Despite many hours of reading threads, I'm unclear as to relationship of ROMs, themes and TouchWiz. I have two S3 I747s -- one rooted, one not. I realize that when it comes to look and feel, other than changing wallpaper and moving icons around, there's not much to be done without rooting.
1) So I know that custom ROMs have different features and functions relative to the stock ROM, and some have unique look and feel, which I assume are themes. What I don't know is how TW relates to these in a rooted phone. Is TW the stock ROM or simply the firmware that reacts to user action on the screen? Will flashing a new ROM have any effect on TW or perhaps even replace it?
2) I'm assuming themes are basically reskinning both stock and custom ROMs. I see lots of themes for, say, CM of various versions, and I see lots of themes that seem to be for rooted stock ROM phones. Do I need to find those that are specifically for an I747 to match screen resolution or will any Android theme work depending on version of OS -- ICS, JB, etc.?
3) What's the best way to back up stock theme files, and which files do I back up and then replace? I've seen references to launchers and theme selectors but am unsure what this refers to.
I'm fairly okay with stock ROM and TW but really would like to change look and feel. Anyone who runs WindowBlinds knows what I mean. I'd really like to be able to keep a number of themes on extSD and change them easily.
If there's a thread or resource that answers my questions, I'd love to know where it is. Thanks for any help.
Try various launchers like Apex or Nova
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda premium
gravedigger76 said:
Try various launchers like Apex or Nova
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for this. So launcher is basically home screen appearance, starting apps, live widget support and additional features? They seem to have their own themes, whereas free-standing themes without changing native launcher alter look and feel of home and other screens of OS. Is that about right? I need an Android glossary.
eduardo_b said:
Despite many hours of reading threads, I'm unclear as to relationship of ROMs, themes and TouchWiz. I have two S3 I747s -- one rooted, one not. I realize that when it comes to look and feel, other than changing wallpaper and moving icons around, there's not much to be done without rooting.
1) So I know that custom ROMs have different features and functions relative to the stock ROM, and some have unique look and feel, which I assume are themes. What I don't know is how TW relates to these in a rooted phone. Is TW the stock ROM or simply the firmware that reacts to user action on the screen? Will flashing a new ROM have any effect on TW or perhaps even replace it?
2) I'm assuming themes are basically reskinning both stock and custom ROMs. I see lots of themes for, say, CM of various versions, and I see lots of themes that seem to be for rooted stock ROM phones. Do I need to find those that are specifically for an I747 to match screen resolution or will any Android theme work depending on version of OS -- ICS, JB, etc.?
3) What's the best way to back up stock theme files, and which files do I back up and then replace? I've seen references to launchers and theme selectors but am unsure what this refers to.
I'm fairly okay with stock ROM and TW but really would like to change look and feel. Anyone who runs WindowBlinds knows what I mean. I'd really like to be able to keep a number of themes on extSD and change them easily.
If there's a thread or resource that answers my questions, I'd love to know where it is. Thanks for any help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. TW is just Samsung's user interface, launcher. Depending what type of ROM you flash, yes TW may be replaced. If you use a ROM based on AOKP/CM10 then you will not have TW. Also certain apps like the stock camera depend on the TW framework. You can use a different launcher and replace TW as previously suggested.
2. Im not positive on this one. Right now Im running a ROM based on AOSP. When I look for a theme in Playstore I look for one that was made for CM10/AOKP. So the phone model may not matter. Of course the ones you find on this forum thread would most likely be for this model.
TouchWiz is more than just launcher. some apps, settings, lock screen, and notification drawer, are all dependent on TouchWiz.
most custom ROMs are either based from TouchWiz or AOSP.
AOSP is as close as you'll get to a Nexus phone.
but in any case of any custom ROM, or whether you're rooted or not, you can install a launcher from the Play Store to change your Home Screen and App Drawer appearance (such as Nova, Apex, and GO). then there are some custom ROMs that use one of these launchers as the default launcher in place of AOSP or TouchWiz.
also, most custom ROMs come with a custom Kernel. but there are some that just come with the stock Kernel.
Okay, I'm much clearer on TW and ROMs, but not quite sure about theme compatibility. What happens if CM theme is flashed to stock ROM phone? I want to avoid an endless boot situation, which I assume is among worst things that happen with theme incompatibility.
Do themes readily work with different phones -- i.e., run on HTC, Motorola, Galaxy, etc. with different size screens?
Finally, I'm thinking ZipThemer might be most efficient way to easily change themes as long as zips can be titled with theme name and not update.zip. I like the ability to backup and recover original theme. I still also want to have original theme files backed up somewhere else. Does anyone know names and locations of these?
Related
hi guys
i was wondering if any of the most popular roms like villainrom or revolutionron have any kind of themes or skins that change the design of the rom like MIUI does, i really hate the contact screen from factory android and i also lile the white design from MIUI but wanted to ask first if i should stick to Miui, the only thing is that for galaxy s2 is still in early stages, not 100% working
thanks
Try Revolution Rom and install kitchen.apk to change boot animations theams, Baseband, widgets through it on the fly.
arunm said:
Try Revolution Rom and install kitchen.apk to change boot animations theams, Baseband, widgets through it on the fly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks man, that was the first rom i tried, but calling screen and most of the layout is android classic design. What i meant was, a theme that changes, contextual menus, the calling screen layout again, replaces the black background , etc
i dont even know if its possible to do this but ive seen similar results with jkay themes.
drive88mph said:
hi guys
i was wondering if any of the most popular roms like villainrom or revolutionron have any kind of themes or skins that change the design of the rom like MIUI does, i really hate the contact screen from factory android and i also lile the white design from MIUI but wanted to ask first if i should stick to Miui, the only thing is that for galaxy s2 is still in early stages, not 100% working
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes they Do
try the Jkay Themes and Mods
Note: Make a Backup through CWM 1st.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1154278
As you didn't know I'm new to all this, however I was able to get my phone rooted and loaded with Jugg 4.0 with the ICS theme. My question is when I go to the theme forum there is a thread where people are posting all these different themes. Are they creating these themselves or are they getting them from another sources. I dont see as many themes in the theme forum that are showing up in the theme thread.
bicho6 said:
As you didn't know I'm new to all this, however I was able to get my phone rooted and loaded with Jugg 4.0 with the ICS theme. My question is when I go to the theme forum there is a thread where people are posting all these different themes. Are they creating these themselves or are they getting them from another sources. I dont see as many themes in the theme forum that are showing up in the theme thread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The thing is , most themes have to be made for individual ROMs so things don't break ..
Since a new build is out the KL1 , you may not find many themes yet. But be careful, you must make sure that any themes you do find here or other places are compatible with your specific ROM/Build ..
Flashing a theme from the wrong build can cause boot loops or worse ....
tcboo said:
The thing is , most themes have to be made for individual ROMs so things don't break ..
Since a new build is out the KL1 , you may not find many themes yet. But be careful, you must make sure that any themes you do find here or other places are compatible with your specific ROM/Build ..
Flashing a theme from the wrong build can cause boot loops or worse ....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your replay, so when I see the ADW Launcher app how do I know what ROM that is for?
ADW launcher is an app which works for any rom. It basically allows you to customize your phone however you want it. It has a ton of customization for your home screen and launcher but thats pretty much all it does. I bought it on the 10day sale and i love it. There is also a function in the setting which allows you to search the android market for tons of custom made themes, mostly free but some are paid.
Plus if ur running cm7 it comes with a theme chooser, and that has hundreds of themes
Thanks for the info and the caution on using theme's.
There are a few things that I have noticed from a noob's perspective in regards to theme's. Its clear from the "post your homescreen" thread in the themes forum that there are hundreds of themes out there. It also seems that many of the users are running juggernaut ROM. From what I can see posted in the themes forum, there aren't many themes made specifically with Juggernaut in mind. There seems to be a large difference in the number of themes offered from Jugg in the Theme forum to the number of different themes people are posting in the theme thread. I'm curious as to where people are grabbing these themes from. Is it from the ADW app in the market place?
bicho6 said:
Thanks for the info and the caution on using theme's.
There are a few things that I have noticed from a noob's perspective in regards to theme's. Its clear from the "post your homescreen" thread in the themes forum that there are hundreds of themes out there. It also seems that many of the users are running juggernaut ROM. From what I can see posted in the themes forum, there aren't many themes made specifically with Juggernaut in mind. There seems to be a large difference in the number of themes offered from Jugg in the Theme forum to the number of different themes people are posting in the theme thread. I'm curious as to where people are grabbing these themes from. Is it from the ADW app in the market place?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What you are mainly seeing is Launcher themes and widgets , there are many launchers that can really be customized, and it can make your phone look totally new ... ADW, Launcher Pro, and my favorite Go Launcher EX. With the launchers it is much easier to change Icons, colors and such ... Widgets can change the whole look of your phone as well, something IOS can't do, so iphone people see it and think it is something totally custom when it is simply placing the right widget in the right place, which I think is quite funny ...
tcboo said:
What you are mainly seeing is Launcher themes and widgets , there are many launchers that can really be customized, and it can make your phone look totally new ... ADW, Launcher Pro, and my favorite Go Launcher EX. With the launchers it is much easier to change Icons, colors and such ... Widgets can change the whole look of your phone as well, something IOS can't do, so iphone people see it and think it is something totally custom when it is simply placing the right widget in the right place, which I think is quite funny ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks you for the explaination, I think I pretty much have it now.
For the sake of anyone in the future searching XDA and my post comes up. Ultimately like tcboo mentions your going to want to use a launcher you can download from the app market. I downloaded ADW and what was tripping me up with ADW is that its sort of a hidden app in the since there isn't an icon into the your application area to run it. When you hit your home button your phone will ask you if you want to use ADW or TouchWiz as a launcher. Choose ADW however don't set is as default until you are comfotable with it. To get to the setting of ADE you will hit the menu button to the left of your home button and hit more, then click on the more button and select ADWSettings. From here is where you can tweak the settings of the launcher and apply new themes you downloaded from the app market.
I just wanted to know if there were any ROMs like MIUI in the aspect of customizability, I love the way MIUI changes absolutely everything about everything, such as the settings menu and lockscreen, pretty much ever menu out there, I just want my sgs3 to stand out you know? I want to know if there are any other ROMs similar that change the phone completely, I would use MIUI but it is too similar with IOS, no app drawer and such, thanks in advance! Please no trolling, I have looked around and couldn't seem to find any. Cheers!
-Dragos
Might I suggest giving this one a try.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1766684
[ROM] AOKP(Jellybean)Task & Ktoonsez (10/9) (AT&T/Rogers)
Options - lock screen mods
- notification pull down mods including background
- custom led colors ( you choose )
- customs vibration patterns ( you make )
Many many more. Add in a theme using built in theme chooser and away you go.
jethro650 said:
Might I suggest giving this one a try.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1766684
[ROM] AOKP(Jellybean)Task & Ktoonsez (10/9) (AT&T/Rogers)
Options - lock screen mods
- notification pull down mods including background
- custom led colors ( you choose )
- customs vibration patterns ( you make )
Many many more. Add in a theme using built in theme chooser and away you go.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha I'm currently using this ROM, and I didn't even know those options! I feel kinda dumb right now lol, thanks!
But I was kind of thinking along the lines of completely changing how android looks, apart from JB and ICS I was looking for something that doesn't look too much like "android".
In that case I would suggest you have a look at some of the home screen threads or the theme threads to get a completely different look. You most likely going to need a theme and/or icon packs and spend quite a bit of time customizing how your phone looks. Oh, and the options in the ROM your running are in settings, ROM control. Here for working led colors
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1890774
AOKP RGB LED working hex colors
jethro650 said:
In that case I would suggest you have a look at some of the home screen threads or the theme threads to get a completely different look. You most likely going to need a theme and/or icon packs and spend quite a bit of time customizing how your phone looks. Oh, and the options in the ROM your running are in settings, ROM control. Here for working led colors
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1890774
AOKP RGB LED working hex colors
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Might be just a silly question, but where do I find the themes? Are they connected to the AOKP ROM itself?
Dragosmp said:
I just wanted to know if there were any ROMs like MIUI in the aspect of customizability, I love the way MIUI changes absolutely everything about everything, such as the settings menu and lockscreen, pretty much ever menu out there, I just want my sgs3 to stand out you know? I want to know if there are any other ROMs similar that change the phone completely, I would use MIUI but it is too similar with IOS, no app drawer and such, thanks in advance! Please no trolling, I have looked around and couldn't seem to find any. Cheers!
-Dragos
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you can install Apex launcher or any other launcher on top of MIUI to make it look and behave like any other rooms with the options and functionality of MIUI
Dragosmp said:
Might be just a silly question, but where do I find the themes? Are they connected to the AOKP ROM itself?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
play store search for cm10 or aokp themes
Dragosmp said:
I just wanted to know if there were any ROMs like MIUI in the aspect of customizability, I love the way MIUI changes absolutely everything about everything, such as the settings menu and lockscreen, pretty much ever menu out there, I just want my sgs3 to stand out you know? I want to know if there are any other ROMs similar that change the phone completely, I would use MIUI but it is too similar with IOS, no app drawer and such, thanks in advance! Please no trolling, I have looked around and couldn't seem to find any. Cheers!
-Dragos
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you can install Apex launcher or any other launcher on top of MIUI to make it look and behave like any other Android looking roms with the options and functionality of MIUI
Tried all of these ROMs, still have a few more to try for any not listed..
AOKP
CM10.1
PAC man
Paranoid Android
Hyperdrive
Chemistry
Goodness
TN Superior
AOSPA
TW stock/rooted slightly modded
Haven't tried;
Carbon
Helly Bean
JellyBomb (don't like the dark theming)
Liquid Smooth
Avatar (link broken as of this post)
MIUI (never been a fan)
Blackbean
Slim
fre3 (seems promising, just not gotten to it yet)
Anything I missed (man there are a ton of ROMs for SIII, I love it and hate it at the same time)
Now to the point; I feel like there's a gap in the ROMs, I like CM10.1 and AOKP, but I miss the TW launcher..and on TW ROMS I miss the ROM control/quickpanel style settings/notification menu. Also, would love to have the Hybrid settings and the multiview setup, NoteII camera..so far I have liked Goodness the best because it does have the TW style settings menu with some tweaks, but it is missing the AOSP style notifications window.
Ideal ROM, at least for me would include-
TW launcher with modded notifications/settings menu (or AOSP launcher with TW abilities added in, probably easier, like touching and rotating the device from lockscreen to access camera, auto-call when viewing contacts and putting the phone to your ear, Stay awake with eye-awareness, flip to mute, tilt-to-zoom and tilt-to-scroll function when dragging icons among others)
Quickpanel notifications menu and CM-style alarm clock/calender in notifications window with CM-style quick toggles
AOSP JB/ICS theme, don't like TW theme and most third-party themes are tacky to my eye
NoteII apps like SNote and Camera/gallery
S Voice
ROM Control/Navbar/Advanced options (clock location, battery bar, navigation, touchkey backlight toggle, home-button wake toggle)
Added lockscreens from other devices (particularly like the Optimus G lockscreen)
Status bar brightness (not the slider/toggle but the sweep motion)
SBeam and other NFC apps/options
MULTIVIEW
Hybrid options (Tablet UI, Phablet, etc)
Volume button music control
Ability to put folders in the dockbar, create multiple docks\
Screen transitions
Then you could add other things as needed, sound fixes/mods (AC!D or Xloud, VOODOO WOULD BE GREAT I MISS IT, I know Supercurio was working on it last I checked), Kernel tweaks, OC/UV/GOV, theming options, Xperia engine if desired, anything I can't think of now.
In my eyes, if this could be done, that would be the ideal ROM..right now, as of all the ones I have tried, I like half of it and dislike the other half- I feel things are missing. GB touchwiz on the Epic4G never did much for me, but I really like the newer TW options and miss them in AOSP ROMs, likewise, I dislike the lack of options in TW ROMs and miss my CM10.1 on the Epic when I can't do something simple like change the LED color/action, go straight to my alarms from the quickpanel, slide over the status bar to adjust brightness, etc.
Any ideas/questions/comments?
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And you missed TPR on the list...very insulted. J/K
Basically from what I read, you want all the touchwiz functions with the AOSP software looks and such. Its not impossible, but it would take a lot of work to port touchwiz to AOSP.
Sent From My Rooted, S-OFF'd Blackberry Curve using the iOS XDA Application for Android.
Whiplashh said:
Basically from what I read, you want all the touchwiz functions with the AOSP software looks and such. Its not impossible, but it would take a lot of work to port touchwiz to AOSP.
Sent From My Rooted, S-OFF'd Blackberry Curve using the iOS XDA Application for Android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know nothing about developing or anything like that so maybe someone can answer this: Then how come it's so easy (there are a million off em) for devs to make ROMs with a combo of any of: CM10.1 features, AOSP features, AOKP features, Paranoid Android features... why do we see so many ROMs like that then?! But no TouchWiz features+AOSP features ROM... confuses me what the diff is lol..
I am using Goodness right now. I cannot remember exactly what the AOSP notification window looks like but there is an AOSP theme for Goodness under the Goodness Updater -> Themes -> AOSP Theme
It changes many of the app icons as well as skins on things like the Phone. There are also many other themes and mods under the updater.
Joe0113 said:
I know nothing about developing or anything like that so maybe someone can answer this: Then how come it's so easy (there are a million off em) for devs to make ROMs with a combo of any of: CM10.1 features, AOSP features, AOKP features, Paranoid Android features... why do we see so many ROMs like that then?! But no TouchWiz features+AOSP features ROM... confuses me what the diff is lol..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is because TouchWiz, Sense, and all those proprietary rom types are customized by the manufacturers and rely on specific frameworks files for each (HTC roms have the Sense framework, Samsung has the Touchwiz framework, etcetera)
First let me clarify something, CM (all versions) and ParanoidAndroid (its built off of CM) are both AOSP
Now AOSP, AOKP, and ParanoidAndroid (AOSP w/ a DPI engine) are all similar in that they dont have frameworks files that are super specific to their rom type, or not AS specific and specialized that it takes a lot of work to combine them, so its easier to get features from one working on another because theres no need for any (or not a lot of) intermediate frameworks
Lol Kenny my bad..but there's only one question mark in my thread haha I thought it was general discussion since I don't really need help with anything..
But I'm using goodness right now which has most of what I want, I do miss the chronus app and I imported the sounds from cyan, and I do miss the led controls..goodness with nova launcher and the right combination of mods works quite well for me at the moment. Sorry I missed TPR, BTW that should be added to the list of ROMs I have tried
I made a splash screen for that ROM on the epic remember? Lol
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app
luna_c666 said:
Lol Kenny my bad..but there's only one question mark in my thread haha I thought it was general discussion since I don't really need help with anything..
But I'm using goodness right now which has most of what I want, I do miss the chronus app and I imported the sounds from cyan, and I do miss the led controls..goodness with nova launcher and the right combination of mods works quite well for me at the moment. Sorry I missed TPR, BTW that should be added to the list of ROMs I have tried
I made a splash screen for that ROM on the epic remember? Lol
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah general is for like general discussion...OTA updates, modems, stuff like that
Anything that is for you specifically, or only applies to a narrow group of people, is considered "help and troubleshooting"
Whiplashh said:
Basically from what I read, you want all the touchwiz functions with the AOSP software looks and such. Its not impossible, but it would take a lot of work to port touchwiz to AOSP.
Sent From My Rooted, S-OFF'd Blackberry Curve using the iOS XDA Application for Android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, pretty much...best of both worlds?
Too good to be true...
Sounds like Avatar ROM is pretty much what you're looking for.
Miui toggles, Touch wiz launcher and minor Tw features, aosp based ROM. Give it a shot. Was just updated yesterday.
I would try it, but the download links seem to be broken still..
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app
Are there any TW roms that have an app themer like CM13? Or is there an app that works like this for TW?
I really liked that feature in CM13 and never noticed it any where for TW.
Thanks.
depends on how much you need colored
Xposed/Wanam is mainly the goto to get different colors in pulldown and more
and far as native change like stock feel you would need to look at the Note 5 Port because they actually have a theme store something similar to CM theme situation
Tha_Dynasty2049 said:
depends on how much you need colored
Xposed/Wanam is mainly the goto to get different colors in pulldown and more
and far as native change like stock feel you would need to look at the Note 5 Port because they actually have a theme store something similar to CM theme situation
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, i know xposed is a big way to do all kinds of stuff to your phone. But i haven't spent much time with it. I'm gonna have to start tinkering with it. I even have it stored on my sd card, just haven't made the time. :good: