How to change generic contact pic - Verizon Galaxy Note 3 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I am on alliance Rom and it is fantastic. Everything is themed just the way I like it. I only need to change one last thing to realize my dream setup. Does anybody have any idea on how to universally change the generic contact pics that shows up in my mms?

cinsity said:
I am on alliance Rom and it is fantastic. Everything is themed just the way I like it. I only need to change one last thing to realize my dream setup. Does anybody have any idea on how to universally change the generic contact pics that shows up in my mms?
Click to expand...
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Yes.
If you like, provide a copy of what you want to change it to. I have a copy of Alliance Build1 on my phone and can make you a flashable. When I post it, I will give you some general instructions on how to add to it, if you like.
Edit: And just to be sure, did you flash a theme at all?

That would be awesome. I did flash all backs black theme. I actually just want a totally black bg pic to sub in. I would be ok with a way to completely remove the contact pic at all. Thanks a ton for your help
Sent from my SM-N900V using XDA Free mobile app

Zip attached. Flash in recovery. It does not replace SecMms.apk, it only replaces thise pngs inside it. It wipes dalvik for you. I will add on a short tutorial on how to add onto this yourself shortly.
View attachment 2906973

Ok. This uses the vr-theme script. Most of the a.b.b. theme uses it as well.
If you unzip flash me.zip, and go inside, you'll see this
Drill down into the vr theme folder. . .
You see a folder with the exact same name as what you're modding. Please note that it has the exact spelling, including the .apk. I'll get to how I chose what's inside in a minute. The way I get what's inside was I unzipped thee abb theme, and got to the SecMms.apk app. In abb it is a full app. So to get into it, use a file explorer. I used es file explorer. Long press it and choose to open it. If you just short press like normal, it will try to install it.
When you open it go into the res folder.
Then I chose this folder to extract (because it had the images I wanted)
And when you back out, you get this
Go into that folder, you'll see a bunch of pngs. I delete the ones I don't want to change. I'm left with
For your zip, I made all these images transparent.
I then placed the SecMms folder to the flash me in the correct folder (vr-theme/system/priv-app, for this mod) and renamed it to include tha ".apk".
Then I zipped it up.
A couple of side notes:
Any .9.png files... don't modify those unless you know how. Google it if you really wanna know.
Any .png files... if you replace it rather than edit it, 1. Make sure the name matches exactly. 2. Make sure the dimensions match exactly to ensure it shows correctly. If it isn't the same, crop or resize.

Related

[Q] picking and choosing what you want from a theme?

hey guys,
just curious if you could some how choose what you want to have in the theme and if you can mix themes, if so how? for example i installed epic unleashed 2.5 and i loved the battery indicator and i installed the 982dark theme for the droid 2 and it's great with a couple exceptions... personally I think i'm going back to the Kangerade Blue for the Droid2 but i still want the original battery indicator from the epic rom.
thanks
-Jim
As far as I know, we don't have this level of customizability on D2 as of now. However, we are starting to see this. Like this, for example:
http://www.xda-developers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=784855
I used to use a ROM for the old Touch CDMA that did in fact have this level of customizability - there was a thread that had pretty much every individual piece available to customize. But again, I haven't seen this for D2 yet.
damn... ok well hopefully we get there eventually... until then I'll just stick with the theme I overall like the best lol
I have this problem with themes too, and the solution is simple. Take the theme that you are going to install, open the zip, and just remove the apps, fonts, or framework you don't want altered.
For example, I despise the font changes alot of themes force on you. Makes my twitter streams unreadable, so I just open the zip, and delete the fonts folder. That way it won't override the stock fonts. I've never tried deleting individual files, but that method should work for icons as well.
Just open the framework.res (rename the .res to .zip or .rar if you have WINRAR installed, or just use the "open with or choose default program" option) goto the res folder, then drawable-hdpi and just delete the battery images from the folder before you install the theme.
An easy way to do this, is to make a copy of the zip first so you'll have a proper version of the theme to view. Open it up with winzip, WINRAR or whatever archiving tool you use on your computer. Then browse the files in thumbnail view to find the images you want to get rid of. Make a note of their file names, then open up the other zip, locate the files in question, right click, delete em.
I'm not quite understanding what you're saying Natty
For example, right now I'm using the Revolution Remix theme. If I unzip it, there are 2 folders: META-INF and system.
Under system there are 3 folders: app, fonts, and framework. In the framework file there are 2 .apk files (framework-res.apk and blur-res.apk) and the systems.jar file.
In the app folder there are all .apk files, and the font folders are all .ttf
I'm not seeing any pictures to be deleted, unless you mean to actually delete the respective app .apk files (for example, I dislike the Talk app icon and the Market app icon)
Edit:
So I guess you're supposed to just rename the .apk to .zip, but for some reason the files are not allowing me...Could these files be locked? (I don't know if that's a stupid question or not lol)
Edit #2:
So I got 7zip (yay for google), but when I go to open the .png files they don't want to open...an application opens to view them, but it just sits there saying "loading"
Natty_lite said:
I have this problem with themes too, and the solution is simple. Take the theme that you are going to install, open the zip, and just remove the apps, fonts, or framework you don't want altered.
For example, I despise the font changes alot of themes force on you. Makes my twitter streams unreadable, so I just open the zip, and delete the fonts folder. That way it won't override the stock fonts. I've never tried deleting individual files, but that method should work for icons as well.
Just open the framework.res (rename the .res to .zip or .rar if you have WINRAR installed, or just use the "open with or choose default program" option) goto the res folder, then drawable-hdpi and just delete the battery images from the folder before you install the theme.
An easy way to do this, is to make a copy of the zip first so you'll have a proper version of the theme to view. Open it up with winzip, WINRAR or whatever archiving tool you use on your computer. Then browse the files in thumbnail view to find the images you want to get rid of. Make a note of their file names, then open up the other zip, locate the files in question, right click, delete em.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure if that would work for png files inside of framework-res.apk.... I would think that would cause a bootloop
It will work for the fonts folder and for any app you dont want to get altered in /system/app.
So just remove the app from the system/app folder? That's what I'm somewhat confused about.
DGalt11 said:
So just remove the app from the system/app folder? That's what I'm somewhat confused about.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you dont want a themed app to overwrite your current app, then just delete the apk file from /system/app inside of the themed zip file. Or if you dont want a themed font to overwrite ur current font, then just delete the fonts folder inside of the themed zip file.
But deleting files from inside the framework-res.apk... I doubt that would work.
Any idea how to edit the Market? It's not under system/app.
Edit: Never mind, didn't know "market" was actually vending.
removing the png specifically will cause an issue however if you have another png that you would like you use you can just replace this and it will not overwrite then.
theecho said:
removing the png specifically will cause an issue however if you have another png that you would like you use you can just replace this and it will not overwrite then.
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Click to collapse
yeah that's what I did. just copy / replace.
DGalt11 said:
yeah that's what I did. just copy / replace.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So did the install go smoothly without the M logo freeze or bootloops? I hope so.
I'm Glad others came to pick up my pieces, lol. That's why this forum is so great. To summarize for those joining the party late, just take the .png's from another theme, and replace the unwanted images with those. Don't just delete them
It's working fine, no reboots or stuck in boot loop or anything. Didn't even need to wipe data / cache.
Now if I could just figure out a way to remove the font they used from just the browser and my apps and nothing else (b/c it looks really nice in the notification bar, the menus, on the widgets, etc. but makes reading email or reading stuff in the browser really difficult) I'd be golden.
So I started removing one font at a time, nothing changed.
So I removed the whole fonts folder, and still didn't get any change in the fonts in the theme.
Ideas?
Thats exactly why I got rid of it. What good is a font that you can't read? I'm not sure if you can just remove it from the statusbar specifically.
Remember, removing them prevents it from changing the fonts that are currently installed. So if they're already different, then they'll just stay that way when you install the edited version of the theme. You're gonna need to flash to the stock theme first, then flash to another theme (like the NexTheme for example) with all the edits that you made.
I see, so those files in the fonts folder aren't actually fonts. They're more like...where the fonts you want get stored. So you need to actually replace the file.
From what I've figured out, the majority of the fonts are derived from DroidSans. If you change that, you change most of the fonts including those in the apps, widgets, etc. So is there no way to specifically change a font in, lets say, apps vs. widgets? And what are all those other files in the fonts folder for
I have no idea. I just deleted the whole folder prior to installing to ensure I kept all stock fonts.

battery mod

Hello,
I found this thread :
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=765419
and I have some questions about this :
1) Is it possible to "tweak" our framework-res.apk with this battery mod.
2) Can I use this method to "tweak my framework-res.apk : http://circle.glx.nl/
3) When I download my new framework-res.apk, how to boot on recover mode on the phone to put the framework-res.apk on the system ?
4) Do you know an other easylier method to tweak icons on the HD2 under android ?
Thanks a lot !
+1 I asked myself to but no time to seach forum
@Karlichon
What is with this batmod? Are you done with them?
karlichon said:
1) Is it possible to "tweak" our framework-res.apk with this battery mod.
2) Can I use this method to "tweak my framework-res.apk : http://circle.glx.nl/
3) When I download my new framework-res.apk, how to boot on recover mode on the phone to put the framework-res.apk on the system ?
Thanks a lot !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok I think I'll answer this, but bear with me as it's NOT easy or for the faint of heart. If you read this and you DO NOT feel comfortable I would recommend you not giving this a go.
Before you start ANY of these steps below, MAKE SURE YOU BACKUP YOUR FILES BEFORE REPLACING THEM. I WILL NOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE CAUSED FOLLOWING THESE STEPS! You have been warned.
1) Visit the website above and run through the steps to get the battery images you want. For the purposes of this tutorial/howto I am not covering how to change anything else (KISS: Keep It Simple, Stupid).
2) The easiest ones to change are the Version A-I ones, just choose which battery set would work best for you on your phone and click "Next"
3) Choose "Do not include icons" and click next. The icons it is talking about here are the signal, wifi, usb etc notification bar icons and as I mentioned I will not cover how to change those here.
4) Leave "Do not change notification status bar" selected and click next. Again I'm not covering that here.
5) You can choose a different boot anim if you want, they are very easy to upload to your phone and you can figure out where they have to be put yourself with no problems. IMPORTANT: If you do change the boot animation, make sure you choose the correct type of rom you have from the dropdown selection.
6) Upload your existing framework-res.apk (using something like DroidExplorer, navigate to /system/framework and paste it onto your desktop, then upload here). This will update the relevant files in your framework-res.apk automatically. (If you cannot obtain your existing framework-res.apk I cannot guarantee method 2 will work, sorry but feel free to try)
7) Replace your framework-res.apk (via DroidExplorer or your chosen ADB browser) on your phone and reboot. Voila!
This worked for me on shubcraft 2.0 drop mode but obviously I cannot guarantee it will work for everyone. Please remember my warnings above that this is not guranteed.
hello, thanks for your quick help, but it doesn't work for hyperdroid rom V1.7
any idea ?
karlichon said:
hello, thanks for your quick help, but it doesn't work for hyperdroid rom V1.7
any idea ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there is another far more complicated way around it, but it really does take about half an hour to work out.
Basically, you need to get your framework-res.apk and extract it with winrar or something similar (an apk is basically just a zip file) and find the folder called res/drawable-HDPI. this is where all the icons for things like your battery icons live.
Copy and paste the new icons from someone elses framework-res or even one you download from the website above into this folder and replace the drawable-HDPI folder into your framework-res.apk, replace it onto your phone and reboot.
Again, this is a quick description of a much lengthier way of doing it but it does work. Also, my disclaimer in the post I made before still stands, do this AT YOUR OWN RISK and do NOT complain to me if something breaks. If you don't fully understand, don't do anything.
I tried the kitchen method, but I receive a huge error log after uploading the framework apk
is the page currently partly down?
rafpigna said:
I tried the kitchen method, but I receive a huge error log after uploading the framework apk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It doesn't seem to work all that well with frameworks from our current modded builds. I've tried it with a rooted desire framework (from my gf's desire) and that worked. Evidently all the work that the devs do on our hd2's make them very different to other android builds. the second method I posted (adding the png's to your existing framework) works perfectly.
BlackPit666 said:
is the page currently partly down?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, seems up to me.
yes its up again
rafpigna said:
I tried the kitchen method, but I receive a huge error log after uploading the framework apk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
for me the same, desirehd revolution rom of mdj
can anybody help me?
Reno_79 said:
there is another far more complicated way around it, but it really does take about half an hour to work out.
Basically, you need to get your framework-res.apk and extract it with winrar or something similar (an apk is basically just a zip file) and find the folder called res/drawable-HDPI. this is where all the icons for things like your battery icons live.
Copy and paste the new icons from someone elses framework-res or even one you download from the website above into this folder and replace the drawable-HDPI folder into your framework-res.apk, replace it onto your phone and reboot.
Again, this is a quick description of a much lengthier way of doing it but it does work. Also, my disclaimer in the post I made before still stands, do this AT YOUR OWN RISK and do NOT complain to me if something breaks. If you don't fully understand, don't do anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
can you tell me which files i need to replace to get another battery icon? only the files which "batt" in it?
Reno_79 said:
there is another far more complicated way around it, but it really does take about half an hour to work out.
Basically, you need to get your framework-res.apk and extract it with winrar or something similar (an apk is basically just a zip file) and find the folder called res/drawable-HDPI. this is where all the icons for things like your battery icons live.
Copy and paste the new icons from someone elses framework-res or even one you download from the website above into this folder and replace the drawable-HDPI folder into your framework-res.apk, replace it onto your phone and reboot.
Again, this is a quick description of a much lengthier way of doing it but it does work. Also, my disclaimer in the post I made before still stands, do this AT YOUR OWN RISK and do NOT complain to me if something breaks. If you don't fully understand, don't do anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This method will not work with the battery icons which shows all 100% increments. This method will only work for the standard battery icons, which only involves like 12 battery icons.
In order to add the 1% increment readings in the battery, it involves modifying xml files to read and associate the correct battery icons at each increment.
can you give a tut how to add the version a manually?
nvm, I got it!

Battery mod links

Ok, So after copying 200 or so png's in the Drawable_xlarge_mdpi and the drawable_mdpi folder, I get my image mods after flashing.
But, they still only show the stock number of images, 9 or 10. Charging works ok.
So somewhere, there are some xml files I need to edit to reflect the filename additions?
Or am I missing something else?
A501 HC 3.2
Thanks guys and girls!
Battery_Charge.xml & Battery_Discharge.xml should be what your looking for.
Sent from my DROIDX using Xparent Red Tapatalk
DRTMI said:
Battery_Charge.xml & Battery_Discharge.xml should be what your looking for.
Sent from my DROIDX using Xparent Red Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I kind of figgured those were the xml files I was looking for. Problem is, I'm playing hell with de-compiling my framework-res to be able to edit the xml files.
Can't make much progress with the apktools available, even when including the dependancy apk's. So clearly I am a noob with decompiling framework-res
So my next question, is there any difference between a com gen 1 stat_battery_charge.xml; for the a500 and 501? If not, is it feasible to switch the modified xml to replace the current stock one?
here is how i mod those files as well as the icons and so on
i copy the system ui.apk to a folder on my desktop
i open it with winrar.. DO NOT EXTRACT IT.. pull out the folder containing the png files or xms you want to edit.. Just drag and drop them to another folder..
edit them to your hearts desire.
open the system.ui apk again in win rar.. drag the edited folder back into the system.ui.. push it to your tablet.. to say download folder..
then copy it to the original place it will ask you to replace say yes.. your tablet will CRASH .. REBOOT then if you edited the files corectly it will boot and show your changes.
i dont know if this is the correct way easiest way .. but IT DID WORK FOR ME.. USE AT YOUR OWN DESCRESSION..
I could send you the apktool I am using. Its the only one I have found that works worth honeycomb.
Sent from a phone.
NunHugger said:
I could send you the apktool I am using. Its the only one I have found that works worth honeycomb.
Sent from a phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would be much appreciated Just send a link, and thanks!
erica_renee said:
USE AT YOUR OWN DESCRESSION..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Erica! That's what I've been doing Actually, wanted to do some editing to the xml files itself. It's easy for png's, at they don't get compiled.
Anytime we take the first step, and install iconiaroot, we do so at our own discretion
Here's an updated apk_manager if you prefer that method.
I normally use a CWM zip since I have to reboot anyway. You can usually start with any theme zip and just make sure their updater-script copies /system to /system and just look through the zip to see what it copies, and if it looks normal, you can make the directory structure the same but copy your own over the old ones (and delete any orginal files that you won't be overwriting). i.e. it should look like:
system/app/SystemUI.apk
system/framework/framework-res.apk
system/fonts/blah.ttf
Just drag your files into the zip in the same place and use it.
And then as a precautionary measure, just do this once or any time you mess with more files (for inexperienced modders): Make a 2nd copy of that zip and call it blah-revert.zip then copy the orginal files over those modified files. Once you have both zips on the device, if anything goes wrong you can flash the revert to get back quick.

Tutorial: How to use 7zip to Theme your favorite ROM: Updated how to mod market app.

I decided to detail and share how I used 7zip to Theme my favorite ROM. Im doing this because I found it a bit tough to find a detailed guide that contained all the steps. Hope this will help some people who would just simply like to change a battery or signal icon, or whatever.
Have you ever seen a ROM that you really liked the icons but it was not for your phone. Well I did so heres what I did.
1. Download 7zip.
2. Download your current ROM, and the ROM which contains icons you like.
3. Right Click on your current ROM, choose 7zip and choose" extract to "what ever your rom is called"". This will create a folder with contents of your ROM.
4. Do the same for the ROM that you may want to take icons from.
5. Now start opening up the folders. I like to keep one ROM on one side of the screen and the other on the other side. Depending on whether the two roms are for the same phone will determine whether similar files will be in the same location. For the most part you will be opening framework_res.apk and systemui.apk.
6. Opening these apk's is as simple as following step 3 again. Right click apk, choose 7zip, extract to whatever apk is called.
7. Go into the folder of the apk, go to res, go to different hdpi folders, there may be a few. I found it helpful to have both roms open at the same time. Looking for icons of the same name.
8. So you've found the icons you want to change. Once you are ready to copy them from one rom to the other, you must be certain they have the same name, if they dont, then you must change the name of your new icons to match the ones you plan on replacing. Do this before copying them. When you copy them over its important that your computer ask you if you want to replace the file of the same name. That means it does in fact have the correct name.
9.This is where I got confused, putting it back together again. So here is what you do. Back out of the folder that you just changed all the pngs in. Lets say its drawable hdpi. Keep this drawable hdpi folder handy cause you will need it in a moment. Now open up the folder which contains your ROM in a seperate window. Lets say we are changing stuff in the systemui.apk. Navigate to the original apk for systemui, not the new folder of the same name.
10. Right click it, Choose 7zip. But this time select open archive. Now in archive navigate into the res folder and you will see drawable hdpi.
11. Right click it. and delete it. Now remember I said to keep the other drawable hdpi folder handy....drag and drop it into the archive to replace the one you just deleted. Now close the window. Do this for as many system apks you choose, most common are like I mentioned earlier framework-res and systemui, but you may want to change things in settings, dialertabactivity, contacts....etc.
12. Now you want to put these newly themed apks back into the original rom. Its easy. Keep the newly themed apks handy.
13. Right click on the original rom zip, choose 7zip, choose open archive. Navigate to the apk you want to replace. Delete it. Now drag and drop the newly themed one into the archive. Repeat this process for all the apks you may have changed.
14. Close the archive window and install the newly themed zip in cwm. You may want to add something like a V1 onto the end of the newly themed rom, that way when you copy it onto your sd, you can keep the original on there as well.
Hope this will help someone get there rom exactly how the like it...and if it did...hit thanks.
Lets say you are running cm9 with theme Chooser but you don't like some of the icons but more less like the theme.
Copy the apk from your data app folder using root explorer or whatever you are using...paste to your SD....copy it too your computer.
Use 7zip the same way you do with a system app. But this time at the point where you are in the archives delete the Meta folder also. Don't replace, just delete it. Now close 7zip.
Next you will need a tool called autosign, just Google it. With this tool you will drag and drop your newely themed apk into it and run it. Its very easy you will see, the result be an new signed apk being produced. Rename it back to original and move your modded apk back to your SD. By now you should have uninstalled the original from your phone so that you can install this one.
Remember if this apk ever has an update on the market it will revert back and you would need to mod the new version.
Hope this helps. If it does hit thanks.
vanisleryan said:
I decided to detail and share how I used 7zip to Theme my favorite ROM. Im doing this because I found it a bit tough to find a detailed guide that contained all the steps. Hope this will help some people who would just simply like to change a battery or signal icon, or whatever.
Have you ever seen a ROM that you really liked the icons but it was not for your phone. Well I did so heres what I did.
1. Download 7zip.
2. Download your current ROM, and the ROM which contains icons you like.
3. Right Click on your current ROM, choose 7zip and choose" extract to "what ever your rom is called"". This will create a folder with contents of your ROM.
4. Do the same for the ROM that you may want to take icons from.
5. Now start opening up the folders. I like to keep one ROM on one side of the screen and the other on the other side. Depending on whether the two roms are for the same phone will determine whether similar files will be in the same location. For the most part you will be opening framework_res.apk and systemui.apk.
6. Opening these apk's is as simple as following step 3 again. Right click apk, choose 7zip, extract to whatever apk is called.
7. Go into the folder of the apk, go to res, go to different hdpi folders, there may be a few. I found it helpful to have both roms open at the same time. Looking for icons of the same name.
8. So you've found the icons you want to change. Once you are ready to copy them from one rom to the other, you must be certain they have the same name, if they dont, then you must change the name of your new icons to match the ones you plan on replacing. Do this before copying them. When you copy them over its important that your computer ask you if you want to replace the file of the same name. That means it does in fact have the correct name.
9.This is where I got confused, putting it back together again. So here is what you do. Back out of the folder that you just changed all the pngs in. Lets say its drawable hdpi. Keep this drawable hdpi folder handy cause you will need it in a moment. Now open up the folder which contains your ROM in a seperate window. Lets say we are changing stuff in the systemui.apk. Navigate to the original apk for systemui, not the new folder of the same name.
10. Right click it, Choose 7zip. But this time select open archive. Now in archive navigate into the res folder and you will see drawable hdpi.
11. Right click it. and delete it. Now remember I said to keep the other drawable hdpi folder handy....drag and drop it into the archive to replace the one you just deleted. Now close the window. Do this for as many system apks you choose, most common are like I mentioned earlier framework-res and systemui, but you may want to change things in settings, dialertabactivity, contacts....etc.
12. Now you want to put these newly themed apks back into the original rom. Its easy. Keep the newly themed apks handy.
13. Right click on the original rom zip, choose 7zip, choose open archive. Navigate to the apk you want to replace. Delete it. Now drag and drop the newly themed one into the archive. Repeat this process for all the apks you may have changed.
14. Close the archive window and install the newly themed zip in cwm. You may want to add something like a V1 onto the end of the newly themed rom, that way when you copy it onto your sd, you can keep the original on there as well.
Hope this will help someone get there rom exactly how the like it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Vanisleryan for this. I always wondered exactly how to do this!
Subscribed to it and looking for more guides...
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I9000 powered by RemICS-JB
If I understand your tutorial, we modify the ROM apks/theme before flashing the whole ROM on phone ?
But what if we just want to adjust some icones without re-flashing the complete ROM ?
I may not have really understood tour tutorial I try to do my best with english language lol, anyway thanks for it
That's how I do it, but yes you could just theme one system app like say contacts. Delete it using root explore and then reinstall it after. You may have a few force closes but everything should be fine after you do a reboot.
Personally I like having the whole rom themed so its easy to get back to reinstall if go and try some other rom. To each there own..there is always more than one way to do just about anything.
JW1 with Dmore 3.1, personally themed to look like Omega black and blue.
Updated second post how to change a market app and reinstall on phone.
JW1 with Dmore 3.1, personally themed to look like Omega black and blue.

Tweak theme without computer

I don't spend lots of time at the computer, so I like to find ways to do as much as possible on the phone. One thing I've found is that every theme I try has at least one element I wish I could change, as much as I like it overall. I don't know enough to make my own theme, but I found a way to change elements of the theme without using a computer. I'm sure this is not news to many of you, but I figured there might be other non-experts like me out there who might appreciate it.
1. Download Apktool apk file below, install it, open it, {it will automatically update on the first use for some reason}, go to settings and check 'device has root', {leave other settings alone}, then close the app, reopen and grant su access.
2. Make a directory in storage somewhere called 'apktool', {or something}, and copy the following to it: /system/framework/framework-res.apk, /system/framework/SemcGenericUxpRes/SemcGenericUxpRes.apk, and whatever themes you want to mix and match.
3. Open apktool app, navigate to apktool directory, and import the framework files by tapping on each one and selecting 'import as framework'. When done, you can then tap on the theme apk files and select 'decompile all', and they will be decompiled into folders called {appname}-src. Go into the folders with a root explorer and change what you want, then go back to apktool, and tap on the folder you want and choose 'recompile'. When recompile is done you end up with an apk called '{appname}-src.apk'. Tap on that and choose 'sign'. When done you will get an apk called '{appname}-src-sign.apk, which you can install normally.
-Notes, questions-
- I'm currently using Z1c stock .236 deodexed rom. This app should work on other phones, roms, versions, etc, but I can't say for sure. What I know is that there are at least 5 versions of the app out there, {Google search for 'apktool 4.4' or '5.2', etc}, and it seems like each one works better on certain versions of Android. There are also configurable settings. If you have a different phone or rom, etc, you just have to mess around with it.
- This app should work as normal apktool for modding systemUI and framework, but I can't get it to recompile on LP, but only on Kk. Decompile works fine, but on recompile it complains about lacking resources. I don't know what file it wants. If someone can figure it out that would be great.
-If you don't know what files to change, all I can say is that I didn't either. Start with the obvious stuff, like navbar keys, and see how brave you get. Just make sure your file names are changed, since every app doesn't use the same names for the same files. As long as you work with copied files you have nothing to lose. If something is wrong with your modifications, then it won't recompile correctly, and you'll just get an error message, so you can't really install something that's going to mess up your phone.
- This also works for changing appearance of other apps, not just themes. See my recent posts in the Naked Browser thread for examples. However, sometimes it won't be able to decompile an app, and there's probably nothing you can do. I think the way apktool works is based on how the app was created. If something is not compatible, it just won't work.
- You don't have to decompile just to pull files out of an apk, but you do need an app that can do it. I use Rom Toolbox Pro. There may be free ones, {maybe Mixplorer}. I think you can just change the extension to zip and extract normally. However, some files and folders are not the same zipped in the apk as they are when decompiled.
File link - https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5E7sFT1phjoS003R0tkM21qUlk/view?usp=docslist_api
Nice tutorial bro :good:
Thank you very much!
Sent from my D5503 using XDA Free mobile app
Since sharing themes with others' work is not kosher, (http://forum.xda-developers.com/crossdevice-dev/sony/share-frankentheme-t3282360), I figured I'd add a little more here for anyone's personal use. In general, here's what I've found with these themes:
- Within each apk there is an 'assets' folder, which contains zip files. Each zip file mods a certain aspect of the ui. For example, there will be one for settings, which contains the little pictures next to each settings option, (personalization, with the little rainbow, etc). You can experiment with simply swapping these around with different themes. However, if you want to add a settings zip, for example, to a theme base that does not already have a settings zip in it, you have to mod the main android manifest file in the top level of the apk. If you want to see how it needs to be modded, look at one that has it already. It's pretty obvious, since it's the same entry for each zip, but with the corresponding zip name. You can also extract these zips and replace files in them and rezip. Keep in mind, though, that there are some things that aren't that simple and just won't work.
- There are some things that are coded in, and can't be changed, (as far as I can figure out), like accent color. It seems like accent color just comes with the 'android' zip, and there's nothing you can do about it. As a workaround, you can find an 'android' zip with a color you like, and change out the other files from the zip you wish you could change the accent on. Again, sometimes it just won't work and you won't know why.
- Some themes don't follow this pattern at all. I haven't learned much about them yet.
Screenshots show examples I've used...

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