So, I'm well-aware that the reason icons can't be changed easily on the Android home screen is because the icon image is stored in the APK file, and editing that image is, essentially, near impossible.
However, I had an idea that could potentially fix that problem, and I'm just curious how realistic the solution is:
As most G1 users know, AnyCut is a great application that can allow a user to create a shortcut to any number of actions on the phone. These shortcuts are customizable by name, and, for the time being, have a limited number of icons, one for each shortcut type.
I also recall using an app several months ago to change the icons of bookmarks (Bookmark 2, I believe it was called). With this app, a user could choose exactly what their icons would look like on the home screen, except, of course, that these icons could only link to bookmarks.
By combining these two applications, wouldn't an icon changer be quite possible?
Using this same methodology, wouldn't it be possible to create "shortcuts" to applications on the home screen, and thus, allow the user to rename apps and change their icons, at least on the desktop? I know that the icons would not be changed in the pull-out drawer or elsewhere on the system, but wouldn't this be a temporary workaround, until a better solution is reached? I have quite a few programs with horrendous icons, and it really takes away from the aesthetic of the home screen.
Again, all I'm asking is if there's a way to place a shortcut to an APK on the desktop, and preferably to customize that shortcut's icon, not the actual apps.
It is possible to edit .apk's and change the icons. Just look at the forum for theams.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=450
soundwire said:
It is possible to edit .apk's and change the icons. Just look at the forum for theams.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=450
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I know that the icons can be edited in a theme, but can non-stock icons be edited as well?
And also, my concern with that is that it seems like a lot of work to update a theme everytime a new app appears on the market. I'm a little OCD, so if I were able to change all the icons on my home screen, I would want them all to be absolutely uniform (like the themes' icons are). However, if a new, super-useful app were to appear on the market, and I absolutely needed it on my home screen, it would seem much easier to simply add an image to my phone, and make a shortcut using that image, than to have to edit an APK, resign the entire package, and reflash the phone each time. While I know my way around the G1, and I'm comfortable with basic rooting, I am by no means a developer, and just like most G1 users, I would probably be more comfortable making shortcuts than updating firmware.
Do you understand where I'm coming from?
I too, would also like to know how to change "non-stock" app icons. Bump.
jayaustn said:
Well, I know that the icons can be edited in a theme, but can non-stock icons be edited as well?
And also, my concern with that is that it seems like a lot of work to update a theme everytime a new app appears on the market. I'm a little OCD, so if I were able to change all the icons on my home screen, I would want them all to be absolutely uniform (like the themes' icons are). However, if a new, super-useful app were to appear on the market, and I absolutely needed it on my home screen, it would seem much easier to simply add an image to my phone, and make a shortcut using that image, than to have to edit an APK, resign the entire package, and reflash the phone each time. While I know my way around the G1, and I'm comfortable with basic rooting, I am by no means a developer, and just like most G1 users, I would probably be more comfortable making shortcuts than updating firmware.
Do you understand where I'm coming from?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have yet to try this, but (provided you have root), you should be able to use adb to pull the apk for an app off your phone, edit it as described, and push it back to the same place. I will give this a go tomorrow, as I'm rather sleepy, and it's probably not a good thing to mess about with superuser stuff when I can't think straight.
If there's any flaws in my theory, I'd be happy to hear them.
RE: Changeing Icons!
I have a video on you tube on how to change icons. Here it is!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjnV_d9b22E
Hope you enjoy and your able to Change Your Icons.
Good Luck!
bms122223 said:
I have a video on you tube on how to change icons. Here it is!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjnV_d9b22E
Hope you enjoy and your able to Change Your Icons.
Good Luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Video doesnt show you how to change "non-stock" app icons, only icons for the original apps.
Well, I kind of figured out how to change the non-stock icons. But got stuck at the end...here's what I did...
1) Install/Open Astro.
2) Back up the app you want to change the icon for.
3) Grab that backup apk file off of your sdcard and put it on your computer.
4) Open it with Winrar.
5) Go to the proper folder and drag your new icon into the folder.
6) Close Winrar and move the apk back to your sdcard.
...this is where I get stuck, I know the icon changed because I can see it when I TRY to install the app. But the app doesnt want to install, it says "install unsuccesful". I'm guessing it needs to be signed?
I have used astro as well, I even signed the apk the same way I sign themes and no luck.
ultra spikey said:
Well, I kind of figured out how to change the non-stock icons. But got stuck at the end...here's what I did...
1) Install/Open Astro.
2) Back up the app you want to change the icon for.
3) Grab that backup apk file off of your sdcard and put it on your computer.
4) Open it with Winrar.
5) Go to the proper folder and drag your new icon into the folder.
6) Close Winrar and move the apk back to your sdcard.
...this is where I get stuck, I know the icon changed because I can see it when I TRY to install the app. But the app doesnt want to install, it says "install unsuccesful". I'm guessing it needs to be signed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're real close; once you replace the icon you need you need to delete META-INF folder then zip it back up, rename file extension to .apk and sign it with the test keys like the stock .apk. The META-INF is where the signature info is kept from the original author, you need to delete this so it doesn't conflict with the test keys.
Geo411m said:
You're real close; once you replace the icon you need you need to delete META-INF folder then zip it back up, rename file extension to .apk and sign it with the test keys like the stock .apk. The META-INF is where the signature info is kept from the original author, you need to delete this so it doesn't conflict with the test keys.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will that a try. So this also mean that if author updates .apk file we will not be able to install update? Similar to google RC30 updates, we have to wait for JF to modify it.
johnowa636 said:
I will that a try. So this also mean that if author updates .apk file we will not be able to install update? Similar to google RC30 updates, we have to wait for JF to modify it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed; this might be a problem.
I mean, opening up the APK files is definitely a start, but it seems the shortcut approach I mentioned earlier is just so much easier. Shortcuts would allow basic users to change icons effortlessly and without fear of ruining the app, and the process could be just as easy as Bookmark 2, if a developer took charge, no?
ultra spikey said:
Well, I kind of figured out how to change the non-stock icons. But got stuck at the end...here's what I did...
1) Install/Open Astro.
2) Back up the app you want to change the icon for.
3) Grab that backup apk file off of your sdcard and put it on your computer.
4) Open it with Winrar.
5) Go to the proper folder and drag your new icon into the folder.
6) Close Winrar and move the apk back to your sdcard.
...this is where I get stuck, I know the icon changed because I can see it when I TRY to install the app. But the app doesnt want to install, it says "install unsuccesful". I'm guessing it needs to be signed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i would like to verify that this method works to change non-stock apps without pushing files or inserting apps into updates. i used 7zip but i'd imagine winrar will work fine as well. just remember to delete the entire metainf folder, not just its contents. once you have your .apk, re-sign it using stericson's auto-sign utility and you'll be able to install the app through astro.
i should also note that i deleted all instance of the unmodified app from my sdcard. i uninstalled it and deleted the backup on my sd card. this may or may not be necessary, but i just wanted to take precautions.
I've given this method a try, and it seems simply too complicated for a moderate user like me. Wouldn't the shortcut method I mentioned be so much easier to quickly change home screen icons? Would any of the developers on this forum be interested in throwing such an app together? I'd gladly donate some money if a good app was able to take care of this problem.
what are you having trouble with, exactly? i'm far from an advanced user myself, but this is probably one of the easier things to do on the g1, probably second to flashing themes.
though i will say that there are a few apps that i can't change icons for. chomp and cubik have installed but force close when opened.
i have a feeling it's something to do with the signing the apk's, but like i said, i'm not an advanced user at all.
TruLuvNvrDies said:
what are you having trouble with, exactly? i'm far from an advanced user myself, but this is probably one of the easier things to do on the g1, probably second to flashing themes.
though i will say that there are a few apps that i can't change icons for. chomp and cubik have installed but force close when opened.
i have a feeling it's something to do with the signing the apk's, but like i said, i'm not an advanced user at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I opened up the APK using WinRAR, replaced the icon.png with my icon of choice, and then I'm stuck. I known I have to auto-sign the APK, but am not exactly sure how. I have Stericson's auto-signer tool, and used command 4 to manually enter the APK path, but once I do that I get a bunch of errors. If need be, I can copy down the exact error I get.
ultra spikey said:
Video doesnt show you how to change "non-stock" app icons, only icons for the original apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice video!
jayaustn said:
I opened up the APK using WinRAR, replaced the icon.png with my icon of choice, and then I'm stuck. I known I have to auto-sign the APK, but am not exactly sure how. I have Stericson's auto-signer tool, and used command 4 to manually enter the APK path, but once I do that I get a bunch of errors. If need be, I can copy down the exact error I get.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you probably need to delete the contents of the meta-inf folder. there should be three files in there, delete them all. if you extracted the contents of the .apk, zip them back up with an .apk extension. if you didn't extract them, you're at the last step, which is to re-sign the .apk. you don't actually need to manually re-sign the file through the console on stericson's re-signer. just right-click the .apk file and at the very top, there should be an option that says "resign .apk". click on that and your app will be re-signed and ready for an install attempt.
though, as i said before, this method is not 100%. of the 6 apps that i modified so far, i was only successful with 4 of them. even if you do all of the steps correctly, you might not have a working app at the end. the apps will install but will automatically force close when launched. i don't know what causes this, actually, and any suggestions would be appreciated.
I agree with the OP, while it is easy enough to edit the apks, resign them, copy them back onto your phone it would be far more elegant (IMHO) if you could have an application that allowed you to copy "Icon Packs" onto your SDCard, and then add links to applications on your home screen giving you a choice of icons from the aforementioned "Icon Pack".
Theme developers could then distribute the "Icon Pack" with the theme, and end users could easily add custom icons to your home screen from your phone without having to mess about on a PC.
liamw said:
I agree with the OP, while it is easy enough to edit the apks, resign them, copy them back onto your phone it would be far more elegant (IMHO) if you could have an application that allowed you to copy "Icon Packs" onto your SDCard, and then add links to applications on your home screen giving you a choice of icons from the aforementioned "Icon Pack".
Theme developers could then distribute the "Icon Pack" with the theme, and end users could easily add custom icons to your home screen from your phone without having to mess about on a PC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So what everyone wants is Anycut that can do custom icons.
I'm using the EvoV8 RevA froyo build. I'm using Bettercut to replace my home screen shortcut icons and for the most part it's working fine. When I try and replace my "Contacts" application icon I get the error "Application not installed on phone" when I try and launch it. I'm trying to circumvent that problem by using App Organizer to change the icon but all that application seems to want to do is group apps into a folder. I just want a single custom icon representing my "Contacts" application on my home screen, not a folder that contains the "Contacts" app inside it. Anyone have anyway to achieve this knowing the Bettercut has problems with this particular application?
Im having the same issue with some apps. everyone told me use FloderOrganizer and that works better imo
RickBaller said:
I'm using the EvoV8 RevA froyo build. I'm using Bettercut to replace my home screen shortcut icons and for the most part it's working fine. When I try and replace my "Contacts" application icon I get the error "Application not installed on phone" when I try and launch it. I'm trying to circumvent that problem by using App Organizer to change the icon but all that application seems to want to do is group apps into a folder. I just want a single custom icon representing my "Contacts" application on my home screen, not a folder that contains the "Contacts" app inside it. Anyone have anyway to achieve this knowing the Bettercut has problems with this particular application?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i wanted to do the same thing. i couldn't get it working, but i can't call myself an android expert either. but i think this method SHOULD work
1) download the rom and unzip it in windows
2) unzip the stock Contacts.apk
3) go to /res/drawable-hdpi/
4) find the icon
5) adb pull Contacts.apk from your phone
6) replace the original icon with the one from the stock rom
7) re-zip the file
8) adb rm Contacts.apk from phone
9) adb push edited Contacts.apk to phone.
obviously a nandroid backup before all of this is fairly important. if anyone else can confirm that this would work that would be helpful. i wanted the stock Contacts & Camera icons and ran into the same error you did.
You guys need to get Folder Organizer. Once I got it, I uninstalled both BetterCut and AppOrganizer. It's way better.
Cheers...
kiddecks said:
i wanted to do the same thing. i couldn't get it working, but i can't call myself an android expert either. but i think this method SHOULD work
1) download the rom and unzip it in windows
2) unzip the stock Contacts.apk
3) go to /res/drawable-hdpi/
4) find the icon
5) adb pull Contacts.apk from your phone
6) replace the original icon with the one from the stock rom
7) re-zip the file
8) adb rm Contacts.apk from phone
9) adb push edited Contacts.apk to phone.
obviously a nandroid backup before all of this is fairly important. if anyone else can confirm that this would work that would be helpful. i wanted the stock Contacts & Camera icons and ran into the same error you did.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay...you don't need to remove the contacts.apk....when you push the new one to your phone it automatically replaces the old one. So there is a step or two less......
Are you renaming the new icon the same name as your old icon? Also....are you keeping the exact same size, example 72x72 pixels is app icon size for the EVO.
I installed the stock MMS.apk file on my de'odexed stock rom (rooted of course). Everything worked well and the app runs, but when reading text threads there is an ugly white border around the edge of the screen, its strange. Its not present when viewing the list of conversations, only in the thread view. I'm not sure if that's how its supposed to look or not, but if not, anyone have any idea how to fix this?
I'll get a screenshot up as soon as I get home.
I first obtained the MMS.apk from the cyanogen rom, then thinking that it might be modified and thus creating my problem, I grabbed the AOSP version from this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=789493
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
UPDATE:
Found another thread where people are experiencing the same issue, apparently its a problem with how sense handles the application:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=752604
I attempted to open up the Mms.apk (AOSP version) with APKtool and play around with the xml files for the UI, but wasn't able to get it to recompile and test any changes I made, the app would just crash on launch. I simply made a few changes to the colors, but I admittedly don't really know what I'm doing and it wouldn't run. If anyone who's more experienced in this area could offer some advice I'll try again.
That's a picture of the issue, it appears in both landscape and portrait mode.
Texts were blacked out just for privacy sake.
Well after a few hours of messing around in the XML files for the AOSP messaging app, I was able to find a solution to this issue. I modified the XML file to have it correctly display the black color background when using the black theme. I was not able to eliminate the border entirely, but by changing the scrollbar type from Inset to Overlay I was able to make it uniform and far more visually pleasing.
I have attached my modified Mms.apk file, feel free to test it out.
For the specifics of what I did for those who are interested:
Two files were modified in the apk
- /res/layout/compose_message_activity.xml
- /res/layout/compose_message_activity_black.xml
In both files I changed the scrollbarStyle propery to "insideOverlay", in addition to removing the reference to always show the scrollbar track.
In the black xml file I changed the background color to "@android:color/black".
The original XML files were extracted using APKTool and Recompiled to their binary format, then reinserted into the original apk without resigning.
This is awesome! ... Except it doesn't filter out the VVM message streams that come through. :|
I haven't encountered this problem though I use google voice so I'm not really sure what it is you're referring to.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
ty!
beautiful ty!!!!!!!!!
Imma cry
I cant send mms!
Try turning off wifi while sending/receiving mms
no wifi
i don't have wifi on when i do this i just have 3g on so i can send mms!
i zipped the file with the one that had the white outline .is there a way to make this new apk. file into a .zip file for me ?
I'd imagine you could simply replace the APK file in your zip with my modified one and install that way. Use a program like winrar or 7zip to replace the apk within the zip.
tehpsyc said:
I'd imagine you could simply replace the APK file in your zip with my modified one and install that way. Use a program like winrar or 7zip to replace the apk within the zip.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sorry but i cant find either of thoses programs u mention to replace the APK file in my zip with your modified version .is there another program or a manual way of doing this process ?
how do i install this? since it's an APK, i thought i'd just install it from Astro but it says it's already installed and asked if i wanted to uninstall.
To install this you need to either delete or rename the Mms.apk that's already on your phone in the /system/app directory (I just rename to Mms.apk.bak) and then copy the modified one into that same directory followed by a restart of the phone. Because its a system app you cant install it the same way you would a regular apk, at least from my understanding.
You will need to get write access to the system directory to accomplish this (I used an app on the market called root explorer, though you can also do all this through the ADB shell)
I like to try similar apps side by side.
For example, I would like to try different camera apps in my phone.
How can I use an apk file of camera extracted from a different ROM and install in my current ROM without removing the stock app.
I tried to push an apk from another ROM to the /system/app folder with appropriate permissions. This did not work. I got an FC.
Is there a way I can accomplish this without much changes?
You have to push it to that folder, but also set the permissions. This is also depending on if it's not tied into the framework. I'm on my phone so I can't dig around right now.
Edit: after changing permissions to 644, reboot.
PonsAsinorem said:
You have to push it to that folder, but also set the permissions. This is also depending on if it's not tied into the framework. I'm on my phone so I can't dig around right now.
Edit: after changing permissions to 644, reboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for your advice.
What I am trying to do is make an apk I can push or install which would act like an independent application so that I can still keep the stock application.
meazz1 said:
thanks for your advice.
What I am trying to do is make an apk I can push or install which would act like an independent application so that I can still keep the stock application.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As long as they're not named the same, so that you're new one won't overwrite the original. You can have multiple apps in the app drawer with the same name. Make a nandroid and give it a shot.
PonsAsinorem said:
As long as they're not named the same, so that you're new one won't overwrite the original. You can have multiple apps in the app drawer with the same name. Make a nandroid and give it a shot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what name are you referring to? Is it the "camera.apk" or "HTCCamera.apk" name or something within the .apk file.
can you give me a hint?
meazz1 said:
what name are you referring to? Is it the "camera.apk" or "HTCCamera.apk" name or something within the .apk file.
can you give me a hint?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The .apk name that gets pushed to the system app folder. Example, I run CM7. There is an app called Camera.apk which I don't really like, so I push MiuiCamera.apk to that folder, set the permissions and reboot. Now in my app drawer, there are two Cameras with different icons, (I usually wind up removing the stock Camera.apk).
If the new camera I used was named Camera.apk as well, it would just overwrite the original camera, replacing it, which is something you said you didn't want.
Ive been trying forever to figure this out, so here is my problem.
I'm trying to modify the The textures (atlas.png) and the sounds of the popular game Flappy Bird but every time i try to install the newly modified apk i get the Application is not installed message and i am trying everything possible i find on this forum but i cant find a solution.
The way i modified to apk:
1. open the apk in 7zip
2. make the new files it Photoshop and audacity (made sure i saved in the right file type)
3. replaced the old files with the new ones
4 saved the apk and tried to install it on my phone (didn't work got the application not installed)
How i got the apk
1. went to android/data/apps/Flappybird.apk
Second way i tryed to install it:
1 copied the new apk to the directory i used above
2 restarted my phone
3. the app got automatically "deleted"
I need help plz
PizzaBelly said:
Ive been trying forever to figure this out, so here is my problem.
I'm trying to modify the The textures (atlas.png) and the sounds of the popular game Flappy Bird but every time i try to install the newly modified apk i get the Application is not installed message and i am trying everything possible i find on this forum but i cant find a solution.
The way i modified to apk:
1. open the apk in 7zip
2. make the new files it Photoshop and audacity (made sure i saved in the right file type)
3. replaced the old files with the new ones
4 saved the apk and tried to install it on my phone (didn't work got the application not installed)
How i got the apk
1. went to android/data/apps/Flappybird.apk
Second way i tryed to install it:
1 copied the new apk to the directory i used above
2 restarted my phone
3. the app got automatically "deleted"
I need help plz
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try to decompile the apk with Toolalite
Hey guy !
Basically i've an other problem, i also want to modify Flappy Bird, but i succeed to install the midified apk, in fact it's very simple you just have to sign the apk with apk multi tools for instance tell me if it works please
Bye
Thanks
Hi
Thanks for the info submitted
Regards
Decompile the apk and recomple it