since the handle ID is called right out of the com.android.systemui.statusbar.phone.CarrierLabel. I could be wrong though who know's maybe someone else will see something I didn't.
Please if you have any insight on how to get the actual process itself into the statusbar using sprint please let me know I've gotten as far as getting it to display the layout for it but no txt!
I'd also like to point out there are two way's of doing this: I figured this is the most simple method of the two... The other one requires adding a line to status_bar.xml where the plmn_label id lies now but turning that on doesnt work unless you give it a string value which is more adding vs modifying what is already there so I figured this way was easier hope you enjoy.
Oh and since the Id for plmnLabel is a textview in status_bar.xml and not the actual process call in smali: it doesnt act like carrier_label anyway so it's moot point!
Using the call for it <com.android.systemui.statusbar.phone.CarrierLabel will result in a ton of errors in logcat and multiple force closes.
RESULTS:
Ok your gonna need a decompiled SystemUI.apk - open status_bar.xml and signal_cluster_view_generic.xml also open values/strings
Were going to go into status_bar.xml first move the view_stub line so that is directly above the notification_icon_area id
Code:
<ViewStub android:id="@id/signal_cluster" android:inflatedId="@id/signal_cluster_tree" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content" />
<LinearLayout android:orientation="horizontal" android:id="@id/notification_icon_area" android:layout_width="0.0dip" android:layout_height="fill_parent" android:layout_weight="1.0">
This will move the cluster to left now lets switch over to signal_cluster_view_generic.xml
we are gonna move some lines around
You're gonna move this line:
Code:
<ImageView android:id="@id/wifi_signal" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:layout_marginLeft="@dimen/status_bar_system_icon_margin_left" android:layout_marginRight="@dimen/status_bar_system_icon_margin_right" android:scaleType="center" />
So that it falls right above the airplane ID at the bottom so move the whole line.
This will flipflop the wifi/signal cluster so that the wifi falls to the right of the signal bars themselves.
Next we're gonna turn on the operator name:
in signal_cluster_view_generic.xml you're going to see this line
Code:
<TextView android:textAppearance="@style/TextAppearance.StatusBar.Clock" android:gravity="center_vertical" android:id="@id/operator_name" android:visibility="visible" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="fill_parent" android:text="@string/orange_fr_operator_name" android:paddingStart="2.0dip" android:paddingEnd="2.0dip" />
Move it to the top where wifi was before and set its visibility to visible... You turned on the operator name ID
Now lets goto string and look for orange_fr_operator_name goto that line and change orange F to your actual Service Provider and you're done. Save that and compile.
Here's my xml's if you want to use them and you still want the the clock back just set the visibility on the clock line to visible!
https://www.dropbox.com/s/0e3dxt32jh0axq8/status_bar.xml
https://www.dropbox.com/s/7dv9yxbtt2f22sk/signal_cluster_view_generic.xml
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Making the header in prism/blinkfeed into an image instead of the multiply color
This could have been done several different ways this was just me trying to change it and this is how i eventually accomplished it.
Example:
think it was the second half of this that did it.!!!!
Step 1 add an image into drawable-xxhdpi mine looks like this I use a .9 but I imagine any image that fits the space will do...I made this .9 for 5.5 so it works... I will admit I did this slightly different than some would have you could also use the regular common_app_bkg_top_full.9.png in the app except yeah whatever, like i said it doesnt matter what image name you use.
Ok resize the common_app_bkg_top_full to a .9 that will suit the spot and image you want for the header... Im not going to get into how to .9 certain images but yeah you get the idea mine looks like this so there is no distortion in the gradient.
Ok Lets dig in... Open prism were gonna open a few things... Open values/styles.xml and values/drawables.xml you dont need to add an attr line for this like i believe someone else pointed out for resources this will carry either way...
First we are gonna edit line 5 in drawables.xml from
Code:
<item type="drawable" name="common_header" [user=3944923]@drawab[/user]le/zero_dummy_asset</item>
to
Code:
<item type="drawable" name="common_header" [user=3944923]@drawab[/user]le/common_app_bkg_top_full</item>
Then were gonna go to styles I edited a few lines in styles.
Then we goto
<style name="HtcActionBar">
change it from
Code:
<style name="HtcActionBar">
<item name="android:panelFullBackground" [user=3944923]@drawab[/user]le/common_app_bkg_top_full</item>
<item name="android:background">?multiply_color</item>
<item name="android:drawable" [user=3944923]@drawab[/user]le/common_app_bkg_top_full_land</item>
to
Code:
<style name="HtcActionBar">
<item name="android:panelFullBackground" [user=3944923]@drawab[/user]le/common_app_bkg_top_full</item>
<item name="android:background" [user=3944923]@drawab[/user]le/common_app_bkg_top_full</item>
<item name="android:drawable" [user=3944923]@drawab[/user]le/common_app_bkg_top_full_land</item>
Then do the same for
Code:
<style name="ActionBarActionMode" parent="@*android:style/Widget.DeviceDefault.Light.ActionMode.Inverse">
<item name="android:background">?multiply_color</item>
<item name="android:height">?android:actionBarSize</item>
<item name="android:titleTextStyle">@style/ab_primary_textview_style</item>
<item name="android:subtitleTextStyle">@style/ab_secondary_textview_style</item>
</style>
change that to
Code:
<style name="ActionBarActionMode" parent="@*android:style/Widget.DeviceDefault.Light.ActionMode.Inverse">
<item name="android:background" [user=3944923]@drawab[/user]le/common_app_bkg_top_full</item>
<item name="android:height">?android:actionBarSize</item>
<item name="android:titleTextStyle">@style/ab_primary_textview_style</item>
<item name="android:subtitleTextStyle">@style/ab_secondary_textview_style</item>
</style>
And thats how we change the multiplier header in prism from a color to an image hope you enjoy!
Add custom navbar to hotseat.xml
open values/ids.xml
and add a value to the bottom i named mine background name it whatever you want
prism.apk layout/hotseat.xml
Code:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<com.htc.launcher.hotseat.Hotseat android:clickable="true" launcher:cellCountX="@integer/hotseat_cell_count" launcher:cellCountY="1"
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:launcher="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/com.htc.launcher">
[COLOR="DeepSkyBlue"] <ImageView android:layout_gravity="bottom|center" android:id="@id/background" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:src= [user=3944923]@drawab[/user]le/home_nav_bg" android:scaleType="fitXY" />[/COLOR]
<ImageView android:layout_gravity="bottom|center" android:id="@id/hotseat_gardient" android:layout_width="@dimen/button_bar_background_width" android:layout_height="@dimen/button_bar_background_height" android:src= [user=3944923]@drawab[/user]le/home_launcher_bg" android:scaleType="fitXY" />
<com.htc.launcher.CellLayout android:layout_gravity="center" android:id="@id/layout" android:paddingLeft="@dimen/button_bar_width_left_padding" android:paddingTop="@dimen/button_bar_height_top_padding" android:paddingRight="@dimen/button_bar_width_right_padding" android:paddingBottom="@dimen/button_bar_height_bottom_padding" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="fill_parent" launcher:cellWidth="@dimen/hotseat_cell_width" launcher:cellHeight="@dimen/hotseat_cell_height" launcher:widthGap="@dimen/hotseat_width_gap" launcher:heightGap="@dimen/hotseat_height_gap" launcher:maxGap="@dimen/workspace_max_gap" />
</com.htc.launcher.hotseat.Hotseat>
Ok small flaw I noticed with this which we are gonna fix. If you look closely you will see a divider in the navbar that shouldnt be there... You will also need to edit something in lockscreen to get rid of it there its at the bottom of the tutorial...
Example:
Ok now in prism.apk open main_launcher.xml
you're gonna change line 20 from
Code:
<ImageView android:layout_gravity="bottom|center" android:id="@id/nav_bar_div" android:paddingLeft="@dimen/margin_l" android:paddingRight="@dimen/margin_l" android:layout_width="fill_parent" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:src= [user=3944923]@drawab[/user]le/common_b_div" android:scaleType="fitXY" />
To:
Code:
<ImageView android:layout_gravity="bottom|center" android:id="@id/nav_bar_div" android:paddingLeft="@dimen/margin_l" android:paddingRight="@dimen/margin_l" android:layout_width="fill_parent" android:layout_height="wrap_content" android:scaleType="fitXY" />
All we did was remove the src call android:src @drawable/common_b_div"
You could keep it for design purposes but this is just how to remove it..It obviously was interfering with my nav bar bg.
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Ok the divider in lockscreen lets take care of that
Example:
Ok open Htclockscreen.apk res/layouts/main_lockscreen_keyguard_host_view.xml
your gonna change one line in it: line 26
Code:
<com.htc.lockscreen.ui.footer.NavigationBarDivider android:layout_gravity="bottom" android:id="@id/navigation_bar_divider" android:background= [user=3944923]@drawab[/user]le/common_b_div" android:visibility="gone" android:layout_width="fill_parent" android:layout_height="@dimen/navigation_bar_divider_height" android:layout_marginLeft="@dimen/common_dimen_m1" android:layout_marginRight="@dimen/common_dimen_m1" />
Remove the :android:background= @drawable/common_b_div" from that line no more grey divider...Enjoy
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Changing the call button in dailer to an stand alone themable image!
Ok I wont be going over how to theme the whole dialer others have explained certain aspects of it and my questions in some posts answer other questions if you have any feel free to ask there are tons of awesome devs that respond very quickly.
This took me forever to find since center_button id in the cmdbar.xml is very confusing when it comes to figuring this out... Its not the center_button id we are after its the phone_btn_call_rest in drawables.xml thats the actual id we are going to be replacing with an image id we will add...
Ok lets dig in decompile dialer if you havent already
make an image mine is 717x164 which is the exact width and height of the button in the standard dialer.
I did not make my image a .9 since I will only be using this specific image for only this spot.
Ok add the image into the drawable-xxhdpi folder and right click on the project open resource manager and add the id for it copy the id when it comes up and keep that safe...
Ok now were gonna open values/drawables.xml were gonna look at line 33 and find its public value
from:
Code:
<item type="drawable" name="phone_btn_call_rest">#ff000000</item>
I changed mine to and @drawable while testing,
but you dont have to since it has no effect on the outcome since we are changing this id in itself to something else in smali.
ok back into public.xml and search for the phone_btn_call_rest id for me its 0x7f020068
were gonna search for in ButtonGroup.smali
Code:
move-result-object v3
check-cast v3, Lcom/htc/htcdialer/widget/keypadbtn/HtcKeypadBgBtn;
const v0, 0x7f020068
Now simply change the phone_btn_call_rest Id to the new image id you created earlier for your new drawable. save and compile done Enjoy!
Example:
Hope you enjoy the tutorials.
Advanced Theming for Sense 6
I was fortunate enough to of had the opportunity to start theming Sense 6 before it even hit the stage as a custom ROM, but that does not give me an advantage at all. Sense 6 is a whole new concept in theming and at the best of times, an aggravated experience. So much has changed between Sense 5.5 and Sense 6 that I don’t even know where to begin. I honestly think that HTC had the common Sense kicked out of it. When life throws you lemons, you theme them….
These tutorials are designed for themers that have knowledge with xml and smali editing. There are several excellent threads that explain the concepts and the "how-to's" for these kinds of edits, therefore, I will only focus on theming issues.
The first thing that I found out was, I needed to update VTS in order to decompile any of the Sense 6 apks. My VTS was outdated and you should carefully check that you are up to date with smali, baksmali.jar’s and using a current version of apktool. Be sure to visit this page and download the latest versions of the smali.jar’s found here and replace them in the appropriate VTS folders. This will resolve most decompiling errors that you may encounter. The other errors, well it’s just the apk and way that it’s being decompiled at the moment. There’s not too much you can do other than getting a different apk and trying it.
Transparent Prism Appdrawer Background
Well, what I thought turned out to be an easy and wonderful edit, in fact, a little bug suddenly appeared.
It seems that the Search for Apps feature in the appdrawer shares the same background as the appdrawer itself. As as consequence, there is a double transparent background ontop of each other which I don't find appealing the least.
After a bit of investigating, I found that adding a custom color to isolate the appdrawer background fixed this problem.
Step 1
You're going to need to make a custom color edit in the color.xml of Prism. You can call it whatever you want and make your transparency to your choosing. For the dark_ap_background_color, you can leave it as it is or change it to your desired shade. I changed mine to a black/blue shade.
Step 2
Navigate to specific_all_apps_pagedview.xml
Within this string
Code:
<com.htc.launcher.pageview.AllAppsPagedViewHost android:id="@id/all_apps_paged_view_frame" android:background="?dark_ap_background_color" android:paddingTop="@dimen/all_apps_host_paddingTop" android:paddingRight="@dimen/all_apps_host_paddingRight" android:layout_width="fill_parent" android:layout_height="fill_parent"
search for
Code:
android:background="?dark_ap_background_color"
Replace ?dark_ap_background_color with your new color name such as @color/custom_color
Step 3
Using the search panel, you want to search within the smali folder for the following. The original thread can be found here. All credits to the authors.
Code:
com/android/htc/launcher/Launcher.smali
Search for this entry
Code:
.method public updateWallpaperVisibility(Z)V
If you see a const/high16 v2, 0x10 (not 0x100000 as shown) you need to update your smali.jar’s.
Edit 0x100000 to be
Code:
const/high16 v2, 0x0
Save your edits, compile and you’re finished.
Results
Custom Panels for the WeatherClockWidget.apk
Adding custom panels to the WeatherClockWidget.apk is fun. This procedure requires a bit of photo editing skills with Photoshop (or something slimar) and edits in layout and smali (if you want a custom 4x1 clock background).
Step 1.
Prepare a custom panel as shown. The dimensions are 1040 x 236 (my preference)
Save your panels in the drawable-xxhdpi folder. I prefer using a fixed name such as razor_clock_panel and razor_panel. It’s entirely your preference but don’t forget the name as you will need them for the next steps.
If you just want to add a panel for the weather conditions (1040x238), you will only need to edit the layout.xml.
Step 2
Edit the following string
Code:
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
<ImageView android:id="@id/background_panel" android:background="@com.htc:drawable/common_panel" android:layout_width="@dimen/weatherclock_base_width" android:layout_height="@dimen/weatherclock_base_height" android:layout_marginLeft="@dimen/weatherclock_base_margin_left" android:layout_marginTop="@dimen/weatherclock_base_margin_top" />
You will need to change com.htc:drawable/common_panel" to the following
Code:
@drawable/razor_panel
It should now appear as this with your new panel name.
Code:
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
<ImageView android:id="@id/background_panel" android:background="@[COLOR="Red"]drawable/razor_panel[/COLOR]" android:layout_width="@dimen/weatherclock_base_width" android:layout_height="@dimen/weatherclock_base_height" android:layout_marginLeft="@dimen/weatherclock_base_margin_left" android:layout_marginTop="@dimen/weatherclock_base_margin_top" />
Save your edit, compile, and you’re finished.
Results
Now if you want to add a custom 4x1 clock background as previously explained by @fisha21, the first thing you need to do is make your custom panel the same way as explained above at 1032x328 and save that in the drawable-xxhdpi folder.
Next
Compile your apk and place it on the desktop. Import the apk again and go to the Public.xml
Copy down the new Public ID for your custom panel. Follow the steps explained by fisha21. Instead of replacing the Public ID with the common_panel, use your new Public ID.
Save your edit, compile, and finished.
Results
Inverting Issues (Not intended for this Thread)
A lot of users are asking about inverting tips. I wasn’t going add any tutorials for that in this thread, but I figured I could do a couple until I get around to making a thread on it.
There are a few apks with Sense 6 that do not call on the resources colors. They do call on framework colors and if you don’t test your theme completely, you’ll probably find a disappointing background somewhere when you are finished. This tutorial will cover two elements that are not themed by resources, the call settings and mobile network settings background.
These two backgrounds call on the white color (line 4) in the framework color.xml. There are two ways to change the background for call settings and mobile network. The easiest way would be to redirect the color to another color in framework just as black as in my case. That’s great if you are running a black theme. Here’s the steps for that.
Step 1
Get the public ID for the white color in the Public.xml of frameworks which is 0x0106000b. Directly under that you’ll see the Public ID for black, 0x0106000c. Copy both down.
Step 2
Open the phone project and do a search for Public ID white 0x0106000b. NOTE: You need to remove the 0 after the x, so your search should be 0x106000b. You will be searching for this following smali and string.
Code:
com/android/phone/widget/ThemePreferenceActivity.smali
invoke-virtual {p0}, Lcom/htc/preference/HtcListActivity;->getHtcListView()Lcom/htc/widget/HtcListView;
move-result-object v3
const v4, 0x106000b
invoke-virtual {v3, v4}, Landroid/view/View;->setBackgroundResource(I)
Step 3
Edit the value indicated above. Compile and you’re finished.
If your background is a different color, let’s say light green, you’re going to need to make a custom colour.
Step 1
Go to the color.xml of the Phone apk. Copy one of the strings and paste it near the bottom or top. Rename the string to your custom name and change the colour hex.
Step 2
Build the apk, place on your desktop and import it again. Go to the Public.xml and copy your new ID for your custom colour. Now, repeat the steps above and search for the Public ID white 0x106000b and replace that with your new ID. Compile and you’re finished.
Results
Inverting Data Usage Background
The data usage background can be found in the Usage.apk. Once decompiled, you will need to go to the layout.xml.
Step 1
Search in the main_content.xml and look for this string.
Code:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<com.htc.usage.widget.MyFrameLayout android:id="@id/mycontent" android:background="[COLOR="Red"]#ff000000[/COLOR]" android:layout_width="fill_parent" android:layout_height="fill_parent"
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" />
For this quick tutorial, the edit has been done already in black. Make your backgound to the colour you prefer and compile. Finished.
Results
Inverting Weather.apk Backgrounds
Another theming disaster is the Weather.apk. This background can be changed by following the framework.apk Public ID for white method or making a new color reference in the Weather.apk, color.xml.
Step 1
If you just want a black background like I did, all you need to do is search the Weather.apk smali files for 0x106000b. There will be 4 hits and all refer to backgrounds.
Search for
Code:
0x106000b
Look for the following string in WeatherEntry$CityListAdaptor.smali
Code:
iget-object v14, v0, Lcom/htc/Weather/WeatherEntry$CityListAdapter;->mLayout:Landroid/widget/RelativeLayout;
const v15, 0x106000b
invoke-virtual {v14, v15}, Landroid/view/View;->setBackgroundResource(I)V
const v14, 0x106000b
invoke-virtual {v13, v14}, Landroid/view/View;->setBackgroundResource(I)V
Change 0x106000b to 0x106000c (My case I changed all 4 instances)
Step 2
If you need a different coloured background, you will need to make a custom colour in the color.xml of the Weather.apk. Please follow the instructions mentioned above on how to add a custom colour to the apk.
Background in Browser.apk when Nagivating Tabs
All credits for this edit go to @Basil3 as we double-teamed up on this one and he found it on the day-shift. Good on ya, mate.
Step 1
Get a pencil and copy this down
Step 2
Search smali in Browser.apk for
Code:
.method public constructor <init>(Lcom/htc/sense/browser/PhoneUi;Lcom/htc/sense/browser/htc/ui/CellList;)V
Within that search, you'll need to locate the following
Code:
# direct methods
.method public constructor <init>(Lcom/htc/sense/browser/PhoneUi;Lcom/htc/sense/browser/htc/ui/CellList;)V
.locals 10
const/16 v9, 0x11
const/4 v8, 0x0
const/4 v7, -0x1
const/4 v6, 0x1
const/4 v5, 0x0
invoke-virtual {p1}, Lcom/htc/sense/browser/BaseUi;->getActivity()Landroid/app/Activity;
move-result-object v2
Edit
Code:
const/4 v7, -0x1
Change to your desired smali color code. Remove the /4 from the string so that it shows
Code:
# direct methods
.method public constructor <init>(Lcom/htc/sense/browser/PhoneUi;Lcom/htc/sense/browser/htc/ui/CellList;)V
.locals 10
const/16 v9, 0x11
const/4 v8, 0x0
const v7, -0x1000000
const/4 v6, 0x1
const/4 v5, 0x0
invoke-virtual {p1}, Lcom/htc/sense/browser/BaseUi;->getActivity()Landroid/app/Activity;
move-result-object v2
Build and you're finished.
More Nasty Inverting Issues Resolved - HtcSetupWizard, HtcBackup, "Get Started Panel", Settings Issues Prism.apk
The following are inverting theme issues when dealing with HtcSetup and company apks. Each apk seems to have a specific edit so let’s start with the Prism.apk and the white panel “Get Started”
White box in Settings
There are a couple of nasty edits in the Prism.apk and I will be honest, it took me several days of trying and giving up only to get back on it again to find the fix. The first fix is a white box that you see when choosing new content in settings.
This fix is relatively easy. You need to theme the common_circle_pressed.png found in the xxhdpi folder in Prism.apk. That’s it.
White panel in Blinkfeed page “Get Started”
White panel in Blinkfeed page “Get Started” – This edit I want to recognize @Mikanoshi for providing some excellent clues on finding this edit as well as introducing me to an outstanding search tool. Cheers mate.
This was a tough one. This edit comes from the smali.
Code:
com.htc.libmosaicview.FeedGridViewText
You want to look around line 540 and search for
Code:
invoke-virtual {v0, v1, v2}, Lcom/htc/libfeedframework/FeedData;->getBooleanExtra(Ljava/lang/String;Z)Z
move-result v0
if-eqz v0, :cond_0
const v0, -0x1000000
invoke-virtual {p0, v0}, Lcom/htc/libmosaicview/FeedGridViewText;->setBackgroundColor(I)V
This edit has been done already. Don’t forget to delete the /4 after const. Build and you’re finished.
White Drop down panel – “Tap to see new stories”
This edit was strange as I seldom see this drop down panel. Any event, I found it in Prism.apk located in the
Code:
specific_feed_grid_view.xml
Look for
Code:
<TextView android:gravity="center" android:id="@id/notify_title" android:background="@color/razor_blue" android:layout_width="fill_parent" android:layout_height="@dimen/notification_bar_height" android:text="@string/notification_bar_title" style="@style/list_primary_s" />
For this specific edit, I decided to make a custom color and made the edit semi-transparent. Edit the color reference and you’re finished.
HtcBackup.apk – Background inverting fix.
If you are doing an inverted theme, you’re going to hit a couple of snags with the set up and back up apks. The HtcBackup.apk (for me) was relatively easy to do. Basically you are going to edit
Line 4: white:#ffffffff – change that to your desired color. Build and you’re finished.
Basil3 mentioned that his app was a data/app and that he had to do a different edit. Let me know if you have problems and I will add the additional fix later.
HtcSetupWizard.apk – Background inverting fix
Another issue came with this apk. With my buddy, @Basil3, we doubled teamed on my finding and fixed this mystery. The background and font are both controlled by the dark_primaryfont_color in resources. After some investigating, we found that the wizard.activity.xml contained a separate edit for the background
Code:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<com.htc.widget.HtcOverlapLayout android:orientation="vertical" android:id="@id/overlap_layout" android:layout_width="fill_parent" android:layout_height="fill_parent"
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
<LinearLayout android:orientation="vertical" android:id="@id/base_layout" android:background="#ff000000" android:layout_width="fill_parent" android:layout_height="fill_parent">
You will need to change the background: reference and add your desired hex code. The edit has been applied here already.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
New Edits
Pop-up Window on HTC_IME - Word Correction
Thanks to @Mikanoshi for helping me find this edit. The pop-up window that appears when using the HTC_IME keyword after an error occurs when typing can be found the the framework.jar. You will need to look in the
Code:
Editor$SuggestionsPopupWindow.smali
Look around line 1131 and 1142 (that's where it's found in my framework)
You'll need to change the color reference indicated in your framework and make them your choice of color. I have made my around 75% transparent and it seems to look nice against a dark background.
The stock colors are smali -0x202021 (#ffdfdfdf) and -0x111112 (#ffeeeeee). I use #be000000 (-0x42000000) and that worked well for me.
Thanks for this. How will this effect creating a 4x5 home screen?
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk
So it guide me to change the letter and it work.. the weather control by pngs or smali too? Looking at the same smali you gave to change the background and letter.. but didn't found any related to weather icon?
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk
well done fisha21 this and really useful:good:
---------- Post added at 07:10 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:09 AM ----------
nashshafrulrezza said:
So it guide me to change the letter and it work.. the weather control by pngs or smali too? Looking at the same smali you gave to change the background and letter.. but didn't found any related to weather icon?
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yooo Nash i love your skins remember one x time
maurydes said:
well done fisha21 this and really useful:good:
---------- Post added at 07:10 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:09 AM ----------
yooo Nash i love your skins remember one x time
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm really hoping the new theme engine working as the skin back then. too bad HTC prefer it other way. I'm trying too port back my classy transparent skin. Hopefully sense 6 would be easier. thanks btw.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk
Will help here where i can !!! Awesome
another one to follow! :good:
Will add what i can, ty
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2
Thanks fisha!! Amazing:thumbup:
Great thread thanks a lot
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Nice
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2
2WildFirE said:
Great thread thanks a lot
Powered by SkyDragon ROM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you deactivated the day/night color change? If yes how you do it.. can't find the solution yet.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk
@nash here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=51437526
And I using my common panel. 9png
Powered by SkyDragon ROM
2WildFirE said:
@nash here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=51437526
And I using my common panel. 9png
Powered by SkyDragon ROM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks.. but I don't mean the background.. see my screen shot.. the weather icon.. what control it to change at night and day..
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk
nashshafrulrezza said:
Thanks.. but I don't mean the background.. see my screen shot.. the weather icon.. what control it to change at night and day..
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah ok,sry i think we can change the same way with the icons if i remember editing this smali. I will look into the smali
I mean this here
.method protected getGraphicType(Z)Lcom/htc/weather/StateResources$GRAPHIC_TYPE;
.locals 1
if-eqz p1, :cond_0
sget-object v0, Lcom/htc/weather/StateResources$GRAPHIC_TYPE;->vectorgraphic_light_xl:Lcom/htc/weather/StateResources$GRAPHIC_TYPE;
:goto_0
return-object v0
:cond_0
sget-object v0, Lcom/htc/weather/StateResources$GRAPHIC_TYPE;->vectorgraphic_dark_xl:Lcom/htc/weather/StateResources$GRAPHIC_TYPE;
goto :goto_0
.end method
edit booth to light or dark, Nash has tryed, and it works.
2WildFirE said:
Ah ok,sry i think we can change the same way with the icons if i remember editing this smali. I will look into the smali
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you found it please let me know. That's the only thing I left for the clock.. thanks again.
@fisha21, you use vts for sense 6? I can't decompile any of sense 6 apk in vts.. any idea?
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk
About
In this guide I will be telling you about how to create your own device mods like this. This involves using an engine built into Android Nougat. There is no root required.
Prerequisites
- Apktool installed (official guide here)
- The apk of the app you wish to modify (ex: SystemUI.apk) (system dump here; USE WINRAR AS 7z DOESN'T EXTRACT RIGHT)
- Android Studio
- Basic knowledge of apk guts
- Template RRO project
- optional: Finished Example Project (for reference)
Tutorial
The first step is to decompile your target APK so we can see what options we can change. For this tutorial, I am going to be modding SystemUI.apk.
"apktool d SystemUI.apk"
After it finishes, go to "SystemUI/res/values", as this will be where we change most things.
Here we can see files like "bools.xml, strings.xml, integers.xml, etc..."
Let's look in "bools.xml".
I see a line in here that mentions lock screen rotation:
"<item type="bool" name="config_enableLockScreenRotation">@android:bool/config_enableLockScreenTranslucentDecor</item>"
For this tutorial, let's change this value, as it is easy to change, and we can visually see this change.
It looks like this boolean is enabled if "config_enableLockScreenTranslucentDecor" is enabled. To override this, we have to change it to "true" instead.
Now that we know what we are changing, let's open up the "RRO_Template" project in android studio.
First navigate to the Gradle Scripts and select the "build.gradle" for the "(Module: app)"
Here lets change some variables. First is the "theme_name". Let's change it to "Lockscreen Rotation"
Next is "theme_id". Let's make it "com.mod.lockscreen_rotation"
We don't need to mess with "priority"
Last is the "package_id" Since default is the id for the SystemUI, we don't have to change anything. If you need to find this for another app, look in the decompiled APKs AndroidManifest.xml under "package="com.app.id""
Next, navigate to the res folder. If you remember, our "bools.xml" file is under "res/values/bools.xml", so let's add that file.
We can delete the sample "strings.xml" as we don't need to change anything there, and add the "bools.xml" file.
Inside of the newly created XML file, we should see a setup like this (if not add it):
"<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources></resources>"
Looking back at the setting we want to change, it's "<item type="bool" name="config_enableLockScreenRotation">@android:bool/config_enableLockScreenTranslucentDecor</item>". So let's add that line.
But since we are overriding the value to true, it will now look like this :"<item type="bool" name="config_enableLockScreenRotation">true</item>"
And that's it for the value changing!
Now let's go build the APK. Press "Alt + B" to bring up the Build menu and press "Build APK"
Click "Show In Folder" on the bottom right after it compiles to see the APK.
Put this on your phone and install the APK.
Since we modified the SystemUI.apk, we need to reboot to see the changes.
Now, lets try going to the lock screen and rotating the screen. It should rotate!
Congratulations! You made a mod / theme!
If you have any questions, please ask. I will try to help if I am available. I have classes starting in a few days so I may be busy. Enjoy the guide!
Hello tytydraco,
Not sure if my problem is totally related to your posted thread but it sounds like you are very knowledgeable on Galaxy theming! I have a rooted Galaxy S8 and have merged/moded different themes from the Theme store, such as using another theme’s icon pack or wallpaper by swapping them out of their respective .apk files and implementing them with success!
My problem is with a theme’s "InCallUI" (accept, reject, hangup icons in phone dialer) after adding cool graphic .png icons (then changing to .qmg) it works flawlessly, however every time I restart my phone or a Samsung system app is updated, they revert back to those default Samsung cartoony icons. I then have to apply stock theme then re-apply customized theme to get icons back. This process also changes/breaks 3 or 4 other theming aspects, which are not affected by restarts, that I have to re-adjust!
Not only have I altered the theme’s “base.apk” in /Data/App/MyTheme folder, but also the theme’s InCallUI.apk and placed into; Data/Overlays/Style/Mytheme folder, then changed permissions to "rwx r-- r-w". I use these permissions because all the other apk's in this folder use them. I have even tried using different theme’s InCallUI.apk, whose icons remain after restart, by just changing the icons and renaming to my theme….but to no avail, same problem!
I know this all sounds really OCD, like probably most of us within these forums, but it’s getting to be a real pain in darse to constantly have to change everything back again every restart if I want to maintain my theme!
So if I may poach upon your smart nature, do you know if there is a configuration file/folder that can be edited/altered to make those “InCallUI” icons stick upon a restart?
Any advise or corrections in what I'm doing would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance.
eltoro5 said:
Hello tytydraco,
Not sure if my problem is totally related to your posted thread but it sounds like you are very knowledgeable on Galaxy theming! I have a rooted Galaxy S8 and have merged/moded different themes from the Theme store, such as using another theme’s icon pack or wallpaper by swapping them out of their respective .apk files and implementing them with success!
My problem is with a theme’s "InCallUI" (accept, reject, hangup icons in phone dialer) after adding cool graphic .png icons (then changing to .qmg) it works flawlessly, however every time I restart my phone or a Samsung system app is updated, they revert back to those default Samsung cartoony icons. I then have to apply stock theme then re-apply customized theme to get icons back. This process also changes/breaks 3 or 4 other theming aspects, which are not affected by restarts, that I have to re-adjust!
Not only have I altered the theme’s “base.apk” in /Data/App/MyTheme folder, but also the theme’s InCallUI.apk and placed into; Data/Overlays/Style/Mytheme folder, then changed permissions to "rwx r-- r-w". I use these permissions because all the other apk's in this folder use them. I have even tried using different theme’s InCallUI.apk, whose icons remain after restart, by just changing the icons and renaming to my theme….but to no avail, same problem!
I know this all sounds really OCD, like probably most of us within these forums, but it’s getting to be a real pain in darse to constantly have to change everything back again every restart if I want to maintain my theme!
So if I may poach upon your smart nature, do you know if there is a configuration file/folder that can be edited/altered to make those “InCallUI” icons stick upon a restart?
Any advise or corrections in what I'm doing would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like the apk is reverting back... There may be another QMG file that puts the icon back. Other than that, it may be samsung's themes overriding this. Good luck and thanks for the question!
Couple of quick questions
Thanks for the guide OP!
I had a couple of quick questions.
You mention at the beginning of your guide that your method works because of a built in engine in Nougat and that it doesn't require root. I thought that RRO support was added to the AOSP by Sony in Marshmallow? Is this different, or did it just take until Nougat for Samsung to catch up?
The reason I ask is that I tried to do something very similar on an A5 (2017) running 6.0.1 and had no success. I had full root access so I manually installed my .apk into /system/vendor/overlay and could see that the app was installed in the Application Manager, but the desired changes did not take effect. I based my .apk on a similar guide from tutsplus and they say it should work on a device running Marshmallow or higher, but they emulate a Nexus which is obviously closer to AOSP than a Galaxy.
Is this guide Nougat specific or S8 specific? i.e. will a J5 2017 (released after the S8) running Nougat also work in the same way? Can you still install the app manually to the /system/vendor/overlay folder or do you have to manually install it through the UI?
Thanks again for the guide!
tytydraco said:
Enjoy the guide!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello, sorry for waking this up, the RRO template links are down. Can you attach them here?
Hi guys,
I often see the question howto backup and restore GB Whatsapp...
I faced this problem by swiching in april 2023 to a new phone and restored all there, my chats, my pictures, my videos, just everything!
Its very easy to do this and here is my tutorial...
1 ) On youre old phone open GB Whatsap, tap the 3 dots menu on the top right corner,
then tap on the bottom of the popup menu settings (NOT GB SETTINGS), tap chats, on the bottom of this menu tap Chat-Backup!
2) For the next step start again on the 3 dots menu on the top right corner,
now tap GB Settings (the opposite of the first step), then tap Universal, then Backup and restore, on the top tap Backup WhatsApp data!
3) Now close GB Whatsapp and connect your Phone via USB to your PC with Datatransfer enabled, i use a Windows PC, first time will take a view seconds to install the Drivers (on Windows 10 and 11 automaticly), then open the File Explorer and click on youre device (xiaomi, samsung or whatever), on Linux and OSX it should be allmost similar!
4) Now you will see the SD-Card folder, there you click the Android folder, then media folder, there you will find a folder named com.gbwhatsapp!
Copy this folder wiht all inside to your PC, for example on your Desktop! Be aware the folder can be huge , depending on your chats pictures and videos inside,
my folder was about 5 Gigs and needet about 10 Minutes!!!
4a) Instead of copy to PC you can connect a USB Drive to your phone and copy the folder to it!
5) Now connect your new Phone to PC the same way like before your old phone!
5a) Now connect your new Phone to SD-Card the same way like before your old phone!
6) Now copy back the saved folder to the same folder like before (Android - media, if the media folder dont exists, create it... )
7) Now install GB Whatsapp and open it.
8) ON THIS STEP YOU HAVE TO BE VERY CAREFULLY, DONT TAP THE RED RESTORE BUTTON, INSTEAD TAP THE GREEN BUTTON UNDER THE RED BUTTON called something like AGREE AND CONTIUNE!!!
DONT INSTALL GB WHATSAPP BEFORE YOU COPIED THE BACKUPFOLDER or if you did allready, DONT OPEN IT BEFORE!!!
Enter your Phone Number using the simcard from your old phone (DO NOT USE A NEW SIMCARD/PHONE-NUMBER) and recive your verification Code after verification you will get a message something like found backup, restore? Tap yes, your username will be showed (in my case it was correct) and let it restore...
I think if the username is not correct (like John D. instead of John Doe) the restore will fail so if you make the backup it can be usefull to check your EXACT username just to prevent failtures...
Thats all, after restore everything should work like on your old Phone!
Let's get to the themes!
I really searched all over the internet
there is NO ONE tutorial on how to create your own GB Whatsapp Themes!
Everywhere you will only find "download themes through the app" etc!
However, I found out how to change background images of ready-made themes and that's enough for me personally!
So the themes of mine are existing themes where I just changed the background, in other words, don't thank me but thank those who created the original themes!!!
First, just look for one (or more) original themes where you like the layout, i.e. icons, colors, fonts, etc. regardless of the background image! If you download a theme in the app, you will find it in the Download - FMThemes folder, let's take the Coca Cola theme as an example!
It consists of 3 files:
Coca_Cola.xml
Coca_Cola_homeW.jpg
Coca_Cola_w.jpg
The first file is apparently responsible for the layout already mentioned and is not changed!
I'm not sure about the second one, although it has a .jpg extension, it can't be opened as an image file, so we'll leave that one as well!
The third file is clearly an image file and can be opened as such!
We will now replace this file with an image file of our choice!
To do this, we right-click the file on the PC and go to rename, we copy the marked text (Coca_Cola_w) with another right-click!
Then we find the image file we want to replace the original with, right click on it again and go to rename again and then right click on paste again, this way we make sure the file WILL BE NAMED EXACTLY THE SAME!
That's almost it, now you add your theme (preferably in a separate folder) back to the Download - FMThemes folder on your smartphone (or wherever you want)!
Then you open GB Whatsapp, go to the 3-point menu at the top right - GB Settings Themes - Load theme - look for the folder Download - FM Themes - Coca Cola Theme (or whatever you named the folder where your theme is)
and select the file Coca_Cola.xml from our example! If you then go back to your chat folder you can see your new wallpaper...
Some themes also have 2 working background images, there you can of course change both background images using the method mentioned above!
Presumably the non-working .jpg files mentioned above can also be changed with it, which will probably change the chat overview, but I haven't tested it myself! Feel free to do that and post the result here!
I picked a total of 18 themes and varied each of these 18 themes with about 90 different background images, that's over 1500 variable themes that I've attached in a zip file! I've also included the 18 original themes that were used as a zip file, so you can see for yourself what I've changed! Have fun tinkering...
Ps: My favored Varables are
1
3
6
8
9
10
(see in each Folder) Which variables do you like most?
I have also created some themes with adult content, but for understandable reasons I will NOT post them here, not even via PM!!!
You can basically use any type and size of image as long as it is in .jpg format!
I allso found a animated theme from an other whatsapp mod, maby a older version, the xml file is totally different from the files above and dont work in this version of GB Whatsapp! Is here a coder who maby can translate the code to work in this version of GB Whatsapp!?
Would be great if someone can make this work...