Help Changing Appearances

[bs123]

Hello,

I have a Samsung Galaxy S4 Android phone that I was quite happy with until downloading a system update today. I hadn't downloaded one before because it always required too much memory, but I figured it'd been long enough that I'd better do it.

However, installing the update changed appearances. My keyboard was grey with white letters before, now it's white with black letters, and the pre-installed app icons are all flat and ugly looking, and the apps themselves (like the alarm clock) are a lot less colorful and are more like ugly white menus.

So far, I've been unable to find a way to reset appearances to my preferences short of a factory reset, which I don't want to do. Can anyone give me advice?

 

[Lordvincent 90]

What you're seeing is Google's Material Design

https://www.google.com/design/spec/material-design/introduction.html

Unfortunately, a factory reset will not undo the update. Literally all a factory reset will do is erase your user apps and personal data.

Fortunately there are some things you can do to change things to fit your liking.

1)a custom launcher
Your launcher is your home screen. There are several replacement launcher available via Google Play. A few of the more popular ones are Nova Launcher, ADW Launcher and Apex Launcher. These launchers have options to install themes which can change the way your icons look and tons of other ways your can customize the look and feel of your phone

2)a replacement keyboard

There are also several replacement keyboards, most of which can be themed. I've heard nothing but good things about Swiftkey Keyboard. It's fairly customizable and easy to use

 

[glc]

A factory reset will not restore your old system.
It will erase all your downloaded apps and data and leave you with a factory fresh version of your new system.