Develop Bugs

Skinning of Android

Hi folks
I am thinking about skinning the Android, and I am starting to understand how to do it as we speak
I have discovered the correct files, and the only problem I am having at the moment, is lack of creativity >.<
Does anyone have bright ideas on how it should be?
Best regards,
Zappza

Quite like the original skin with Android. The 3 screens allows me to add anycuts to the apps grouped by personal stuff, daily apps and then browser/net stuff.

Skin ideas
Look for the thread that talks about the G2... some interesting pictures there.
--M

Basically the only things I can to currently to get it to look a like the mockups, is to change the icons to be more shiny.
That could work out
Will try to get some work done next week, I have lots of homework at the moment >.<

Zappza said:
Basically the only things I can to currently to get it to look a like the mockups, is to change the icons to be more shiny.
That could work out
Will try to get some work done next week, I have lots of homework at the moment >.<
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looking forward to your results g/l on the homework... I have lots of work-work .
--M

make it look like a wii or xbox 360

mcfly015 said:
make it look like a wii or xbox 360
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Think I'll pass on this one.
I don't like the design on the X360 dash.
Perhaps the Wii though, I'll have to check it out when I get my Wii

I think it would be cool to have three tabs at the bottom for file shortcuts.
That way instead of having to put custom folders on the desktop one could just swipe up one of the three tabs.
Granted you can store many shortcuts on the side desktop screens. But, I like the swipe motion from the bottom better.
Also, I would love to see some different color themes. Maybe reverse the black/white of the window shade and made the app slider a darker grey.

What about making the icons transparent; like the blackberry storm.

please dont copy the iphone or xbox or whatever..i mean the color schemes are alright
but just make something pure eyecandy please..show us your creativity!!!

shaneaus said:
I think it would be cool to have three tabs at the bottom for file shortcuts.
That way instead of having to put custom folders on the desktop one could just swipe up one of the three tabs.
Granted you can store many shortcuts on the side desktop screens. But, I like the swipe motion from the bottom better.
Also, I would love to see some different color themes. Maybe reverse the black/white of the window shade and made the app slider a darker grey.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll have to pass on this one for the moment.
I haven't read so much in the Android Documentation yet, but my logic senses that this is some pretty heavy modding of both the graphics and the .xml files that control how things are setup.
mcfly015 said:
What about making the icons transparent; like the blackberry storm.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This could be possible without any big fuss.
Transparent icons when inactive, and if pressed they become opaque.
twistkill said:
please dont copy the iphone or xbox or whatever..i mean the color schemes are alright
but just make something pure eyecandy please..show us your creativity!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's my problem.
Creativity >.<
I will try to sketch something while at school, and we'll see how it goes
Perhaps I will start something simple, such as just changing the icons and some of the buttons with some other icons. Just to get a grip of it

Zappza said:
That's my problem.
Creativity >.<
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you know, something black and shiny like the diamond interface always looks cool
black, dark grey will always be slick..look at HTC Manilla interface for good examples..
let me kow if you need any photoshop help...i am good with the pixels (or so i think ) not with scripting though

twistkill said:
please dont copy the iphone or xbox or whatever..i mean the color schemes are alright
but just make something pure eyecandy please..show us your creativity!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Something with a wireframe / Tron / Neon look to it, with icons that look like japanese writing, but really have english text.

twistkill said:
you know, something black and shiny like the diamond interface always looks cool
black, dark grey will always be slick..look at HTC Manilla interface for good examples..
let me kow if you need any photoshop help...i am good with the pixels (or so i think ) not with scripting though
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I like black but I prefer dull black, especially since I have the Black G1 ^^
Some Photoshop help would've been great
A starter could've been just to make the standard android a lot darker, just to familiarise with how we can edit the settings
Will start on Tuesday probably, my girlfriend is visiting me from Norway, so I'll probably have other stuff to do this weekend

What's the news on this?
And would this require root? =/

Currently nothing yet, but I will hopefully get started tomorrow
This will require root yes, as the only way I know of is to replace the files in question in the modified RC8 or RC30 image from JesusFreke.

could someone get me the source graphics... pdspatrick AT gmail DOT com.....I am rather good with fireworks, and I wanna make a skin for all of ya, but I don't have the capability to sign the update.zip's
Cheers!

pdspatrick said:
could someone get me the source graphics... [email protected].....I am rather good with fireworks, and I wanna make a skin for all of ya, but I don't have the capability to sign the update.zip's
Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the source is online you can get them from the git repo

unfortunately my mac os x is using non case sensitive file system so i cant git with android (adobe cs4 wants noncase sensitive for some reason...hmmm)...and my other computer is a windows box
can somebody help me out here? It'd be appreciated

pdspatrick said:
unfortunately my mac os x is using non case sensitive file system so i cant git with android (adobe cs4 wants noncase sensitive for some reason...hmmm)...and my other computer is a windows box
can somebody help me out here? It'd be appreciated
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if I can I will run git tomorrow and upload the zip for you.

has anyone successfully edited the .9 images

has anyone successfully edited the .9 images and got them working in their themes ?
Plz reply the poll too...

check out teknotiq, he explained some of the information to me about his work with editting .9 pngs... also most themes such as BUUF, Fadte to Blue, Stericson's themes, all have .9 pngs edited... you can check with them as well

I too have got them successfully edited...
i have made this thread just to know wheather .9.png images are changed widely ?
so thanks on your reply....
want more people reply....

They can be changed but they always break, I have never had one loop me at the boot screen. Some look ok and others dont, its just trial and error.

I've noticed the best way to change these .9.pngs is to give them a 1 pixel border. The buttons for instance, the inside is one color and the border should be a 1 pixel black or whatever color of the theme. You have to erase the corners to, if not they stretch weirdly.

hey pud, try editing the clear notifications button and change its color, without it breaking. Then send me a pic. I was stuck on this forever....

damnitpud said:
I've noticed the best way to change these .9.pngs is to give them a 1 pixel border. The buttons for instance, the inside is one color and the border should be a 1 pixel black or whatever color of the theme. You have to erase the corners to, if not they stretch weirdly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i do it the same way

Stericson said:
hey pud, try editing the clear notifications button and change its color, without it breaking. Then send me a pic. I was stuck on this forever....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I ll try doin that and give it to u...

I figured out the .9.pngs! The procedure is here! Updated: 02/13/09
::New:::
If you have downloaded the SDK and Eclipse, you have all the tools you need, If not you should grab them and follow Google's guide.
This process is somewhat a pain in the butt, but worth it. You need to take the .9 off of the file name that you want to change, then drag it into the draw9patch tool from the Android SDK(in the tools folder) Here is some info about draw9patch. Pay attention to the Note in the middle of the page. Once you have your 9patch file edited and saved you need to compile it, the lines will remain on this .9 image until it is compiled with eclipse. you need to open a project, or create one in eclipse, drag the .9.png into the drawable folder, then right click your project folder and choose android tools/export unsigned application package. Once this is done, you want to open the apk with WinRar and pull your .9.png files out. you will notice the lines are gone! That is all, I am sure people who have not downloaded the SDK and Eclipse yet might have problems understand this process, but I will try to help you. I am not a guru with Eclipse but i know enough to get by.
Good luck and happy stretching =)
Playing with the SDK today, i found in "SDK\tools\lib\res\default\drawable" all of the .9.pngs have the black lines intact. These could be good for learning the best way to stretch these images. Also the xmls have not been converted to binary, so it might make for some interesting hacks for themes.
Here is a screen shot of the draw9patch tool. The bottom and right sets the content area and the left and top set the stretch area.
I am not sure if i am going to disclose this info just yet (because of the competition) but i wanted to let everyone know its been figured out and we will all know very soon!
i am uploading some screen shots now with some perfect buttons! Anyone who has used my theme knows the buttons looked somewhat messy, well no longer will they be.

damnitpud said:
I am not sure if i am going to disclose this info just yet but i wanted to let everyone know its been figured out and we will all know very soon!
i am uploading some screen shots now!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
way to go! excited to see some sshots!

looks amazing man! I've been using this theme for the last week and i must say its totally grown on me. Thanks for putting out some kick ass updates

Great to hear.
To tell you the truth, I loved your theme. The only reason I uninstalled it was because of the .9.pngs stretched out and looked bad.
After seeing these pics though I will reinstall =)

That's cool but this theme competitions is starting to suck, no one want to share any info due to fear of losing. I'm fearing this comp.. my be counter productive.

are some .9's harder to edit than others? never tried editing the buttons and such but the ones i've tried editing (the notifications bar etc.) seem not to mess up, no matter what i do to them. are some of them just really temperamental?

Not me if i had info like that i would share it because for me i don't care if i win or lose one this not my first comp and second i have been doing this to long.
@Damnitpud
Good work bro.

For the few .9 pngs I have modified so far I just used the layer blending properties to apply an overlay with some opacity and saw no ill effects. I haven't done many yet, but if I am just changing colors, I don't see why this shouldn't work for all fo them. Since it preserves the original shapes and layouts, just adds a tint to the image.

I am going to type up the steps to getting the .9s working properly. I am going to end up sharing the info, i'm not one to usually hoard info. There is still some learning to do with the draw9patch tool, but at least we can get rid of those damn lines after messing with it in in the draw9 tool.
I will add it to the first post of this thread.
Meltus said:
are some .9's harder to edit than others? never tried editing the buttons and such but the ones i've tried editing (the notifications bar etc.) seem not to mess up, no matter what i do to them. are some of them just really temperamental?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes some are very hard and only distort at larger sizes. The buttons are very difficult, even opening them up and saving the file will break it. you don't even have to change anything. Try changing the btn_default_normal.9.png and use the stock btn_default_pressed.9.png. you will see a big difference when you press that button.
That's cool but this theme competitions is starting to suck, no one want to share any info due to fear of losing. I'm fearing this comp.. my be counter productive.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree, that is why i am going to release the info, its pretty simple but very tedious. Not as bad as compressing the images like i figured out before. But that's only because there is not as many.
Not me if i had info like that i would share it because for me i don't care if i win or lose one this not my first comp and second i have been doing this to long.
@Damnitpud
Good work bro.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the first time...well second time i have found something the community was looking for answers to, i am normally one of the herd waiting for the relases...not doing the release myself. i would love to win the competition, but i doubt perfect buttons will give me that much of an edge. =)
And thank you!

manup456 said:
Not me if i had info like that i would share it because for me i don't care if i win or lose one this not my first comp and second i have been doing this to long.
@Damnitpud
Good work bro.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree. I want to get into the comp but it's not for the money. I'm doing it because it's fun to see what people can come up with and I enjoy a challenge. Besides isn't the comp about who's theme is most aesthetically pleasing, since none of us are releasing the themes to the public until after the comp no one will see those things anyway unless you post up 100 screens shots that is.

I gave away my secret in the first post =)

Sweet jesus.
You've opened a whole new can of worms.
The world is in our hands, now.

Prototypes needed for Open Android Alliance

I think this is the correct area to ask for this but what i need is a simple prototype we can base OAA off of this is a big project if you have not heard follow the link in my signature to the thread.
What we need is:
1. a basic go-by a basic format for how the first set of non google android apps will look
2. Color scheme
We can start with this and go from there if anyone has any *helpful* input post it remember this is a community project.
a simple jpeg/bmp/png/ect. will be good enough for now and we will have a poll to see the future of android on the visual side.

Wait - a prototype of what?
A theme? Logo?
What are we discussing?

drpfenderson said:
Wait - a prototype of what?
A theme? Logo?
What are we discussing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Everything lol i seen a cool android/penguin logo
but a basic layout on how buttons will be set up with a color scheme that is pretty basic

I'm in close to a couple of the major Themers if you want can get them to start doing it

your_helpfull_hand said:
I'm in close to a couple of the major Themers if you want can get them to start doing it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
would be awesome i had alot better support in the dev section haha

jjcd51590 said:
would be awesome i had alot better support in the dev section haha
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It looked like there was support in the signup thread, I noticed a few people who had said they would help with themes for the project

Light theme for CM9?

Hi, searching for a light theme for CM9.
By that I dont mean just the text and icons changed to white or something else, dont even know how that can be called another theme.
Searching for something looking more like HTC sense. By that I mean the colors and such.
Sick of the black and boring colors in samsungs ICS/CM9

Have you tried the big button at the top labelled "SEARCH", try entering "CM9" into it and see what happens.
There it's a sticky in the Android themes section called "CM9 themes".
There's also the play store where if you search for "CM9 theme", it will return a large amount of results.
You can even use a search like Google.
Falling that create your own, there's many guides.
Or are you just lazy and want people to do the work for you?
I could have posted links to all these within the time it's taken to write this, but hey, where's the fun in that!

See here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=25846541
And here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=26564871
Regards.

Boo
Shame on you buzzboy for being helpful, haha.:;

dully79 said:
Have you tried the big button at the top labelled "SEARCH", try entering "CM9" into it and see what happens.
There it's a sticky in the Android themes section called "CM9 themes".
There's also the play store where if you search for "CM9 theme", it will return a large amount of results.
You can even use a search like Google.
Falling that create your own, there's many guides.
Or are you just lazy and want people to do the work for you?
I could have posted links to all these within the time it's taken to write this, but hey, where's the fun in that!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What is your problem? I only asked a question just if there is. I have been already going through that thread and almost all of those are all dark and have only changed color of the text. Some have made the black background colors a bit lighter.
But if there's none theme that meets my criteries I guess there's nothing to do about it if not making my own. But I am no developer, so Ill have to stick with orig. cm9.

Wat you talkin bout?
I've just given you a lot of options to try and find a theme for your liking.
That's gratitude for ya.
The reason there is no light themes is because it requires editing the manifest to change the default theme from dark to light. But there will always be apps that use the dark theme and need editing so it becomes like quick sand.

I've only seen 2 white status bar themes for CM9. Frost by Sonny in the play store and another called Ghost in the Galaxy Nexus themes and apps forum.
Sent from my GT-I9100

Finally a proper answer to my question.
Thank you!

Oh look, it's a thread from page 5 in these forums on 31/5/12
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1683788&highlight=cm9+theme
Try using the round things in your head, just above your nose called eyes.
They're amazing pieces of tech, they give you the magical ability of sight.
But dont tell everyone or they will all want some and then were will that leave us??.

dully79 said:
Oh look, it's a thread from page 5 in these forums on 31/5/12
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1683788&highlight=cm9+theme
Try using the round things in your head, just above your nose called eyes.
They're amazing pieces of tech, they give you the magical ability of sight.
But dont tell everyone or they will all want some and then were will that leave us??.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
aww poor you.

theme creator beta from Sony

Hi.sony is working on a theme creator program.making themes will get alot easier hopefully.get it from here
http://developer.sonymobile.com/201...devices-with-the-new-theme-creator-beta-tool/

Great minds think alike!
Sent from my D6603 using XDA Free mobile app

josephnero said:
Hi.sony is working on a theme creator program.making themes will get alot easier hopefully.get it from here
http://developer.sonymobile.com/201...devices-with-the-new-theme-creator-beta-tool/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is zip file but How to install it,i mean startup
TIA

It is a Java-app and i just had to double click to start it.
Sent from my D6603 using XDA Free mobile app

I have problem with this program, can't export any images to theme this option is off, some1 now how turn on?

josephnero said:
Hi.sony is working on a theme creator program.making themes will get alot easier hopefully.get it from here
http://developer.sonymobile.com/201...devices-with-the-new-theme-creator-beta-tool/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't have Xperia device but I'll check that as soon as I can...
If we could add our own assets and program will build 9.png that will be great...
This program could be awesome in a future if Sony continue improving and working on it...

funky0308 said:
Don't have Xperia device but I'll check that as soon as I can...
If we could add our own assets and program will build 9.png that will be great...
This program could be awesome in a future if Sony continue improving and working on it...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
we might see some awesome themes flowing around soon.maybe some of your awesome works too

josephnero said:
we might see some awesome themes flowing around soon.maybe some of your awesome works too
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your kind words...
You can put your money in that statement
See ya guys soon

funky0308 said:
Don't have Xperia device but I'll check that as soon as I can...
If we could add our own assets and program will build 9.png that will be great...
This program could be awesome in a future if Sony continue improving and working on it...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right now theme creator it's kinda slow, buggy and not friendly to use, theme creator does not offer much customization, otherwise you can do magic through photoshop, but they did not offer any template other then stock one. I would like to see templates with examples of which part is used for which asset, they made one huge file (over 120 mb) and put every system part that could be themed, if they separate every different part that would be really awesome, now you got to edit everything inside one file, it's not that hard to do that, but its really confusing, you need to visit their tutorial for every part, i don't really like that, it would took me ages to make one theme that i really like. It's good to see that Sony actually cares about users of their smartphones and i really really hope they will make more improvements while it's still in beta phase. Or they should make theme creator as standard application not completely java based with more options inside app or make more templates with less content, just to be easier to overview, edit and generally clearly.

CroNoob said:
Right now theme creator it's kinda slow, buggy and not friendly to use, theme creator does not offer much customization, otherwise you can do magic through photoshop, but they did not offer any template other then stock one. I would like to see templates with examples of which part is used for which asset, they made one huge file (over 120 mb) and put every system part that could be themed, if they separate every different part that would be really awesome, now you got to edit everything inside one file, it's not that hard to do that, but its really confusing, you need to visit their tutorial for every part, i don't really like that, it would took me ages to make one theme that i really like. It's good to see that Sony actually cares about users of their smartphones and i really really hope they will make more improvements while it's still in beta phase. Or they should make theme creator as standard application not completely java based with more options inside app or make more templates with less content, just to be easier to overview, edit and generally clearly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, I planned to use it one as a converter and compiler... nothing more.
I built many themes and I don't need program for theming...
But...
It could make themers life little easier...
Actually, I wrote first tutorial "how to built themes and theme Sony UI" when Sony released their first theme engine...so I really believe we'll find our way to get maximum from this program.
We know which asset is for what and I'm sure this program could only save few min or hour of boring merging and compiling...
Sony will continue to polish this app, I'm sure...
I'm also sure we'll have great app/program soon...
One awesome thing that I would like to see in the future is implementation of this app into ROM and theming OS in a real time..

I own E3, and I replaced nav buttons , but they stays the same old... There's no way to change some bckgrnds, too...

Xperia Theme Creator
I don't know if everyone is understanding the nature of the Xperia Theme Creator, ADOBE PHOTOSHOP CS6 IS REQUIRED. Without Adobe Photoshop CS6 this application will not work - period. I have earlier versions of Adobe Creative Suite and I can confirm 100% that XTC v0.0.1 BETA will NOT function at all.
I stand corrected in advance if you have Adobe Photoshop CS6 which in turn would allow XTC v0.0.1 BETA to properly function.
Just my 2 cents!

TheFamilyMan said:
I don't know if everyone is understanding the nature of the Xperia Theme Creator, ADOBE PHOTOSHOP CS6 IS REQUIRED. Without Adobe Photoshop CS6 this application will not work - period. I have earlier versions of Adobe Creative Suite and I can confirm 100% that XTC v0.0.1 BETA will NOT function at all.
I stand corrected in advance if you have Adobe Photoshop CS6 which in turn would allow XTC v0.0.1 BETA to properly function.
Just my 2 cents!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah.i tried with my old photoshop CS3 and as you said it requires cs6

josephnero said:
yeah.i tried with my old photoshop CS3 and as you said it requires cs6
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just take a look at my tutorial, you have there resources package for theme creator, just unpack to theme folder and edit with GIMP

Krustnesis said:
Just take a look at my tutorial, you have there resources package for theme creator, just unpack to theme folder and edit with GIMP
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thank you.i just downloaded gimp

Hi,
I'm glad to have found this discussion forum.
I'm using a MacBook 10.9. I find that, every time I add a new image, it'll take ages to load the preview. If I click on other sections, it'll again take ages to load. Anyone else having this problem? In the end, I had to quit the Creator and launch it again. It's so much faster this way.
Thanks for any help rendered!

josephnero said:
yeah.i tried with my old photoshop CS3 and as you said it requires cs6
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
beta 2 is out and its working fine with S5 tho.the main question is does it support lollipop ??? i dont think so .

Arrowblue said:
beta 2 is out and its working fine with S5 tho.the main question is does it support lollipop ??? i dont think so .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hey, what does it mean by "support lollipop"? my phone is using 5.0.2. I had the back/home/overview buttons images in the theme creator, however, they don't show up when I installed it on my phone. Is that related to "support lollipop"?

CONFUSED
ive use sony themes creator but when i create some navigation bar. i change back button, home , and overview but the back button got zoom idk why. i insert the same resolution image but only the back button got zoom. and another problem that i ve is in background. its said we should insert 2 image 1 for landscape and 1 for port but when i rotate my phone the image still on the same position but got zoom again. idk why so many bug.