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Root Themers/devs

mrast

mrast

Well-Known Member
I just wanted to let the devs/Themers know, I have a brand new respect for you. I am either an idiot(my employer and bank account would suggest otherwise) or it really is hard to do. I have been trying to theme 3 different apps and it is a major pain in the....!
My hats off to all of you. Truly you are all geniuses with software.
Thank you all for putting in such a great effort.
 
mrast said:
I just wanted to let the devs/Themers know, I have a brand new respect for you. I am either an idiot(my employer and bank account would suggest otherwise) or it really is hard to do. I have been trying to theme 3 different apps and it is a major pain in the....!
My hats off to all of you. Truly you are all geniuses with software.
Thank you all for putting in such a great effort.
Click to expand...

Need some help? Lol what app are you mess in with?
 
KrazeeCracker said:
Need some help? Lol what app are you mess in with?
Click to expand...

Root explorer, gmail, ics messaging pro, Rescan sd, and data enabler.
I can't seem to get them to recompile with apk multitool. Any help would be appreciated.
IM just trying to make them the same black and ics blue as drifta's LD-ick
 
mrast said:
Root explorer, gmail, ics messaging pro, Rescan sd, and data enabler.
I can't seem to get them to recompile with apk multitool. Any help would be appreciated.
IM just trying to make them the same black and ics blue as drifta's LD-ick
Click to expand...
well if your only replacing images you dont need to de/recompile, just use a program like 7zip to manually push & pull your edited images to replace the stock image.. but if your trying to edit xml files it's a whole new world.. my first suggestion would be to use apktool, very simplistic and works 99% of the time, you just open the terminal, get to the apktool directory and begin typing :D, can find more useful information in my theming guide found in 'all things root guide' sticky thread ;)
 
ldrifta said:
well if your only replacing images you dont need to de/recompile, just use a program like 7zip to manually push & pull your edited images to replace the stock image.. but if your trying to edit xml files it's a whole new world.. my first suggestion would be to use apktool, very simplistic and works 99% of the time, you just open the terminal, get to the apktool directory and begin typing :D, can find more useful information in my theming guide found in 'all things root guide' sticky thread ;)
Click to expand...

Well..damn. I decompiled about 12 different apps. Will that hurt the process or should I just start over? Oh and I just used a sweet little dolphin program to turn you tutorial into a pdf so I can reference it on my 7 year old Toshiba tablet PC. editing all of these png's homes me a reason to finally use the pen that came with it! :)
Thanks LD.

edit: ok here is a problem I have run into and it isn't in your guide.
I am editing this png but when I go to bucket fill/pencil/brush in the blue color it only paints grey no matter what color I pick. I also checked out the gimp forum but found nothing
Any clues?
 

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mrast said:
Well..damn. I decompiled about 12 different apps. Will that hurt the process or should I just start over? Oh and I just used a sweet little dolphin program to turn you tutorial into a pdf so I can reference it on my 7 year old Toshiba tablet PC. editing all of these png's homes me a reason to finally use the pen that came with it! :)
Thanks LD.

And kracker for taking interest aswell
Click to expand...


Yeah it you replace a PNG after you have decompiled it, you will get an error every time when you recompile.

The trick is to decompile, make your XML or Smali edits. Recompile. Then add your PNG's with 7zip. ;)
 
Fuzzy13 said:
Yeah it you replace a PNG after you have decompiled it, you will get an error every time when you recompile.

The trick is to decompile, make your XML or Smali edits. Recompile. Then add your PNG's with 7zip. ;)
Click to expand...

I don't even know what a smali is!haha. I mean, I know what it is but I wouldn't know the first thing about editing it though. I'll keep it simple and use the 7zip method for now but I greatly appreciate the info. Maybe one of these days I'll learn how to do that :)
 
mrast said:
Well..damn. I decompiled about 12 different apps. Will that hurt the process or should I just start over? Oh and I just used a sweet little dolphin program to turn you tutorial into a pdf so I can reference it on my 7 year old Toshiba tablet PC. editing all of these png's homes me a reason to finally use the pen that came with it! :)
Thanks LD.

edit: ok here is a problem I have run into and it isn't in your guide.
I am editing this png but when I go to bucket fill/pencil/brush in the blue color it only paints grey no matter what color I pick. I also checked out the gimp forum but found nothing
Any clues?
Click to expand...
well those are probly .9 patch images..

in gimp there is an option on topbar menu somewhere that refers to the color code of the image, select RGB and you should be able to edit it just fine, only thing is i dont know how to re-apply the .9 patch.. so if you ever de/recompile that apk in the future remember to replace your edited image with a copy of stock image before hand..
 
ldrifta said:
well those are probly .9 patch images..

in gimp there is an option on topbar menu somewhere that refers to the color code of the image, select RGB and you should be able to edit it just fine, only thing is i dont know how to re-apply the .9 patch.. so if you ever de/recompile that apk in the future remember to replace your edited image with a copy of stock image before hand..
Click to expand...


Gotcha, found the RGB, worked like a charm. IM assuming those are greyscale png's.
Thanks alot. That just made things alot easier
 
Thanks to you guys I modded my first app. I am unbelievably grateful. if you want to check it out let me know :)
 
All I did was change the icon. Like I said.. Simple. But its the beginning of a while new love affair for me
 
Yeah it isn't an easy task. That's why I don't ask for more lol. Im happy with all the themes and roms we have. I blame this (lovely) community for making me addicted to flashing. :P Great job guys, Kiu!
 
Thanks but if that ABC thread is how people react to new Themers/modders then I'll keep most of it to myself. IM glad you liked it though. I'll pm you some more when I get them done if you want?
 
mrast said:
Thanks but if that ABC thread is how people react to new Themers/modders then I'll keep most of it to myself. IM glad you liked it though. I'll pm you some more when I get them done if you want?
Click to expand...
i like the app to man yea keep throwin em ! ;)
 
Ok I got a few questions for the experts.. or knowledgeable noobs ;) Basically a diving into theming mission..

Ok, I'm wanting to theme some of the apps icons i use alot for #2 rom for starters.. (basically just greyscale/tweak em to match in the app drawer / homescreen better..) i'm guessing i can just yank the png from the apk and replace it with 7zip.. know i can push the new apk through cwm (to make it user friendly) but my questions/concerns are:

1 - will the new apk automagically just work being pushed to the data/app dir (think thats the right directory, long day)

2 - is there a way through cwm to modify an apk (just overwrite the existing icon) reason i ask that one is some apps are constantly being updated and i don't want to go through it every week (ie GoSMS, etc)

Thanks guys.. I appreciate the help..

and to mrast, don't let that thread discourage ya.. not trying to rehash anything or put my beliefs / thoughts / religion / personal views etc on that out there but you can NEVER make everyone happy 100% of the time.. if it looks good and people want it they will download it :cool: take it as a grain of salt, not personal.. hell i think some of the themes are fugly but i'd never say that cause someone took their time to make it and they like it and are willing to share .. android and this community give us the option to make our phone our own.. anyways.. ;)
 
travioso said:
Ok I got a few questions for the experts.. or knowledgeable noobs ;) Basically a diving into theming mission..

Ok, I'm wanting to theme some of the apps icons i use alot for #2 rom for starters.. (basically just greyscale/tweak em to match in the app drawer / homescreen better..) i'm guessing i can just yank the png from the apk and replace it with 7zip.. know i can push the new apk through cwm (to make it user friendly) but my questions/concerns are:

1 - will the new apk automagically just work being pushed to the data/app dir (think thats the right directory, long day)

2 - is there a way through cwm to modify an apk (just overwrite the existing icon) reason i ask that one is some apps are constantly being updated and i don't want to go through it every week (ie GoSMS, etc)

Thanks guys.. I appreciate the help..

and to mrast, don't let that thread discourage ya.. not trying to rehash anything or put my beliefs / thoughts / religion / personal views etc on that out there but you can NEVER make everyone happy 100% of the time.. if it looks good and people want it they will download it :cool: take it as a grain of salt, not personal.. hell i think some of the themes are fugly but i'd never say that cause someone took their time to make it and they like it and are willing to share .. android and this community give us the option to make our phone our own.. anyways.. ;)
Click to expand...

As far as it automatically working.. I extracted my apk with 7zip, edited the png's and re-zipped them and just put it on my sd card. I had to uninstall the original before installing the new on but it wasn't a system app. That is probably a different process.
And thanks
 
mrast said:
As far as it automatically working.. I extracted my apk with 7zip, edited the png's and re-zipped them and just put it on my sd card. I had to uninstall the original before installing the new on but it wasn't a system app. That is probably a different process.
And thanks
Click to expand...

Ya.. I ran into that problem trying to make the new Swype beta flash able.. it installed to user apps when it installed but didn't like when I pushed the libs etc to system app.. it ended up fc'n the stock LG keyboard until I switched it to Swype.. it was one or the other.. if ididn't push the libs Swype would fc.. I gave up lol.. thanks for the advice regardless..
 
travioso said:
Ya.. I ran into that problem trying to make the new Swype beta flash able.. it installed to user apps when it installed but didn't like when I pushed the libs etc to system app.. it ended up fc'n the stock LG keyboard until I switched it to Swype.. it was one or the other.. if ididn't push the libs Swype would fc.. I gave up lol.. thanks for the advice regardless..
Click to expand...

I didn't do any of that but my Swype works perfectly. I just copy and pasted to system/apps and rebooted. Here is a shot off mine
 

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mrast said:
I didn't do any of that but my Swype works perfectly. I just copy and pasted to system/apps and rebooted. Here is a shot off mine
Click to expand...

What all did you copy and paste? That's the beta right? I'm on 1.0.3.5809 (it's under under preferences at the bottom..) It looks awesome btw..
 
Wait.. when I download a themed swype all I do is just install it like a regular app and it works. No FC's on both swype and the lg keyboard.
 
I copy and pasted the themed Swype apk. That's it.
To Mex.. I just wanted it as a system app to replace the lg keyboard

Oh and I didn't make this Swype theme by the way.
 
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