Develop Bugs

[Q] Theme Questions (noob)

ok so i have had this idea sence i bought this phone of making a complete rework theme/rom and all the icons, i have been searching around for all the info i need and found some but not all so i am going to post some questions and hopefully when i get off work the main ones will be answered so i can start. i have been dieing to do this for a week lol.
1. i have windows 7, to make things easy should i just dual boot win xp?
2. i want to change the notafication bar but i have not been able to find ware the icons are?
3. I read that i need to sign all the apks i change if i stay with win7 will the program someone made to sign apps work?
4. If i edit the image in the drawable dpi(i think thats the folder) do i also need to edit the XML docs?
5. if i want the rom to install lancher pro by default and set up a custom tray is that possible or dose it have to be changed after you install the ROM?
i know some of the questions might seem stupid but im trying to learn because i really do enjoy tweaking this phone i have been walking around with a notepad all week sketching ideas down as they come to mind so any help would be great thanks everyone.
Here is my current theme and widgets
well apparently i cant post outside links so i will have to add them later here is the album to them thou
s6.photobucket.com/albums/y230/repazentin_269/mobile%20upload/
Enjoy and Thanks ahead of time

+1, I have had a hard time finding enough info to make me comfortable to start editing the 100 or so .pngs in drawable-hdpi.

[Q] How to Mod

OK, I have been searching and searching. I can find a lot of places where they post mods but I was hoping there would be a walkthrough for first timers. I would like to start modding some of the apps on my phone. (AKA Widgets transparent or themed). is there a place I can find what files contain what images for HTC Sense? when I was playing with modding in windows mobile sense I found a lot of info but I can not seem to find too much here.
I believe these are the steps:
1. get apk
2. unzip and change images
3. repack apk
4. copy apk to /system/app
I am not sure how to repack a apk yet (any pointers would be great). I am not sure I am suppose to get the apk from the system folder or from the website? by copying it to the system folder is that enough? or do I have to install it?
Any little pointers would be great.
Thanks,
SoBBie

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=916814
Everything you need to know is there. Read all of the guides. Any questions? Ask in that thread. They are very helpful.
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App

Thanks I will start there. and ask there.
SoBBie

[Q] building custom themes for dhd and downloadable apps howto ?

hey New to the xda fourms but looking for some information about skinning I got a few questions which I've trolled over xda very little and some other sites that never directly point me in the direction I'm looking to go. I have worked with linux is in the past. ex puppy linux which I was very fond of for user information about anything to do with puppy. but I have just learned from trial and error . anyways my questions are as follows.
1.I'm wanting to build a skin for rcmix 3d ver.4 creating sense 3.5 New look and feel while changing icons for a list of apps besides the skin and sense,how do I go about changing icons/skins in apps I download?
2. what programs do I need to take on this task?
3. I am currently not using linux,using windows7 to do this, is this going to matter? or should I switch to a linux based os?
in the end all I wanna do is change the bling appel of my phone with my own custom look not someone else's idea. a basic point in the right direction would be a big help. I my even post some skins to add to the dhd world.thanks in advance.

I want to ask the same questions:
1.I'm wanting to build a skin for rcmix 3d ver.4 creating sense 3.5 New look and feel while changing icons for a list of apps besides the skin and sense,how do I go about changing icons/skins in apps I download?
2. what programs do I need to take on this task?
3. I am currently not using linux,using windows7 to do this, is this going to matter? or should I switch to a linux based os?

mont2012 said:
I want to ask the same questions:
1.I'm wanting to build a skin for rcmix 3d ver.4 creating sense 3.5 New look and feel while changing icons for a list of apps besides the skin and sense,how do I go about changing icons/skins in apps I download?
2. what programs do I need to take on this task?
3. I am currently not using linux,using windows7 to do this, is this going to matter? or should I switch to a linux based os?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want to get away the easy way, then:
1. Download rom of your choice (.zip format)
2. Extract framework-res.apk and SystemUI.apk from that zip file (you'll have to look in the data folder).
3. Go to UOT kitchen and go to file upload tab and then select "upload system files" then upload the ones you've just extracted.
4. Once they are uploaded, you can browse through all the tabs and select things of your choice.
5. When you're finished selecting, go to Sumery tab and cook your files.
6. Wait for 5-10 minutes then go to pickup tab and you should have your .zip ready for that specific rom
7. Flash the .zip
8. Enjoy!
Note: For every rom, the framework and systemui.apk is different so for every different rom you'll have to extract those files from .zip file of that rom

hey thanks,I have been looking at that kitchen cooking but I'm looking for a more manual approach at doing things. can I do that same step guide but manually skin it myself?
how do I manually recompile after I'm done?
I have been creating icons for a little over a week with gimp on windows on free time with a theme in mind looking for more of a one of a kind idea and then maybe adding themes to the dhd network after I get a handle on it, so looking to create theme packs. I been trying to do it with a few apps but I can't get the icons out of the apps to show up when I pull it apart so I figure I'm missing something I would need to go about doing my work. am I missing extensions I need to complete this?

wait4me2burn said:
hey thanks,I have been looking at that kitchen cooking but I'm looking for a more manual approach at doing things. can I do that same step guide but manually skin it myself?
how do I manually recompile after I'm done?
I have been creating icons for a little over a week with gimp on windows on free time with a theme in mind looking for more of a one of a kind idea and then maybe adding themes to the dhd network after I get a handle on it, so looking to create theme packs. I been trying to do it with a few apps but I can't get the icons out of the apps to show up when I pull it apart so I figure I'm missing something I would need to go about doing my work. am I missing extensions I need to complete this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To change the icons in downloaded apps you will need to decompile the apps apk then change out the icon in the app, them recompile. Mind you it will get replaced again when the app updates. A search would lead you to many themeing tuts on XDA

[Q] How do I install themes for the arc S

Hi, I'm sorry if this is a silly question. But how do I install Themes for the xperia arc S. I found a few themes that I would like to install, what should I do ? Do I need to download them into my phone ? or can I download them directly into my SD card? I'm sorry but I'm really new to android and dont want to take any risks in breaking my device. thanks i advance.

anyone ? just point me towards the thread and ill read it myself. thanks

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1213888
I suggest start here..
download the themes, extract, copy to sdcard, then install the apks
hope this helps

Look around or use the search function, dude.
It's not hard to find articles like that and wait before posting again.

I dont get it, I'm reading some of the guides here to install themes and they sounds complicated with replacing files and setting permissions. On the other hand, I browsed the web out of this forum and found out that I can simply install ADW Launcher and download themes very easily that way. What are the differences between these 2 methods ?

Replacing makes it inbuilt while awd launcher overwrites i.e. It's above default inbuilt theme. For the first method, you need to root your phone and need a root explorer.
Feel free to write if you are not aware .
Press thanks
Xperia Arc (rooted)

Trying to Decompile, not working... please help

Hello,
Im kind of new to developing for android....
But I did a bit of developing on blackberry in the previous years...
Ive been working on some soft buttons. I designed some buttons in a different thread that work great. But I wanted to edit my SystemUI.apk myself (navagation_bar.xml) so that I could edit a search soft key and the order of the soft key buttons myself....
I can't for the life of me, get this thing to decompile. If you open the navagation_bar.xml from within the SystemUI.apk (even in notepad ++), you get a bunch of random characters. I am assuming this is because I have to actually decompile the SystemUI.apk first.
- so I have downloaded apktools,
- I have it all setup correctly following the instructions for decompiling posted here: http://rootzwiki.com/topic/1836-guide-how-to-decompile-an-apk-updated-w-guide/
I used the framework-res.apk of the rom that I am currently using (Android Rev 2.1.2)
And then I place the SystemUI.apk in the folder to be modded, and go ahead and run the script, try an decompile it. And every single time I try it says "an error occurred, please check the log"
I check the log and nothing there makes any sense to me....
It just says an error occurred in "main" multiple resources....
and then it lists a whole bunch of (unkown source)
Super frustrated here, because I have found some coding and studied some coding and I know how to edit the navigation_bar.xml to my likings.... but I cant get the damn SystemUI.apk to decompile....
Can someone please help me here?
and ideas on what might be going wrong?
Thanks a lot

Replace the files in the "other" folder with these.
http://db.tt/1Cii8tGa

The guide you are using will only work for samsung phones running touchwhiz. You'll need to use the framework specific to the ROM you are working on.
You should be able to find all the necessary info in Brut.all's thread, although Ill admit it did take me a little while to get it all figured out myself.
[UTIL][08.12.11] Apktool v1.4.3 - a tool for reengineering apk files