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.
hello, I'm rooted and I wanted to change a few of my icons so they are changed in the app drawer. on my ipod touch I used iFile to find the app's folder and overwrite the icon.png, I tried to use Root Explorer to do this but I can't figure out where the apps install to. Could anyone give me a hint? thanks in advance.
12gage said:
hello, I'm rooted and I wanted to change a few of my icons so they are changed in the app drawer. on my ipod touch I used iFile to find the app's folder and overwrite the icon.png, I tried to use Root Explorer to do this but I can't figure out where the apps install to. Could anyone give me a hint? thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
System apps would be /system/app
User apps would be /data/app
thank you, sorry for the ignorant reply but all I found were apk's. the apps don't unpack files into a directory when installed? they stay and run from an apk on your phone?
12gage said:
thank you, sorry for the ignorant reply but all I found were apk's. the apps don't unpack files into a directory when installed? they stay and run from an apk on your phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, and the data from them is stored in /data/data/
freeza said:
Yes, and the data from them is stored in /data/data/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thank you, so if I don't see the icon files in data/data then I'm screwed as far as being able to change it?
Iirc here are the general steps.
Search to get the exact syntax.
Make a copy of the apk.
Rename the copy suffix to .zip from . apk
Extract the image stuff and replace it.
Repack the zip.
Rename it to apk
/system/app/ or sometimes /data/app/ if you modify an app you have to sign it again or the phone won't recognize it
EDIT: Use ninjamorph and just drag and drop the pings in there and here is myn's method of signing
myn's post
ninjamorph thread
I like the 5 icon touchwiz dock from Calkulin's rom but I would like to stay stock otherwise. Does anyone know how to do this mod? Im on el29 stock rooted. thanks for any help
chase7545 said:
I like the 5 icon touchwiz dock from Calkulin's rom but I would like to stay stock otherwise. Does anyone know how to do this mod? Im on el29 stock rooted. thanks for any help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
...download calkulin's stock rom once downloaded go to where you downloaded it on your computer double click the zip file to open it up inside the archive manage open the system folder open the app folder scroll down to touchwiz30launcher.apk...thats the file that controls touchwiz and the file you are replacing...
once you have this open, double click on whatever calk rom you already have downloaded whether it be 2.8.1 regular or deploted...if you dont have the zip downloaded to your computer downloaded again...follow the steps i have before to get to the same location... open the zip goto system goto app scrool down to touchwiz30launcher.apk the files are named the same but calk altered the apk file internally... extract that file
go to where u extracted the file copy it into the stock rom and replace the already existing file once completed close the zip and put the altered stock rom zip on ur phone and flash as usual...
when your phone boots up it is going to look like the old touchwiz with the four buttons on the dock bar... open your app drawer click on the menu button click on view type and change to customizable grid...click on the menu button again and hit edit click on whatever app u want and drag it down to the dock... click on menu button again then view type and change it to what ever you like
if you followed my instructions ur app drawer will be 5x5 and will be able to have 5 buttons on the dock bar in a stock rom
lunchboxVA said:
...download calkulin's stock rom once downloaded go to where you downloaded it on your computer double click the zip file to open it up inside the archive manage open the system folder open the app folder scroll down to touchwiz30launcher.apk...thats the file that controls touchwiz and the file you are replacing...
once you have this open, double click on whatever calk rom you already have downloaded whether it be 2.8.1 regular or deploted...if you dont have the zip downloaded to your computer downloaded again...follow the steps i have before to get to the same location... open the zip goto system goto app scrool down to touchwiz30launcher.apk the files are named the same but calk altered the apk file internally... extract that file
go to where u extracted the file copy it into the stock rom and replace the already existing file once completed close the zip and put the altered stock rom zip on ur phone and flash as usual...
when your phone boots up it is going to look like the old touchwiz with the four buttons on the dock bar... open your app drawer click on the menu button click on view type and change to customizable grid...click on the menu button again and hit edit click on whatever app u want and drag it down to the dock... click on menu button again then view type and change it to what ever you like
if you followed my instructions ur app drawer will be 5x5 and will be able to have 5 buttons on the dock bar in a stock rom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great thanks for the info. Do you think I could extract calkulins rom, transfer the tw30launcher.apk to my sd card, replace my current tw30launcher.apk using root explorer, then reboot?
chase7545 said:
Great thanks for the info. Do you think I could extract calkulins rom, transfer the tw30launcher.apk to my sd card, replace my current tw30launcher.apk using root explorer, then reboot?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's exactly how to do it. After reboot simply drag a fifth icon to the dock and you're done
Sent from my Blazing ET4G
tkemack said:
That's exactly how to do it. After reboot simply drag a fifth icon to the dock and you're done
Sent from my Blazing ET4G
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't work for some reason. Twlauncher won't load at all. Could it be because calkulins launcher is deodexed and mine is stock odexed? Hopefully I can get this working. Any suggestions?
chase7545 said:
I didn't work for some reason. Twlauncher won't load at all. Could it be because calkulins launcher is deodexed and mine is stock odexed? Hopefully I can get this working. Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
get a deoxeded rom its so much easier to theme and make changes... but yes thats why it happened....
??
Isvthere a screenshot?