Hey guys im not a developer but i am a freelance Graphic Designer just a little curious about developing making an app cutom for myself.. I have eclips installed and the Android SDK but it wont open any .apk so i can view the file and edit it. Can anyomne help me with this or point me in the right direction?
.apk is the same format as .zip. just open in 7zip (pc) or betterzip (mac). in the folder called res, there are a bunch of subfolders. edit any of the .png files in any folder that has something to do with drawable. if you edit a .9.png, make sure to redraw the patch.
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I am very interested in theming and I downloaded all the recommended software/programs mentioned in the theming threads...
However I can NOT find the answer to my question---
once I have everything I need to edit/create a theme how do I actually begin?
What I mean is, for example, if you want to edit a .PSD file you would open Photoshop to edit the file....
so which program do I use first to open the theme I plan to edit? and is there a "stock" theme to edit as I like or would I download...say...the Evo stock ROM and edit the files in there?
I think I read I should begin with 7z? is this right?
All I've found so far is alot of technical explanations for someone who has experience...once I find out the basics I'm sure it will all fall into place...
if there IS an easy answer posted can someone PLEASE point me in the right direction?
Thanks.
*EDIT*
I was double-clicking on framework-res.apk (following instructions) which was why it wasn't working...once I extracted the file using 7zip all the drawable files were there...I had NO IDEA there were THIS many .png images to edit...lord have mercy...this is gonna be FUN.
If u use a program called apk manager u can put an apk in the and decompile the apk. That mean it opens up the resources.arcs and the classes.dex files and also turns the bianry XML files to readable XML. Meaning u can use this to edit XML and smali files to change colors(mostly in xml files) and also rearange things if u know how to edit smali files. The decompiling also show u all the pngs and the .9 PNG files. The .9 PNG files here will already be showing there draw 9 edit so all u really have to do is edit the image leaving the very edges alone and ur done. Then once all ur edits are done u can recompile the apk and push it back to ur phone. U might have to resign the apk or however u want but there is an easy way to get started. The framework apk is a system apk so u might have to select the correct way to decompile it.
Hope this helps.
See other tutorials on how to create flashable zips and how to edit smali files and XML files.
Usually codes in XML files for colors are set in an eight digit code that cool look like this...ff000000(black) or this ffffffff(white). If u good XML color codes u can find many sites that give show u colors and there codes but to help it works like this...ffrrbbgg....meaning ff (amount of transparency) rr (red) bb (blue) gg (green). I might have put colors in wrong order but u get gist I hope.
Just make sure when editing ur PNG images that when u save them u save them as a PNG only also when editing .9 png files(stretchable pngs) that u leave it as a .9png file. When u save it if it asks just save as PNG but the .9 will stay.
Hope this helps a little
Btw the amount if edits through out an entire them (many apks) is rediculous and many people have no clue how time consuming it can be.
If u need further help u can gtalk me and id be happy to walk u through the process. [email protected]
yeah I downloadad all the tools needed but where I got stuck was, once I have the tools, ROM, etc where do I actually begin at?
I was reading the Ultimate Theming Guide by Google (here) but got confused when it said "double-click the framework-res.apk"...it should have said "extract framework-res.apk with 7ZIP"....when I double-clicked I got all the crazy-looking letters that seemed to be encoded...when I extracted with 7ZIP I saw all the drawable images...all 800+ of them...had no idea there were that many...
so all I have to do, as far as small changes, is edit the .png images in the drawable folders, archive it back together and sign it? do I make it a .ZIP or an UPDATE archive?
broad_st_bully said:
yeah I downloadad all the tools needed but where I got stuck was, once I have the tools, ROM, etc where do I actually begin at?
I was reading the Ultimate Theming Guide by Google (here) but got confused when it said "double-click the framework-res.apk"...it should have said "extract framework-res.apk with 7ZIP"....when I double-clicked I got all the crazy-looking letters that seemed to be encoded...when I extracted with 7ZIP I saw all the drawable images...all 800+ of them...had no idea there were that many...
so all I have to do, as far as small changes, is edit the .png images in the drawable folders, archive it back together and sign it? do I make it a .ZIP or an UPDATE archive?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If u want to flash it yes if u want to just copy and paste to ur phone then no. If u c & p it then make sure u set the permissions after
smurf
so if i edit the 9.pngs say just the color i dont have to run them through draw9patch or anything like that?
dased14 said:
smurf
so if i edit the 9.pngs say just the color i dont have to run them through draw9patch or anything like that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If u edit their colors u have to run in draw9patch and then recompile them. There is a program called "xultimate-d9pc" that u can use to recompile them. Do a goodle search and Ull find the script. Its easy to use and easy to setup. If u don't ur .9 files will look jacked up
i have that(couldnt get it to work right) i'll try it again. thanks smurf
dased14 said:
i have that(couldnt get it to work right) i'll try it again. thanks smurf
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To get it to work I created a folder call draw 9 compiler. I put the script and the folder called originals in there. Inside the original folder I creates a few folders called drawable, drawable-hdpi, drawable-mdpi, drawable-ldpi. Then after I edit and draw9patch my images I put each one in the ffolders they belong in and go to xultamate-d9pc and click k on it and it will create a done folder u can go into and and all the images will be fixed in there
I'll try that, thanks for the tip
now the voices are 3d
sweet that looks to work perfect only thing extra i had to do was make original/res/then the other folders you said. thank you smurf
dased14 said:
sweet that looks to work perfect only thing extra i had to do was make original/res/then the other folders you said. thank you smurf
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ur welcome and yeah my bad I meant to tell u Res file first. But glad its working
Hi!
I have not found any answers from Google so I'm going to post it here and those who can answer Thank You!
I can't recompile some apps that is secured or something like that..
I have modified Dolphin browser Beta's xml files to support Flash player on Jelly Bean but I can't make .xml files to human unreadable like how them are in the app packages.
Code:
/res/xml/webcontent_prefences.xml
default value from ON-DEMaND to true
deleted: dolphin:entries="@array/pref_plugin_state_choices" dolphin:entryValues="@array/pref_plugin_state_values"
/res/xml/browser_prefences.xml
added: <mobi.mgeek.preference.FlashPlayerPreference dolphin:key="plugin_state" dolphin:title="@string/pref_content_plugins" dolphin:defaultValue="true" dolphin:background="@drawable/settings_bg_middle_bk" />
Please help me if you know how to do that..
I have tried to compile another apk with those files but then it will fail compiling the APK and I have no idea what to do and how to do!
hmmmm... i am not programmer that makes applications , but as far as i know , XML files in APK is only for layout or resources , am i correct ?
if you wanna make your browser support flash , seems it doesn't have anything to do with XML files.
and usually , shouldn't you decompile the APK files first , and then modify , and recompile after all ???
in any case , it should be APK/XML human unreadable files ----(decompile)---> human readable and modify ---(recompile)---> unreadable again.
I'm not exactly sure what the command is but I believe aapt (from the Android SDK) is your best bet. Either that or something like APKTool or FJ-APKTools so that you can just 'decompile' it and replace whatever files you need (human-readable XML that is) and then repackage/'compile' it all up again.
Unlawful said:
I'm not exactly sure what the command is but I believe aapt (from the Android SDK) is your best bet. Either that or something like APKTool or FJ-APKTools so that you can just 'decompile' it and replace whatever files you need (human-readable XML that is) and then repackage/'compile' it all up again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have used APKtool and FJ-APKtools and no luck with those, so that's why I need to do it manually somehow..
I read from internet that somehow can do something to .xml file via aapt but I don't think it could be able to convert the .xml to human unreadable .xml
Hi everyone,
does anyone knows why the weather icons extracted from htc framework.apk or weather widget.apk looks as they are damaged (as you can see in attached jpg there is a strange background instead of a empty background) ?
does exist some specific application to view them properly?
thanks
From which file and which directory did you get them ? and how did you extracted them ?
just opened /system/framework/com.htc.resources.apk then /res/drawable-xhpdi
i also tried apktool to decompile apk but same result
well you are on the right path. you need to decompile them properly. i use Virtual Ten Studio, works perfectly :good:
edit : you can't decompile the com.htc.recources.apk and that weather picture is not in the com.htc.recourses.apk anyway........
the com.htc.resources.apk can be unpacked with 7zip, then edit the files in the xhdpi folder. when done you open the com.htc.resources.apk and drag the edited xhdpi folder back in to the file.
the weatherwidget that actually has that picture needs to be decompiled.
Mr Hofs said:
well you are on the right path. you need to decompile them properly. i use Virtual Ten Studio, works perfectly :good:
edit : you can't decompile the com.htc.recources.apk and that weather picture is not in the com.htc.recourses.apk anyway........
the com.htc.resources.apk can be unpacked with 7zip, then edit the files in the xhdpi folder. when done you open the com.htc.resources.apk and drag the edited xhdpi folder back in to the file.
the weatherwidget that actually has that picture needs to be decompiled.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for you support but i can't get Virtual ten studio anywhere
only "virtuous ten studio" appears in google search
sorry my mistake....thats the one. autocorrectfail
maybe i miss some step. if I decompile com.htc.resources.apk or /system/app/weatherwidget.apk i always get "corrupted" weather jpg inside xhdpi folder. how can I see that icons without that strange background?. i need to modify them but first i need to open/see them properly
thanks again for your support
You cant decompile the resources.apk you must unzip it and modify the PNG files and place them back in the .apk
For the others it should work, maybe you should setup the proper framework. Check the VTS site. All sorts of tutorials there
Using cygwin and dsixda's kitchen, I imported dazednconfused's team venum "wicked sensations" rom. I'm looking for the wallpapers. I've searched for .png, .jpg, .jpeg in the Working ROM folder and drilled down into nearly all the folders with no luck
FYI in case it matters, when I was importing, it said there was an "updater.zip" file but not an "update.zip" file; and it gave me a warning about compatibilities between Amend vs. Edify and I chose the default option for it to try to convert.
Any help in locating them? Thanks in advance
Wallpapers are stored in the individual apks...you're gonna need apktool to extract the resources and you'll find them there
Mainly.the twlauncher.apk and I think theres also a wallpaper chooser app in there
Hi,
I am trying to create a theme for Note 2 with Note 3 mods. I am currently using DN3 v3 rom.
These are my questions :
1. I would like to know where installed apps from play store keeps there icons "I want to change them"
2. Where are all the stock apps "pre installed apps" located ?
3. Do i need to do any xml programming when replacing the app icons ?
Please tell me the path to those locations if you know it :fingers-crossed:
Each app is an apk file, and it contains icon(s). So there is no central place where all icons are stored.
the best you can do is to create an iconpack theme. just download one (it is apk file as well) and see how it's done. apk's are just signed-zip files, so you can open them (unzip) with any app like winzip or total commander (it is harder putting it back together). There are a lot of iconpacks available, just google it.
dalanik said:
Each app is an apk file, and it contains icon(s). So there is no central place where all icons are stored.
the best you can do is to create an iconpack theme. just download one (it is apk file as well) and see how it's done. apk's are just signed-zip files, so you can open them (unzip) with any app like winzip or total commander (it is harder putting it back together). There are a lot of iconpacks available, just google it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks i use "Ninja Morph" on the phone so it should be easy enough to unpack and then repack i hope
I need help i cant find the META-INF folder. Where would i find that folder ?
I got a message as showen in the picture that i need to copy 2 files where to i found the AndroidManifest.xml but i cant find the other one called META-INF and i have looked everywhere in the decompiled folder. What should i do ?