• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Android Phone 7 Theme

cyaiphone said:
Ok I'm getting really irritated with something about these icons and i'm hoping someone can help me.

Every time i turn my phone off, my icons don't load when i turn the phone back on. The widgets still load but the actual icon is not there. i have the default desktop visualizor android with a question mark. If i press on it, it still launches the app. What is causing my icons not to reappear after turning phone off? :confused::confused:
Click to expand...

Where are your images stored? On the phone or on an sd card ? I had a bad sd card that gave me that problem once .
 
kkoff said:
Here is my present homescreens:





Uploaded with ImageShack.us

I made paulmz blue android7 widgets to fit and lineout perfectly without notifications bar, i would share them but i don't know how to do it (i'm not familiar with this forum yet, this post is also a test so don't be angry if it's all wrong).

Something also mentionable is that tiny little arrow on the screen actually works, it changes the screen to the next screen thanks to LauncherPro Plus.


Kind of bored already to these ones so I'm making something different:



Still working on it, screen 480x800 HTC Desire Z: 5 columns, 8 rows. I will share some more information when it's done.
Click to expand...


Could you share those icons? They look great. =D
 
who wants to help a cute girl figure out how the hell to do this, step by step. i'm worried i'm going to mess something up, but this would be a TOTAL accomplishment for me if I could get it to work!

Arrrrrrr.
 
cyaiphone said:
Ok I'm getting really irritated with something about these icons and i'm hoping someone can help me.

Every time i turn my phone off, my icons don't load when i turn the phone back on. The widgets still load but the actual icon is not there. i have the default desktop visualizor android with a question mark. If i press on it, it still launches the app. What is causing my icons not to reappear after turning phone off? :confused::confused:
Click to expand...

Okay...

First- I store my icons in a folder (named "Android7 Widgets") on my phone memory in the "emmc" folder. I don't have problems at all.

Second- If you do lose your widgets, open Desktop Visualizer through the app drawer, press [Menu]-> [Refresh Widgets], and that should fix it.

Third- Why do you need to turn off/on your phone so much?
 
torpillage said:
who wants to help a cute girl figure out how the hell to do this, step by step. i'm worried i'm going to mess something up, but this would be a TOTAL accomplishment for me if I could get it to work!

Arrrrrrr.
Click to expand...

torpillage,

Well, I would hope that Post-1, which I wrote, sufficiently describes the process to create this theme. There really is nothing to mess up. Alternative launchers are easy, the images are just widgets, and the most difficult part could be if you want to create your own images but have little or no experience with image editing software.

But, please, read through the first post and then let us know if you have any questions.

How cute are we talkin', anyway?
 
paulmz said:

by Paul M. Zahorosky of JerseyBoy Design

Greetings and welcome to my tutorial on how to create a "Windows Phone 7" style "theme" on an Android device. This is not an exact copy of the Windows UI, but rather a new graphical interface for my phone greatly inspired by the image icons of the prototype Windows Phone 7 (as seen on XDA) and the "Living Tiles" of the actual Windows Phone 7.

[COLOR="Red"]NOTE: Be sure to scroll through this entire first post (it's getting kind of long) for new and updated information. There are already dozens of icons and files to download and information for other devices will be added as needed or requested.[/COLOR]

[COLOR="Red"]ANOTHER NOTE: The only rule of this thread is the size of images posted. Please keep images to 750-pixels or less - otherwise the thread "stretches" wide and people have to scroll horizontally to read the post! Thanks.[/COLOR]

This was completed on an unrooted HTC DROID Incredible running LauncherPro Plus.




Uploaded with ImageShack.us

All of the image widgets are placed using Desktop Visualizer. Other tutorials on this type of theme call for using LauncherPro Plus to "resize" the widgets, but this creates irregular spacing between them. My solution to this problem is to start with the correct pixel dimensions for the images. This way they place at exactly the right size and all widgets are spaced perfectly (approximately 10-pixels, depending on the device).

Before you start placing widgets on the homescreen:

1. Make a blank (preferably black) wallpaper to go behind the widgets.
2. Assure that "Auto-Fit Items" option is selected in the LauncherPro settings.
Click here for examples plus a "why-and-how" to make this adjustment.
3. Change the number of rows to 5 by pressing: [MENU]->[Preferences]->[Homescreen Settings]->[Number of rows]->[5]. Do not adjust the "5 Icon rows in homescreen" setting under "Advanced Settings".

[COLOR="Red"]About the images:
[/COLOR]I created all of the icons from scratch myself using images from my personal photo collection, Google image searches, and Stock Exchange (stock.xchng - the leading free stock photography site). All images were resized by cropping in Photoshop (This post shows the process: Image Resizing Using Photoshop). Also using Photoshop, I added a 36-pixel high black rectangle with a 60% transparency and the white text with a small drop shadow (This post shows the process: Creating Image Labels in Photoshop). Use the "Save For Web" function under "File" and save the image as a .png file. Once completed, copy the .png files onto the phone (I put them in a "Widget Icon Images" folder in the /mnt/emmc folder).

[COLOR="Red"]How to get the images as a widget:
[/COLOR]1. Make sure the .png image files are on the phone.
2. Add a new widget to the homescreen (long-press empty space, select "Widgets" from pop-up).
3. Go to "Desktop Visualizer" and press the correct widget size (listed as width x height).
4. Press "Select Icon".
5. Press "Image File".
6. Search for and select your image (I use Astro File Manager for this as it shows a thumbnail and filename).
7. Press "Select Action".
8. Press either "Launch Application" and select application,
....-or- press "Other" to select a shortcut.
....NOTE: If you select "Other", "Activities", you can have widget trigger certain parts of
....certain apps (ie. go straight to "Alarm Clock" without having to go through "Clock").
....ANOTHER NOTE: If you select "None", it will be only an image widget that does nothing.
9. Press the "Clear" button to delete all text in the "Label" box (If you leave the app name or type something in this box, it will show the label on top of the widget..
10. Press "OK".




Voila! You just created a widget with a custom image.
[COLOR="Red"]Also... No LauncherPro widget resizing is necessary!
[/COLOR]
For those who need a little help figuring out image sizes for the Desktop Visualizer widgets, the following list is based on LauncherPro's homescreen arrangement of 4-columns and 5-rows:

[COLOR="Red"]1x1: 110 x 125
1x2: 110 x 260
1x3: 110 x 395
1x4: 110 x 530
2x1: 230 x 125
2x2: 230 x 260
3x1: 350 x 125
3x3: 350 x 395
4x1: 470 x 125
4x4: 470 x 530[/COLOR]

All dimensions are in pixels, width by height for a device with a resolution of 480 x 800.
Image dimensions for other devices are listed in links below.

When resizing images in Photoshop, I just used the "crop" tool, set the specific dimensions and ppi (I used 72) in the options box, then added the black rectangle and text.

[COLOR="Red"]Android7 "Tile" Widgets:
[/COLOR]Now, I'm a graphics guy - not a code guy... so it took me a while to figure out how to make some "Living Tile" type widgets. Thanks to mykela25 for posting that she was "making custom unread count widgets". I asked her "how?" and she told me about APK Manager, which can "take apart" an app and allow for changing the image files for backgrounds, icons, etc. After a lot of trial and error I came up with some good, solid widgets that fit the style of this theme.

Hopefully this helps to create an awesome and unique layout.


[SIZE="5"][COLOR="Red"]EASY LINKS TO POSTS THROUGHOUT THIS THREAD
[/COLOR][/SIZE]

Android7 Widgets for 480x800 Resolution (Solid color "Living Tile" type widgets)

Android7 Widgets for 480x854 Resolution (resized by Curt941)

Android7 Widgets for 320x480 Resolution

[COLOR="red"]Desktop Visualizer Widget Image Dimensions
[/COLOR]Direct links to every post in this thread that include pixel dimensions for proper alignment using Desktop Visualizer (updated 11/10/10):

HTC Incredible Desktop Visualizer Widget Image Dimensions With Notification Bar Hiding (480x800)
DroidX Desktop Visualizer Widget Image Dimensions (480x854)
HTC Eris Desktop Visualizer Image Dimensions (320x480)

[COLOR="red"]Desktop Visualizer Widget Images
[/COLOR]Direct links to every post in this thread that include images for download (updated 12/19/10):

NEW! Revised Android7 Icons by Paul M. Zahorosky of JerseyBoy Design (480x800) with new font to match Android7 Widgets.
Incredible Android 7 Icons by Paul M. Zahorosky of JerseyBoy Design (480x800) - Part 1
Incredible Android 7 Icons by Paul M. Zahorosky of JerseyBoy Design (480x800) - Part 2
Incredible Android 7 Icons by Paul M. Zahorosky of JerseyBoy Design (480x800) - Part 3
Incredible Android 7 Stock Market Icons by Paul M. Zahorosky of JerseyBoy Design (480x800)
Incredible Android 7 "Games" Icons by Paul M. Zahorosky of JerseyBoy Design (480x800)
Incredible Android 7 "Mail" Icons by Paul M. Zahorosky of JerseyBoy Design (480x800)
Incredible Android 7 Desktop Visualizer Icons by Krze RESIZED (480x800)
Incredible Android 7 Icons by Excedio (480x800)
Android 7 Icons by djbucksta (480x800)
Android 7 "Teeter" Icon by djbucksta (480x800)
Android 7 Icons by BlondeeLox (480x800)
Android 7 Icon ImageShack Album by BlondeeLox (480x800)
HTC Eris Android 7 Desktop Visualizer Icons by Paul M. Zahorosky of JerseyBoy Deisign (320x480)
HTC Eris Android 7 "1950's Style" Icons by Paul M. Zahorosky of JerseyBoy Design (320x480)
DroidX Android 7 Icons by Paul M. Zahorosky of JerseyBoy Design (480x854) - Part 1
DroidX Android 7 Icons by Paul M. Zahorosky of JerseyBoy Design (480x854) - Part 2
Incredible/EVO Android 7 Icons by dingopb
New Expanded DroidX Android 7 Icons

Images Only For Android 7 Theme Icons - Pre-Sized and Cropped Without Labels

Android 7 Theme Desktop Visualizer Icon Libraries - ZIP files of all icons in this thread!

[COLOR="Red"]Desktop Visualizer Widget Image Photoshop/GIMP Templates[/COLOR]
Attached files for easy download with every Desktop Visualizer widget dimension in a complete "blank slate" - ready for your images to be added (updated 11/10/10):

View attachment 12477 - DroidX Desktop Visualizer Photoshop Templates
View attachment 12904 - Incredible Desktop Visualizer Photoshop Templates
HTC Incredible Desktop Visualizer GIMP Templates by Excedio
View attachment 12734 - Dock Icons by paulmz @ JerseyBoy Design

[COLOR="Red"]Other useful posts:[/COLOR]
Direct links to other posts in this thread that have been particularly useful in completing this project (updated 11/10/10):

Assign Desktop Visualizer Widget as a Direct Dial or Direct Message
UPDATE: Enable LauncherPro Auto-Fit Option for Android 7 Theme
Desktop Visualizer Update v. 1.1.1 Image Quality Setting
Image Resizing Using Photoshop
Image Resizing Using GIMP
Creating Image Labels in Photoshop
How to take screenshots of your Android based phone from Windows


Here are the links to the xda-developers posts for the original idea:
[Layout] Android Phone 7 (MDPI) - xda-developers
[Layout] Android Phone 7 (HDPI) - xda-developers

And, finally...

This "theme" has been a lot of hard work.
If you like what I have done and feel compelled to show your gratitude monetarily I accept donations through PayPal:

Thank you to everyone who helped, contributed, and followed this theme.
Click to expand...


Thats how you do it.
 
Finally my Android Phone homescreens are done. This is really hard work as I'm just trying to learn how to use Photoshop. All ideas are "borrowed" from this thread, thanks to all and specially for paulmz for all the hard work on this thread. Feel free to comment.










PS. I'm still in need of icons for games, any idea where to get small white icons for games?
 
  • Like
Reactions: ku_
kkoff said:
Finally my Android Phone homescreens are done. This is really hard work as I'm just trying to learn how to use Photoshop. All ideas are "borrowed" from this thread, thanks to all and specially for paulmz for all the hard work on this thread. Feel free to comment.
Click to expand...

Looks good. Thanks for posting!

kkoff said:
PS. I'm still in need of icons for games, any idea where to get small white icons for games?
Click to expand...

I have been looking myself. Where did you get the icons that you're using already?
 
Been away from the board for a few minutes, and i come back to find such great looking new screens.
It realy inspires one to do better.
I've been messing around with my screens a bit, but nothing worth showing.
I do have a small question in regards to moding APK files with the alternate artwork, as done by the Paul and others.

Other than the info on XDA, does anyone know how to do it, or have a "for dummies" write up to point me to?
thanks, and to everyone here, keep up the great work.
 
paulmz said:
Okay everyone... here is what I have for "Android Phone 7 Tile Widgets":



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

So far I only have the blue widgets finished, but red and green ones will follow. These widgets may also only line up perfectly on phones with a resolution of 480x800 (Incredible, etc.).

Here's the link to download the APKs:

Android7 Widgets - Blue - 480x800

Android7 Widgets - Green - 480x800

Android7 Widgets - Red - 480x800

Android7 Widgets - Blue - 320x480 (SMS Unread Count only)

Copy them onto your phone and install them using a file manager (I use Astro).

All of the widgets work (at least on my device) with notification badges on the "Phone", "Message" and "Gmail" widgets (sorry, I can't change the badge shape or color and I can't change this app from linking to the newest email instead of just going to the Inbox) as well as changing icons on the switches.

NOTE: I did not write the apps for these widgets.
The notification widgets are skinned SMS Unread Count widgets by "kanokgems".
The hotspot switch widget is Hotspot Toggle by Mehdy Bohlool.
The other switches are all CurveFish toggles.
And the battery widget is BatStat Battery Widget by Martin Eder.

If you have any other ideas for skinning 1x1, 2x1, or 1x2 widgets available for free on the Market, let me know. CurveFish toggles are pretty accomodating for reskinning, but I don't have a personal need for all of them. Also, if anyone knows of another good notifier widget for SMS, Gmail, etc., let me know.

I only reskinned the widgets. If you have any problems with these widgets, please try to download the original version for troubleshooting or contact the developer of that app.

Also, special thanks to mykela25 for turning me on to APK Manager, which made it possible to "take apart" the apps and change the images for the backgrounds, icons, etc.

Finally... this theme has been a lot of hard work...
If you like what I have done and feel compelled to show your gratitude I accept donations through PayPal:

Thank you, everyone, for following and contributing to this theme.

NOTE: Soon I will post new widget images with an updated font that matches the new Android7 Widgets.
Click to expand...
Hi,
Sorry but I am very new to all this. How do you install APKs?

Thanks!
 
dingopb said:
Been away from the board for a few minutes, and i come back to find such great looking new screens.
It realy inspires one to do better.
I've been messing around with my screens a bit, but nothing worth showing.
I do have a small question in regards to moding APK files with the alternate artwork, as done by the Paul and others.

Other than the info on XDA, does anyone know how to do it, or have a "for dummies" write up to point me to?
thanks, and to everyone here, keep up the great work.
Click to expand...

First, I assume you were at the XDA thread for APK Manager and followed all of the instructions for installing and using the program. Here's what I do when reskinning widgets:

1. I personally use App Control - Free App to make a backup of the app I want to change.

2. Copy the backup (saved on SD in "backups"-> "apps") to the computer in the "place-apk-here-for-modding" folder for APKManager.

3. Open APKManager and press "22"-> "Enter" to bring up a list of apk's in the "modding" folder.

4. Select the number of the apk you want to modify.

5. Press "1"-> "Enter" to decompile the apk, which saves it in the "projects" folder.

6. Change the respective png's (usually in the "res"-> "drawable" subfolders- make sure you keep them as the same exact filename).

7. Press "3"-> "Enter" and then "2" (regular) to zip the apk.

8. Press "4"-> "Enter" to sign the apk.

9. Copy the signed apk (in the "place-apk-here-for-modding" folder- it will have the same name as the original apk but start with "signed") onto the phone and install.

I think I got all of the steps. Hope this helps!
 
Rj417 said:
Hi,
Sorry but I am very new to all this. How do you install APKs?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

I personally use Atro File Manager - Free App. There may be other ways, but this is how I install apk's:

1. Copy the apk on the device (I put mine on the SD in a folder called "downloaded apks").

2. Open "Astro" and navigate to the folder where you copied the apk.

3. Press on the apk you want to install.

4. Press "Install" (or press "Uninstall" if the original app is still installed and then press "Install" to install the new version).

5. Follow the prompts to install as normal.

Hope this helps!
 
Thanks a lot paulmz, great effort, i got my W7 screen ready & i love it, but there are no live tiles as of yet here, how do you make one of those?
 
Thanks Paul!!!!
As always, you are a gentleman and a schollar!


paulmz said:
First, I assume you were at the XDA thread for APK Manager and followed all of the instructions for installing and using the program. Here's what I do when reskinning widgets:

1. I personally use App Control - Free App to make a backup of the app I want to change.

2. Copy the backup (saved on SD in "backups"-> "apps") to the computer in the "place-apk-here-for-modding" folder for APKManager.

3. Open APKManager and press "22"-> "Enter" to bring up a list of apk's in the "modding" folder.

4. Select the number of the apk you want to modify.

5. Press "1"-> "Enter" to decompile the apk, which saves it in the "projects" folder.

6. Change the respective png's (usually in the "res"-> "drawable" subfolders- make sure you keep them as the same exact filename).

7. Press "3"-> "Enter" and then "2" (regular) to zip the apk.

8. Press "4"-> "Enter" to sign the apk.

9. Copy the signed apk (in the "place-apk-here-for-modding" folder- it will have the same name as the original apk but start with "signed") onto the phone and install.

I think I got all of the steps. Hope this helps!
Click to expand...
 
Let me start by saying"great Job!!"
your setup is realy good.

My questions are :
  1. how do you get a diffrent background on each screen
  2. how did you make or get the directional arrowa to function?
  3. are you using App Launcher?
Thanks inadvanced for any info you may share.

kkoff said:
Finally my Android Phone homescreens are done. This is really hard work as I'm just trying to learn how to use Photoshop. All ideas are "borrowed" from this thread, thanks to all and specially for paulmz for all the hard work on this thread. Feel free to comment.










PS. I'm still in need of icons for games, any idea where to get small white icons for games?
Click to expand...
 
pranayj said:
Thanks a lot paulmz, great effort, i got my W7 screen ready & i love it, but there are no live tiles as of yet here, how do you make one of those?
Click to expand...

There are no and probably will not be "living" tiles for this theme unless someone else writes an app for it.
The closest thing we have are reskinned widgets as shown and linked in Post 1:



Information and downloads for these "tiles" are here:

Android7 Widgets - 480x800 and 320x480 Resolutions

Android7 Widgets - 480x854 Resolution

Other than that, you could try some launchers from the Market that are copying the actual Windows Phone 7 UI:

Launcher 7

Metro UI Lite
 
dingopb said:
Let me start by saying"great Job!!"
your setup is realy good.

My questions are :
  1. how do you get a diffrent background on each screen
  2. how did you make or get the directional arrowa to function?
  3. are you using App Launcher?
Thanks inadvanced for any info you may share.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the compliments, that is my first ever home made setup. :)

1. Multipicture Live Wallpaper will do the job. MultiPicture Live Wallpaper for Android | AppBrain.com

Be aware that it is a live-wallpaper and it may effect on your phone's performance, at least it did on my phone as it bites a lot of memory when active.

2. I didn't want to do it from the scratch so I just took a picture of a WP7 phone's homescreen and made it from the picture with Photoshop. Just like this picture: Windows Phone 7 Series Requires 800×480, HTC HD2 Users Still Hoping

Here are the arrows if needed: Windows-nuoli_pieni_vasen.pngWindows-nuoli_pieni_oikea.png


Edit: Aah, I totally misundestood your question. The answer for making the directional button to function is LauncherPro shortcut tool. You can make your own shortcuts with this tool: LauncherPro Shortcut Maker

Some additional information needed can be found from here: LauncherPro Forum • View topic - Share your custom LauncherPro Shortcut files!

3. LauncherPro Plus is my recent Home Launcher. AppBrain Android market | LauncherPro

I also have AWDLauncher EX and GO Launcher EX, but I think the LP is the most suitable for my use as it has the best tools for modifying homescreens.

And for to mention, I have set my homescreen to 5 columns and 8 rows so the images are not suitable with 4 columns and 5 rows setup. Also to make the 5/8 setup you must have LauncherPro. I can share the images for widgets if you want as soon as I get them organized and ready for sharing. Just let me know if it you need the images.
 
kkoff said:
Thanks for the compliments, that is my first ever home made setup. :)

1. Multipicture Live Wallpaper will do the job. MultiPicture Live Wallpaper for Android | AppBrain.com

Be aware that it is a live-wallpaper and it may effect on your phone's performance, at least it did on my phone as it bites a lot of memory when active.

2. I didn't want to do it from the scratch so I just took a picture of a WP7 phone's homescreen and made it from the picture with Photoshop. Just like this picture: Windows Phone 7 Series Requires 800×480, HTC HD2 Users Still Hoping

Here are the arrows if needed: View attachment 16466View attachment 16467


Edit: Aah, I totally misundestood your question. The answer for making the directional button to function is LauncherPro shortcut tool. You can make your own shortcuts with this tool: LauncherPro Shortcut Maker

Some additional information needed can be found from here: LauncherPro Forum • View topic - Share your custom LauncherPro Shortcut files!

3. LauncherPro Plus is my recent Home Launcher. AppBrain Android market | LauncherPro

I also have AWDLauncher EX and GO Launcher EX, but I think the LP is the most suitable for my use as it has the best tools for modifying homescreens.

And for to mention, I have set my homescreen to 5 columns and 8 rows so the images are not suitable with 4 columns and 5 rows setup. Also to make the 5/8 setup you must have LauncherPro. I can share the images for widgets if you want as soon as I get them organized and ready for sharing. Just let me know if it you need the images.
Click to expand...

For mentioning the launcherpro shortcuts, it has inspired me to finally learn how to make them.......now I got that accomplished, thank you!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom