Related
Hello all,
New to the forums and I'm pretty much a complete newb to smart phones as well (I haven't had a cell phone in close to 5 years lol). Anyway, got a Galaxy S2 a couple weeks ago, started wondering about customization, etc and ran into this site.
Looking at some of the home screens you guys come up with, they are amazing.
But, I honestly have no idea where to start to make my own. Do I need to root my phone to do this stuff? Or, is it as simple as downloading some themes and icons and installing them?
I don't mind reading and/or teaching myself how to do it, but, if someone could just point me the right direction I would appreciate it.
Thanks in advance for any help. Cheers.
actually , you have no need to root your phone if you just want to change some icons or themes , but you may change your launcher so you can use those themes or dock icons that you have download in xda .
Try different launchers to replace your standard home, they're all good. Adw is what I normally use, launcher pro is good, go launcher also.
sinkster
I was actually curious about this too. I like PyroMod, but I think the Opacity of the windows should be closer to 80% and the notification fonts should be white instead of black. What specifically do I need to modify for this to work?
Thanks for the replies.
I downloaded and installed Launcher Pro, just to try...I have read about ADW and a couple others that I will try as well once I get the hang of this thing.
Are there any problems that may pop up with the phone using 2 launchers? I guess not or you guys wouldn't be using them.
im using launcher pro and zeam launcher and i had no problems so far
Without rooting, you can change icons on your homescreen (using a home replacement app and/or Desktop Visualizer), use modified widgets as long as they're not system apps, customize your lock screen with WidgetLocker, and of course change your wallpaper. You can also use something like Multipicture LWP to do a bit more creative stuff - like embedding icons on the wallpaper in PS and stuff.
With rooting you can do all of those things, plus modify your status bar & notification icons, change icons for apps officially (not just on the homescreen), modify system apps or remove them, etc etc. If you have no reason to root, don't. It's a common misconception that you have to root to make your phone look good. While it definitely helps, it's not necessary.
If you do plan on rooting and are interested in theming, see if MIUI is available for your device. You may like it, and the theming possibilities are endless. If you don't like it or it isn't available, other roms have theming built in as well - CM7 is one that comes to mind.
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk
plainjane said:
Without rooting, you can change icons on your homescreen (using a home replacement app and/or Desktop Visualizer), use modified widgets as long as they're not system apps, customize your lock screen with WidgetLocker, and of course change your wallpaper. You can also use something like Multipicture LWP to do a bit more creative stuff - like embedding icons on the wallpaper in PS and stuff.
With rooting you can do all of those things, plus modify your status bar & notification icons, change icons for apps officially (not just on the homescreen), modify system apps or remove them, etc etc. If you have no reason to root, don't. It's a common misconception that you have to root to make your phone look good. While it definitely helps, it's not necessary.
If you do plan on rooting and are interested in theming, see if MIUI is available for your device. You may like it, and the theming possibilities are endless. If you don't like it or it isn't available, other roms have theming built in as well - CM7 is one that comes to mind.
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Rooting might be something I would think about down the road, but, being so new to this I will probably hold off for now. I wouldn't mind unlocking it at some point though as I do travel to the States a couple times a year and would like the freedom that provides for my trips.
Thanks for the detailed reply, it is appreciated and I will look into some of those apps that you mentioned.
Hi everyone. First of all, many thanks to Gary for Root. It was quick and painless.
Now that we have root, I was wondering if anyone knows what needs to be deleted in order to get rid of that pesky pop up menu you get by pressing on the Chevron/Arrow in the middle of the bar.
I have the Wizz Bar (what an unfortunate name) installed and it does the job so much better. If you're wondering what Wizz Bar is, it basically allows you to pick your own applications or commands and bind them to the little Chevron or Arrow in the middle of the Honeycomb Bar (also called the "Mini Apps Tray")
However the built in action that pops up the Task Manager/World Clock/Calculator etc also initiates. Is there some way to remove the TouchWiz Apps Tray?
Or does this require more tinkering than a simple apk deletion from system/apps
somebody9 said:
Or does this require more tinkering than a simple apk deletion from system/apps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's much more involved. That aspect of touchwiz is buried somewhere in the frameworks. The last time I checked (a month ago), several people on both the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and 8.9 forums were looking for the same thing, but I haven't seen any good solutions.
If you find something over in one of those forums, try to get information on HOW they did it, and I'll try to reproduce it with ours.
I know with HTC phones modding such things requires the knowledge of decompiling, compling and signing apk's using apkTool or apkManager and editing smalis in notepad ++. You would have to track down which particular file contains the code and then know how to edit it to hide the taskbar. As an example just the simple task of hiding the clock in the notification bar of my HTC Incredible phone required the addition of 2 lines of code in the clock.smali file inside SystemUI.apk and the only way to get it to work was to push the file back to the phone and set permissions with adb. You couldn't just copy and paste it back in.
Thanks for the suggestions guys. I actually did go look at a bunch of 10.1 and 8.9 ROMs and it looks like there may be a solution out there. I've contacted one of the ROM developers for an answer.
If someone tells you what file to edit and what lines of code to use please post it as it will be useful to the community.
You may install honeybar form market to hide/unhide the bottom bar(notification and clock as well)
Sent from my GT-P7500 using xda premium
i just tried honeybar and it doesn't work for me. I also have go launcher ex installed so not sure if it's conflicting. I see the white box for honeybar, but pressing on it multiple times does nothing (it even goes away eventually as described in the install notes).
Honeybar isn't the solution that most of us are looking for. I myself love the Honeycomb default bar. It's the Mini-Apps Tray that is entirely useless. The least that Samsung could have done was to make the shortcuts changeable by the user.
The whole point of quick access to shortcuts is to have a quick access to the applications you use the most without flipping through homescreens or going to the Apps Tray. Thanks Samsung, I really need the World Time and Calculator more than I need the Browser and Settings Panel.
somebody9 said:
Hi everyone. First of all, many thanks to Gary for Root. It was quick and painless.
Now that we have root, I was wondering if anyone knows what needs to be deleted in order to get rid of that pesky pop up menu you get by pressing on the Chevron/Arrow in the middle of the bar.
I have the Wizz Bar (what an unfortunate name) installed and it does the job so much better. If you're wondering what Wizz Bar is, it basically allows you to pick your own applications or commands and bind them to the little Chevron or Arrow in the middle of the Honeycomb Bar (also called the "Mini Apps Tray")
However the built in action that pops up the Task Manager/World Clock/Calculator etc also initiates. Is there some way to remove the TouchWiz Apps Tray?
Or does this require more tinkering than a simple apk deletion from system/apps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've wondered whether there was a way to intercept the trigger that touching the chevron activates and just redirecting it to another command (such as what happens when you hit the "home" button after you've installed a home replacement). That way we wouldn't have to worry about hacking the touchwiz dock for customizing, we just replace it altogether so something else is invoked by touching the shortcut.
rEVOLVE said:
I've wondered whether there was a way to intercept the trigger that touching the chevron activates and just redirecting it to another command (such as what happens when you hit the "home" button after you've installed a home replacement). That way we wouldn't have to worry about hacking the touchwiz dock for customizing, we just replace it altogether so something else is invoked by touching the shortcut.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Re-mapping the function would be more involved than just turning it off but it is possible if you know what you're doing. For HTC phones there's a mod called rosie remap which does just about the same thing but its a complicated hack. It remaps a + button on the phone that ads apps to the homescreen, the mod allows you to reassign the button so it opens any app you want. I believe this is a framework-res.apk mod. Eventually someone who is familar with touchwiz will do these mods, if they haven't already for the 8.9 or 10.1, which should all be pretty much the same.
Edit: I think the chevron function would be in the touchwiz apk located in system/app but I don't know what Samsung calls it. HTC calls their Sense UI Rosie and you mod Rosie.apk to do the remapping of their UI specific buttons. If the chevron is part of honeycomb itself then it would be in the framework-res.apk file I bbelieve.
This is good info flowing in. I'm gonna see if I can figure out some more.
On a positive note - guess what Samsung changed? Exactly what I was *****ing about :
Mini Apps : Upgraded so you can choose and edit your own Mini Apps tray. You can easily access favorite features such as Calendar, Email, or PenMemo as a pop up over full screen applications.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
somebody9 said:
On a positive note - guess what Samsung changed? Exactly what I was *****ing about :
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Was there an update that I don't know about that allows this??? I really like the idea of the mini app tray, but like was said before, not having the ability to put your most used apps there makes it pretty useless.
Please explain how apps can now (or in the near future) be changed in the tray.
Thanks!!!
I guess until they release 7.7 we won't know. Unless there's an update out on KIES. But I really doubt it.
Confirmed:7.7 has fully customisable mini apps tray...i'm disappointed in Samsung for releasing 'premium' products in such close succession that are so different in functionality. Why did they not include this basic and important feature on all new of their new tablet products? I actually feel somewhat conned now
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
rEVOLVE said:
i just tried honeybar and it doesn't work for me. I also have go launcher ex installed so not sure if it's conflicting. I see the white box for honeybar, but pressing on it multiple times does nothing (it even goes away eventually as described in the install notes).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
doesn't go launcher ex look like **** on the tab+? i installed it yesterday and when i found out that i can't remove the dock, i uninstalled it.
diospada11 said:
doesn't go launcher ex look like **** on the tab+? i installed it yesterday and when i found out that i can't remove the dock, i uninstalled it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pare, actually like it better because i don't like stock honeycomb desktop and app drawer. I set swipe up gesture to hide/unide the dock and also changed the stock dock icons.
Once we're able to customize the Touchwiz shortcuts, or hijack the launch command so we can tell it to launch something else, I'll be much happier.
For those who've not seen this function in action yet, check it out in this video at 2.05: http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=tBpzweqvKJA
Surely Samsung can put this function in tab plus on an update ... and they need to. The app tray is almost functionless otherwise. The presence of this thread is sufficient evidence that there is a high demand and several unsatisfied customers. Many customers have spent over £400 on this tablet. Why did they put it onto the 7.7 which was going on sale only a few days/weeks after the tab plus?
Sent from my GT-P6210 using xda premium
Just for my two cents, I would also like to see the app tray made editable. I've only had my unit for a couple of days, and I already feel its wasted on me for what it holds. Hoping for that to change in a coming update.
somebody9 said:
On a positive note - guess what Samsung changed? Exactly what I was *****ing about :
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where is this "mini apps?" Did I miss something?
Ok, so I've been really getting into theming my Transformer Prime, and like most people I think, get frustrated when I have to redo things after flashing a new ROM. I find using Nova Launcher to be pretty spot on with backup then restoring settings which, most times, will get all your widgets working correctly with little configuration needed from there.
So the only thing I'm really left with is a good way to change, backup and restore app icons. Nova launcher is good at restoring the icons for the home screen, however I'd like something that would change the default app icon for installed apps.
I found this thread on StackOverflow that states that you can change the app icon by just replacing the image for it -without- unzipping the apk. This is great in theory, however when you update the app to a new version you'll loose that customization obviously.
I'm looking for an app, that when run, will present a list of all installed apps, let you choose it, then pick a custom icon. The app would then change the apps -default- icon, meaning that change would propogate everywhere in Android, so you wont have to mess with setting different icons for your launcher, and launcher X widgets, and drawer would also get changed.
When you update your apps and run the app icon themeing tool then it would, again, present you with a list of installed apps and you could just choose the newly updated apps and change the icon again( or better yet the app would do that for you! ).
Anyways, I have no idea if this is possible. I'm not sure if the icon in the apk for an app are all standard named, if it is, this seems possible. If it's not, then if it's in the apks manifest file then you could extract the name of the icon, and copy the new one in it's place under the same name.
If either the icon names are always the same( doubt it ) or if it's in the manifest file this seems pretty doable to me.
What do you all think? Have you seen anything like this app out there? What do you do to change / restore app icons( system wide preferably, not just in a particular launcher ).
Vote above and if it gets enough traction maybe we can convince a dev to look into it. Obviously you'd have to be rooted, but I think most everyone would be ok with that
EDIT: I did find this thread, with a windows tool to do kinda what I'm talking about. If it had / has backup, restore for when you update apps then it would be perfect. Would prefer an on device app, but I'll take what I can get.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=890876
Really, no input here? Am I the only one wishing we had this?
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk 2
RubenRybnik said:
Really, no input here? Am I the only one wishing we had this?
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
your not alone, I've been looking for exactly that for a long long time. please pm me if you do find it.
So, I got a look at Marshmallow on the HTC One A9 (via a review, I didn't actually put my hands on one) and while it still has Sense-themed Settings, it has the AOSP-like Quick Toggles like you'd see on a Nexus/Moto phone. And Flashlight is a stock toggle.
Can't really say much more about it. It's still the same soft keys, but if you have root and an app like SoftKeyZ (paid) or a ROM like ViperOne, you can change them to whatever you like (I use the AOSP set). The video didn't show BlinkFeed, but the Prism/BlinkFeed launcher looks to be about the same.
Nice to see HTC getting closer and closer to AOSP, as long as they keep the features, like rearranging the toggles (which is in stock Marshmallow, but it's somewhat hidden, I think you long-press the settings gear above the quick toggles to enable it).
So here's hoping we actually get the update... they're still saying we're getting it, but they said we were getting 5.1 as well. If we do get it, the One M8 will have been a well supported phone, having used Android 4, Android 5, and Android 6 (even though Marshmallow was originally 5.2).
dragontology said:
So, I got a look at Marshmallow on the HTC One A9 (via a review, I didn't actually put my hands on one) and while it still has Sense-themed Settings, it has the AOSP-like Quick Toggles like you'd see on a Nexus/Moto phone. And Flashlight is a stock toggle.
Can't really say much more about it. It's still the same soft keys, but if you have root and an app like SoftKeyZ (paid) or a ROM like ViperOne, you can change them to whatever you like (I use the AOSP set). The video didn't show BlinkFeed, but the Prism/BlinkFeed launcher looks to be about the same.
Nice to see HTC getting closer and closer to AOSP, as long as they keep the features, like rearranging the toggles (which is in stock Marshmallow, but it's somewhat hidden, I think you long-press the settings gear above the quick toggles to enable it).
So here's hoping we actually get the update... they're still saying we're getting it, but they said we were getting 5.1 as well. If we do get it, the One M8 will have been a well supported phone, having used Android 4, Android 5, and Android 6 (even though Marshmallow was originally 5.2).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No idea when it'll come but m8 M testing is about to begin, so its in the works.
Hello everybody!
I'm interested in buying the Mate 8 but still have a few question I weren't able to find answers to.
I currently own a Nexus 5 and like the clean look of stock Android.
First questions are in regards to themes.
1. Do they still apply when you change the launcher or this somehow linked to the EMUI stock launcher?
2. Can you change the dropdown menu (notifications and quick settings) with these themes, too, in order to make it more like stock Android? Screenshots of the dropdown menu are rarely given.
3. How easy is it to create themes by oneself?
All in all I'd like to have a clean stock look as especially these bubbles around the icons are a pain to my eyes.
I would prefer to NOT have to flash a custom ROM.
The second part of my questions is in regard to Google Now.
1. Do you have the Google Now cards available?
2. Is Google Now on Tap working?
I hope you guys can enlighten me
Thanks in advance! :fingers-crossed:
SCHMANKii said:
Hello everybody!
I'm interested in buying the Mate 8 but still have a few question I weren't able to find answers to.
I currently own a Nexus 5 and like the clean look of stock Android.
First questions are in regards to themes.
1. Do they still apply when you change the launcher or this somehow linked to the EMUI stock launcher?
2. Can you change the dropdown menu (notifications and quick settings) with these themes, too, in order to make it more like stock Android? Screenshots of the dropdown menu are rarely given.
3. How easy is it to create themes by oneself?
All in all I'd like to have a clean stock look as especially these bubbles around the icons are a pain to my eyes.
I would prefer to NOT have to flash a custom ROM.
The second part of my questions is in regard to Google Now.
1. Do you have the Google Now cards available?
2. Is Google Now on Tap working?
I hope you guys can enlighten me
Thanks in advance! :fingers-crossed:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Do they still apply when you change the launcher or this somehow linked to the EMUI stock launcher?
EMUI themes still apply when you change launchers. You can set your custom icons on the launcher desktop, but the themed icon will still appear in other places like the recent apps screen or in notifications. So you will still see ugly rounded square or circle boarder with your icons outside of your launcher desktop. Fortunately this can be solved by installing custom EMUI theme with stock icons, which you can find here: http://foerster.io/hack-huawei-enable-pure-icons-with-no-borders-backgrounds-etc/
2. Can you change the dropdown menu (notifications and quick settings) with these themes, too, in order to make it more like stock Android? Screenshots of the dropdown menu are rarely given.
Themes can change the dropdown menu to a certain extent, mostly changing the shortcut icons. I've yet to see any theme that can make the dropdown menu look completely stock, I don't think it's possible because they operate differently. To me the EMUI dropdown UI looked decent enough (albeit in a different style) so I don't mind it so much.
3. How easy is it to create themes by oneself?
Don't know, never tried it myself.
1. Do you have the Google Now cards available?
I have the international version of the phone (L29), most google services are pre-installed including google now cards. If you get the Chinese version you'll have to install google services yourself, which I heard is a fairly easy process.
2. Is Google Now on Tap working?
You can turn on the now on tap function in google cards settings, but it doesn't seem to work when I long press the home button.
Please note that I'm still on an early EMUI build (B103) and have not yet received any OTA, I don't know if later updates changes anything.
Overall I did get a fairly decent looking UI running on my mate 8. Some UI elements will remain in EMUI style (most notably recent apps and notification dropdown and settings screen) as you can't change those without a custom ROM or at least some root hack, but I don't mind those too much, in fact I liked some of the EMUI design. The worse part of EMUI 4.0 is the launcher and the forced icon background on 3rd party apps, but like I said earlier these can all be averted with 3rd party launcher and custom theme. If you're a diehard fans for the "stock-look" who won't accept any non-material design element then this may not be good enough for you, but it is good enough for me.
@beachletter
Thank you a million times, Sir!
So did I get this right and you also tried to achieve a more or less stock look?
If so, could you please provide screenshots of your dropdown menu and maybe of your homescreen?
Did you own a Nexus phone before the Mate 8, too?
Regarding the dropdown menu of notifications: if I understand it correctly it's more or less working like a timeline, not like on other phones. This can't be changed, can it? I guess I know the answer as themes are supposed to only change the look and not the way things work, but yeah...
This is what my ui looks like after getting custom launcher and material design icon theme.
Sent from my HUAWEI NXT-L29 using XDA Free mobile app
SCHMANKii said:
@beachletter
Thank you a million times, Sir!
So did I get this right and you also tried to achieve a more or less stock look?
If so, could you please provide screenshots of your dropdown menu and maybe of your homescreen?
Did you own a Nexus phone before the Mate 8, too?
Regarding the dropdown menu of notifications: if I understand it correctly it's more or less working like a timeline, not like on other phones. This can't be changed, can it? I guess I know the answer as themes are supposed to only change the look and not the way things work, but yeah...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like stock icons and stock recent apps screen, but for notification and quick settings drop down I actually liked EMUI's implementation. I used CM and other near-stock rom in my previous phones.
See the post above for screenshots.
Alright, thanks again!
Now I have most of the information I can possibly get to make the right decision. Hopefully I will
Okay, so I've bought a Mate 8 to test things.
While it is really well designed, is nice to hold and snappy as well, I still can't get myself to like the software that much.
I have tried to apply the theme @beachletter provided but it somehow doesn't apply correctly and therefore many icons still have that bubble around it (e.g. Chrome, Play Store). Dialer and Contacts are still the same icons.
Regarding Google Now on Tap: this functionality was added with B152 firmware update which immediately showed up while setting up the device.
Additionally I have to say that the horizontal scrolling in the recent apps menu is even more unintuitive than I've thought it would be.
SCHMANKii said:
Okay, so I've bought a Mate 8 to test things.
While it is really well designed, is nice to hold and snappy as well, I still can't get myself to like the software that much.
I have tried to apply the theme @beachletter provided but it somehow doesn't apply correctly and therefore many icons still have that bubble around it (e.g. Chrome, Play Store). Dialer and Contacts are still the same icons.
Regarding Google Now on Tap: this functionality was added with B152 firmware update which immediately showed up while setting up the device.
Additionally I have to say that the horizontal scrolling in the recent apps menu is even more unintuitive than I've thought it would be.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's strange, on my phone the dialer and contacts have separate icons (although I usually don't use contacts because I can quick dial any name in dialer to search my contact list) , and I don't see any icon background/border for chrome or play store.
Maybe you should check out the newest version of the theme here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/general/rooting-roms/hack-enable-pure-icons-borders-t3315731
and FYI the launcher I use is NOVA Prime
Good to know google now is back in B152. Unfortunately my phone doesn't get any OTA update above B103 yet. But at least there's no camera focusing issue on my phone, even with B103.
beachletter said:
That's strange, on my phone the dialer and contacts have separate icons (although I usually don't use contacts because I can quick dial any name in dialer to search my contact list) , and I don't see any icon background/border for chrome or play store.
Maybe you should check out the newest version of the theme here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/general/rooting-roms/hack-enable-pure-icons-borders-t3315731
and FYI the launcher I use is NOVA Prime
Good to know google now is back in B152. Unfortunately my phone doesn't get any OTA update above B103 yet. But at least there's no camera focusing issue on my phone, even with B103.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not that bad anymore. I installed Nova Prime as well and added icon packs to fit my preferences.
But with the new theme it's working, even in the status bar! Thanks for providing the link!
SCHMANKii said:
It's not that bad anymore. I installed Nova Prime as well and added icon packs to fit my preferences.
But with the new theme it's working, even in the status bar! Thanks for providing the link!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually I just switched to this theme which seems to have a more comprehensive set of material design icons:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/mate-7/themes-apps/theme-material-emui-predaturd-p-kulkes-t3265917
You may want to give it a try.