Application Colors - Android Software Development

I'm putting up the finishing touches of a new Android app and I'm torn about one thing. I can't decide if I should make my application with white text on a black background or black text on a white background.
Is there a preference either way, or should I build the app in such a way as to let the user decide?

chmckay said:
I'm putting up the finishing touches of a new Android app and I'm torn about one thing. I can't decide if I should make my application with white text on a black background or black text on a white background.
Is there a preference either way, or should I build the app in such a way as to let the user decide?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
let the user decide as me i use the desire with is amoled which means takes more power to create a white color (so i believe) so most apps such at the xda tap a talk is black but i know some people would preffer white, but if you are just going for one color without swapping to save programming i would go for black background

I agree. Black background.
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Sent via the XDA Tapatalk App

Building the app so it can be customized by the user may also make it simpler for you to make changes throughout the app later on since you set up a flexible framework early on instead of hardcoding colors.
I have a N1 w/AMOLED but I can't really say that I get a whole lot better battery life with apps that have a black UI. I would say do any color that works better aesthetically.

Thank you. I really appreciate the input.

Please go white it makes the application so much easier to use and im on a hero so almost everything is balck

Related

My first today theme for herald

Here is my first theme made for the Herald. I'm new to this so I've begun by modifying the default htc touch theme and made it darker (close to black) and changed it a bit. Hope someone likes it.
damn......nobody postes screen shoots
it's like the basic dark grey-black htc theme for touch with some modifications to look better (In my opinion at least).
I'll check it out. I've been looking for a darker/better looking version of that theme. I can't post screenies yet, but I'll give a review.
facdemol said:
it's like the basic dark grey-black htc theme for touch with some modifications to look better (In my opinion at least).
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Oh wow hey this is great man! I LOVE the blue text!
What I think would really make it look better is if you could make the theme match Schap's 2G dialer. Possible make the greys look less monotone. I'm not saying add pinks and crap to it, but make it less grey and more black, with some grey contrasts to it. Hard to explain what I mean, but basically the text adds some much needed color, and I think the greys could be changed to do the same, but only staying withing the black/grey spectrum.
The only thing I do not like is the background wallpaper. Something smoother and darker would be nice, maybe mix in some of the same blue color you've got on the text with it. Dunno.
Does any of that make sense?
Overall, I like it, and am going to use it until you release another one.
You're on the money with this one. Taking what's already out, tweaking it, and making it better. Excellent.
Your theme looks fairly decent. The text color in the start menu is blue as well.
THX I like it!
thank you all for the apreciation.
I'm thinking of making a new theme, but currently looking for ideas. Does any of you have some ideas about some color combinations and background pictures? I'll make the theme and then i will upload it here. Any sugestions are welcomed.
Get rid of the grey shades. I hate grey and black together. Very dull. Keep the blue text, it looks great! I think a background image with some planets, or stars, or nebulae or something would be sweet with such a dark theme.
Make it a space theme!
facdemol said:
thank you all for the apreciation.
I'm thinking of making a new theme, but currently looking for ideas. Does any of you have some ideas about some color combinations and background pictures? I'll make the theme and then i will upload it here. Any sugestions are welcomed.
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Click to collapse
Ok, we'll go to space However, complex coloured images on the today screen may affect the text readability. I'll try my first space theme with a background image of the moon or some other bunch of planets laying arround.
The trouble with themes is that you can't satisfy all people because their different opinions regarding the ideal theme.
Ahh true. It's all good, make what you like, and to hell with everyone else!
facdemol said:
Ok, we'll go to space However, complex coloured images on the today screen may affect the text readability. I'll try my first space theme with a background image of the moon or some other bunch of planets laying arround.
The trouble with themes is that you can't satisfy all people because their different opinions regarding the ideal theme.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
RVM, I didn't put it that way. If I were to make a theme for myself I wouldn't need to upload it and just download again. Also I wouldn't have any need to comment it with people since I've made it to best suit my needs.
On the other hand I'm not that much into space themes. Personally I don't think a 320x240 screen with lots of text on it, can express the complexity of space (stars, planets, some dust&stuff) or at least not in the same manner like your average desktop. However I'll try this (or other themes) in order to to find out if it suits other people.
Regarding Theme?
Quick question Guys, where are you Guys placing the theme at. Exactly in which folder should I say. I downloaded a theme over the net and can"t figure out where to place it. Thanks for your help People...
^^Its very easy. Just place it in the first folder that comes up when you activesync.
This is a very nice theme. Im looking forward to more from you

[Q] Would you be interested in this theme?

Just trying to see if anyone would be interested in this mockup so I know if I should bother making it.
Edited together quickly for mockup purposes.
"Gloss" type effect colors seem off, but shall be perfected and the icons have lost there gradient effect currently
I think it would be interesting to see a white glossy theme.
Would look good on OpenDesire!
Very interested. Please make it
Looks fantastic.
+1.
In my opinion, I'd like to see it strictly black/white with minimal colour.
faceqt said:
+1.
In my opinion, I'd like to see it strictly black/white with minimal colour.
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Click to collapse
I'm sure there is one like that for open desire is there not?
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
Bouncer5 said:
Just trying to see if anyone would be interested in this mockup so I know if I should bother making it.
Edited together quickly for mockup purposes.
"Gloss" type effect colors seem off, but shall be perfected and the icons have lost there gradient effect currently
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With a black circle battery and numbers changing colors, instead of the circle changing colors the same way Fightspit super circle type D does, it would be a killing theme.
f.
Never been interested in circle mods tbh but yours sounds interesting, personally I like smooth sense and plan to incorporate it atleast for now
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
Please release that default white already
Then you can focus on that circle battery.
I shall look into getting it out for the end of next month, Limited time and a rubbish PC and unfamiliar tools of paint.net
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
Anybody still interested in said theme?
Certainly am if it's for OpenDesire!
Id be interested.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
Yeah!
10char
forelli said:
With a black circle battery and numbers changing colors, instead of the circle changing colors the same way Fightspit super circle type D does, it would be a killing theme.
f.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can make this type with UOT Kitchen version Z. Provide colors for text and set circle colors to black.
I'd be interested too !
yeppa^^yep
i'm interested too
Handy to know, I think I shall start on this again, But lack of time, I'll say it shall be a christmas present to you all
Bouncer5 said:
Handy to know, I think I shall start on this again, But lack of time, I'll say it shall be a christmas present to you all
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On 10th September you posted this thread, 11th September you said it would be ready at the end of October
I shall look into getting it out for the end of next month, Limited time and a rubbish PC and unfamiliar tools of paint.net
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With this in mind, I'm going to close this thread and you can PM a Desire mod/Senior mod, when you are ready with the theme.

awesome benefits of pure black

so last week I looked up dark levels on google image and found an epic one. used it last 3 days and increased my battery life by almost 2 hours.
use this shortened url or the qr i attached.
http://goo.gl/YRdDG
it looks great too. i really enjoy just how dark this is and i seriously think no light is being used when you have it exposed
cheers
I always used a pure black image I made with a paint program as my wallpaper on my Nexus One and my Galaxy S phones to save juice.
The battery life on the Nexus S is so phenomenal that I've actually been using live 3D wallpapers (like an aquarium) and similar without concern. I can easily make it through an 18 hour day on the NS without having to resort to a black wallpaper.
Still, I love the way a pure black background looks on the pure black Nexus S; I may go back to it just for the aesthetics.
Good tip, though!
I've been using all black every where possible for months, It really helps battery life.
Cyanogen web browser has a very useful all black option to turn all white pages to black.
Here is mine
Pure black created using Windows 7 Paint.
Good idea. Trying it to see hour much juice it saves.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
LauncherPro also has an all black wallpaper that looks great
jlevy73 said:
LauncherPro also has an all black wallpaper that looks great
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Click to collapse
Yep it looks business like
i always try to keep most of my themes black
but is boring when every thing is always black
so it's okay to have some highlights here and there ... at the expense of extra battery usage
AllGamer said:
i always try to keep most of my themes black
but is boring when every thing is always black
so it's okay to have some highlights here and there ... at the expense of extra battery usage
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree and with the beautiful screen on the NS, why not give it a little life
I hope battery technology will one day improve to the point where we don't have to help the phone save juice. It always bothers me there are these features which we can't fully take advantage of or have to turn off and moderate to get a phone through the day.
Having said that, my NS does quite well with battery, and I have WP Clock live wallpaper running.
Is there a good place to get black themed gmail, gvoice, reader, calendar, etc. to look like contacts?
Personally I think colorful backgrounds are kinda girly. Meet to see once. But I prefer the lookof the solid black. And I believe it shows our screens abilities perfectly and make the apps pop better that a cheesy background...
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Eppidemic said:
Personally I think colorful backgrounds are kinda girly. Meet to see once. But I prefer the lookof the solid black. And I believe it shows our screens abilities perfectly and make the apps pop better that a cheesy background...
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
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Click to collapse
I know it's kind of cheesy but I really like the Matrix Live Wallpaper for that reason. It shows off the pure black and then you have the coloured characters falling all over the screen, it looks amazing on the SAMOLED.
+1 I love the super blacks of amoled.
Plus easy on the eyes and battery. What's not to love?
Solar Winds LWP, mostly back, but with flashes of colour.
Best of both worlds
Yes there's black themed MMS.apk and Gmail.apk in the apps/themes forum. Need root access to swap them though.
Belarios said:
Is there a good place to get black themed gmail, gvoice, reader, calendar, etc. to look like contacts?
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Click to collapse
get starfield 3D live wallpaper. All black with flashes of white/silver It's very cool.
netninja said:
get starfield 3D live wallpaper. All black with flashes of white/silver It's very cool.
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Click to collapse
Indeed! That live wallpaper looks so cool!! Especially on the nexus
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Ok, here is my list of apps and widgets that I use because of its level of blackness
- simiClock widget (replaced Beautiful widget)
- Jorte for Google calendar client (it has black theme)
- Pure Calendar Widget with a black theme
- Default google email client (it has black list, but not when reading email)
- Go SMS (terrific! it has dark theme plus we can change the background color)
I know, there are "specially modified" apps out there, but you need to root your device.
For non-rooted user like me, these apps are suitable to have some blackness.
Please share if you find other alternatives, especially email client
Belarios said:
Is there a good place to get black themed gmail, gvoice, reader, calendar, etc. to look like contacts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, there is. Its called TouchWiz. Black calendar, email, sms, clock......

Why backgrounds in SGS4 are write?

I've got used for black/dark background in several years.
But in reviews of SGS4 i see that many apps/settings have white background. I just wonder if there is kind of theme switch in SGS4 to get already convenient black background or now we are stuck to white now?
sorg said:
I've got used for black/dark background in several years.
But in reviews of SGS4 i see that many apps/settings have white background. I just wonder if there is kind of theme switch in SGS4 to get already convenient black background or now we are stuck to white now?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The switch is called ROOT and Custom Rom.
I'm wondering the same thing. Given that the S4 sticks with Super AMOLED, this seems like a poor decision -- this white theme. Unless, of course, there's some sort of theming taking place, which I doubt else it would've been taken note of during launch. Although they can still change things from now until April 25...
I really hope we can change this white without custom ROM.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda app-developers app
where can we get those custom ROMs? Thanks a lot.
MarionCast said:
I'm wondering the same thing. Given that the S4 sticks with Super AMOLED, this seems like a poor decision -- this white theme. Unless, of course, there's some sort of theming taking place, which I doubt else it would've been taken note of during launch. Although they can still change things from now until April 25...
I really hope we can change this white without custom ROM.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sorg said:
I've got used for black/dark background in several years.
But in reviews of SGS4 i see that many apps/settings have white background. I just wonder if there is kind of theme switch in SGS4 to get already convenient black background or now we are stuck to white now?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You would have to edit every apk for each app you want to change and make them use the device.default theme / halo theme instead of the device.default.light / halo.light
Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk HD
It is because the black/dark theme was the biggest **** ever. Amoleds aren't the brightest and gray text on black background ...... Seriously??? The inbox was virtually unreadable. While emails were unread they had white text on black background and that was OK. Once read they were some tone of gray on black background. In the car and outside it was impossible to make out anything. I had a shortcut on my home screen to enable the accessibility /negative colours specifically so I could read my inbox when it was it too bright where I was.
Admittedly they should just give you the option for me the bright theme is a very welcome change.
sorg said:
I've got used for black/dark background in several years.
But in reviews of SGS4 i see that many apps/settings have white background. I just wonder if there is kind of theme switch in SGS4 to get already convenient black background or now we are stuck to white now?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe what you are talking about is on only on the US variants. I have a i9500 and all the menus are black just like the GS3/Note 2.
KillaHurtz said:
I believe what you are talking about is on only on the US variants. I have a i9500 and all the menus are black just like the GS3/Note 2.
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I'm pretty sure only early demo units had the white backgrounds
PLUG313 said:
I'm pretty sure only early demo units had the white backgrounds
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Click to collapse
Do you even own a GS4 ?
KillaHurtz said:
Do you even own a GS4 ?
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...does it matter?
I've seen plenty of recent videos and screenshots from S4's and not one of them had a white background
[/COLOR]
PLUG313 said:
...does it matter?
I've seen plenty of recent videos and screenshots from S4's and not one of them had a white background
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Click to collapse
So no.....do some fuggin research before piping off like you know.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Wt5im3WAZYc#t=244s
KillaHurtz said:
So no.....
Here's a video so you can eat your ignorant words and do some fuggin research before piping off like you know.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Wt5im3WAZYc#t=244s
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Click to collapse
how do you know they're not comparing their early unit with the latest octa?
look it up on GSMArena, they had one of those early units with the white background, and then when they got the final one with the black backgrounds they did their tests and reviewed their review of the early unit. I still am pretty sure the latest firmwares do not have white backgrounds. look at the XDA post your battery results thread for example, all black.
I don't know why you're being so rude. do YOU have a store bought S4 with a white background?
PLUG313 said:
how do you know they're not comparing their early unit with the latest octa?
look it up on GSMArena, they had one of those early units with the white background, and then when they got the final one with the black backgrounds they did their tests and reviewed their review of the early unit. I still am pretty sure the latest firmwares do not have white backgrounds. look at the XDA post your battery results thread for example, all black.
I don't know why you're being so rude. do YOU have a store bought S4 with a white background?
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Click to collapse
YES !
I have an i9500 and a M919
Here is a pulled .png from the dialer (SecPhone.apk)
Just admit you were wrong dude..........jeez.
Edit:
I pulled the same png from the international version's .apk to show you.

[Q] White Skin in Native Apps

I have seen some Samsung GS 4 ads and reviews in which the native apps such as the phone and messaging seem to have white background and skin rather than the traditional dark theme. More so the apps are having proper colour and its not the 'negative mode'.
Any idea how to activate the white skin on these apps? I hate the dark background!!!
This is from pre release versions, so you can't unless you use a deodexed rom with such a theme. But... you should keep dark themes whenever possible to get a better battery life (amoled screens use less battery with black backgrounds because the leds are turned off), so maybe try to get used to it, it's not that bad
Sent from my GT-I9505 using xda app-developers app

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