Hello,
I found today a version of the default htc_ime with included cyrillic(bulgarian) language in it and tried to install it. The guide said to replace the .apk file in /system/app. I did that, restarted the phone and now the Touch Input method is missing in the options and missing when i try to change the input method.
Before replacing the file I kept a copy of the original on the sdcard. When things went wrong i copied my original file back to /system/app and restarted, but the problem remains. Still I don't have the Touch Input (htc_ime) keyboard present.
What else could go wrong when copying that file, what else could have changed, and how can I restore it ?
Yes I know i should have done a nandroid backup before doing that, but just thought nothing can go wrong, silly me ..
Did you change the permissions via chmod to 640 / rw-r-r ?
If not this could be the Problem...
This could be the problem. The other files in /system/app as seen in root explorer have permissions rw-r--r--, but the file I have copied has ---rwxr-x. My original file also has these, so i guess they are changed when I copied it through adb shell. I will change them when I get home and post an update of the situation.
You should be able to change the permissions from within RootExplorer.
Yes it worked. I changed the permissions through root explorer. I have the default keyboard again. Thank you, you are a life saver.
CyberTod said:
Hello,
I found today a version of the default htc_ime with included cyrillic(bulgarian) language in it and tried to install it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Tod, can you give me the link to htc_ime with Bulgarian?
PhilipZ said:
Hi Tod, can you give me the link to htc_ime with Bulgarian?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I second that - can you please post a link to the Bulgarian layout ?
The title pretty much says it all.. How can I change latinIME from a Rom to SwiftKey, so it is my default keyboard..?
Tried it the same way you can change launcher, giving it the same name, but doesn't seem to work..
Grtz and thanks in advance..
Hi TimHermans,
Do you mean to flash the app so that it runs as a system app, or selecting SwiftKey as the default keyboard? FWIW, having a keyboard running as system can lead to FCs, especially when there is an update. If you want to set SwiftKey as the default keyboard, there is a setting in Language Settings where you can set Text Input. Once you set it as default, the system keyboard should no longer be cached. However, to be sure, you can always freeze latinIME, though I'd just leave it and set SwiftKey as default.
Also, If you are running ICS/JB, I think you can just disable the system keyboard from App Settings, which is the same thing as freezing btw.
In case you really want to run it as a system app, you have a few ways to go about achieving this task, but make sure you set the permissions correctly, otherwise it might not work at all. If you have renamed and moved the app to /system/apps did you remember to fix the permissions?
Re: [Q] How to add SwiftKey to a Rom as default keyboard..
While installing swiftkey provides an option to mark it as the default keyboard. You didn't get that option?
Or go to settings, language and keyboard and there you can select and set swiftkey as your default keyboard.
Sent from my HTC Desire
Re: [Q] How to add SwiftKey to a Rom as default keyboard..
I think I didn't express myself that good.. Of course I know how to set it as default keyboard, but I wanted to know if I can replace the default latinIME with it, in the rom's zip, so it is pre installed as default..
Grtz
Re: [Q] How to add SwiftKey to a Rom as default keyboard..
TimHermans said:
I think I didn't express myself that good.. Of course I know how to set it as default keyboard, but I wanted to know if I can replace the default latinIME with it, in the rom's zip, so it is pre installed as default..
Grtz
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've done this with swiftkey and other apps like launcher/sms/calendar on mildwild oxygen, works fine.
Not all apps work on system partition however, bit of hit and miss, never had any luck with Swype for instance.
When swiftkey and other system apps get updated, use an app like system cleanup to move then back to /system
@eddiehk6: How did u do it exactly..? Could you explain it in more detail plz.. still can't get it to work. (Swiftkey)
Thnx in advance mate..
I have tried replaceing the latinIME by renaming swiftkey to latinIME but that gives me force close.. i think its because swiftkey has a config wizard at forst start, dunno..
Grtz
Some apps don't work from system partition; what you could try is to delete the stock keyboard (in this case, LatinIME) and add swiftkey to data partiotion in rom (most roms have a data/app folder, apk placed here behave after install as regular, not system apps)
Re: [Q] How to add SwiftKey to a Rom as default keyboard..
TimHermans said:
@eddiehk6: How did u do it exactly..? Could you explain it in more detail plz.. still can't get it to work. (Swiftkey)
Thnx in advance mate..
I have tried replaceing the latinIME by renaming swiftkey to latinIME but that gives me force close.. i think its because swiftkey has a config wizard at forst start, dunno..
Grtz
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try clearing data in swiftkey app first?
If not then 2 ways:
1. When installing the Rom from scratch, open the Rom with 7zip (double click, don't extract). Copy your purchased swiftkey apk into /system/app. Close 7zip, full wipe and install as normal.
2. If Rom is already installed, install swiftkey like any other app from play store, then use another app like system cleanup to manually move to system/app and reboot.
In both cases make sure you have enough free space in /system, otherwise Rom won't boot. You can delete latinIME anytime afterwards once you get swiftkey working.
Re: [Q] How to add SwiftKey to a Rom as default keyboard..
Yes i lnow that.. But thats not what i want.. I want to replace latinIME.APK in the install zip from ROM.. Hope somebody gets me..
Greetz
TimHermans said:
Yes i lnow that.. Nut thats not what i want.. I want to replace latinIME.APK in the install zip from ROM.. Hope somebody gets me..
Greetz
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i understand exactly what you want lol, because i do exactly what you describe with mildwild oxygen.
i've basically given the instructions, i'll spell them out in a bit more detail:
- make sure you have purchased and downloaded swiftkey apk to your phone already
- copy the apk from data/app or sd-ext/app onto computer by using a file explorer and/or cloud app like dropbox
- double click to open your rom.zip with 7zip (don't extract).
- delete latinIME.apk from system/app
- copy swiftkey.apk into system/app, you won't have to rename it
- close 7zip to update rom.zip
- full wipe and install rom, assuming you have correct hboot and sd-ext correctly setup etc...
this works for me with mildwild oxygen, not sure if it works with all roms. once the rom boots for the first time you may have to skip all the initial account/wifi setup screens if swiftkey keeps crashing before it's done the setup process.
if this method still doesn't work for you, i recommend keeping latinIME.apk in system/app so you definitely have a working keyboard when you do first setup from full wipe. then setup swiftkey by signing in etc. just delete latinIME.apk afterwards, the end result is the same...
[if all you want is swiftkey as system app with your existing rom (without having to full wipe and start all over again), just install swiftkey like any other app, then use systemcleanup to move it to /system/app like i said before. delete latinIME.apk afterwards, the end result is the same...]
Re: [Q] How to add SwiftKey to a Rom as default keyboard..
Thnx man for the good explanation.. The initial setup is the problem, can't get it to complete because of fc's.. No problem..
Grtz
Re: [Q] How to add SwiftKey to a Rom as default keyboard..
I think I kinda found a workaround.. I managed to create a flashable zip with titanium backup, it also adds data so no configuration wizard I guess.. So I'll create Rom with no keyboard and flash the zip afterwards.. No time now so I'll do it later..
Was also thinking whether it is possible to add data (as in settings) of system apps to a Rom..? (meaning the install zip..)
Could be a definite fix I think..
Grtz
TimHermans said:
I think I kinda found a workaround.. I managed to create a flashable zip with titanium backup, it also adds data so no configuration wizard I guess.. So I'll create Rom with no keyboard and flash the zip afterwards.. No time now so I'll do it later..
Was also thinking whether it is possible to add data (as in settings) of system apps to a Rom..? (meaning the install zip..)
Could be a definite fix I think..
Grtz
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most keyboards have some lib files that they need. These lib files (with extention ".so ") can be found inside the apk of keyboard app. just copy those lib files to system/lib folder in the rom and app should work properly. Hope this helps.
Re: [Q] How to add SwiftKey to a Rom as default keyboard..
RITZYtheDEVIL said:
Most keyboards have some lib files that they need. These lib files (with extention ".so ") can be found inside the apk of keyboard app. just copy those lib files to system/lib folder in the rom and app should work properly. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks.. sounds good.. i will try it later.. kinda busy atm..
Edit: if I change SwiftKey to system app with titanium backup it starts to FC so I don't think it's about libs..
Re: [Q] How to add SwiftKey to a Rom as default keyboard..
I do the exact same thing with Swype keyboard, move it to system/app and make it part of the ROM. It will f/c if the lib file is not copied to system/lib. This is an absolute necessity. Hope you get it to work.
Re: [Q] How to add SwiftKey to a Rom as default keyboard..
Just for the heads up.. Gave up on SwiftKey, just doesn't want to be on /system..
Re: [Q] How to add SwiftKey to a Rom as default keyboard..
Ok so like most things in life when ur ready to give up, it suddenly works.. Did it before but don't know why now it works.. Added lib files to the folder and voila.. Okidoki..
Edit: In case anybody is interested, cameraICS also needs a /lib file, else the panoramic function won't work..
Thanks everyone for the help..
Greetz
TimHermans said:
Ok so like most things in life when ur ready to give up, it suddenly works.. Did it before but don't know why now it works.. Added lib files to the folder and voila.. Okidoki..
Edit: In case anybody is interested, cameraICS also needs a /lib file, else the panoramic function won't work..
Thanks everyone for the help..
Greetz
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, every app that has lib files inside the .apk needs them. Adobe flash, many music/video players, keyboards, etc need them.
TimHermans said:
Ok so like most things in life when ur ready to give up, it suddenly works.. Did it before but don't know why now it works.. Added lib files to the folder and voila.. Okidoki..
Edit: In case anybody is interested, cameraICS also needs a /lib file, else the panoramic function won't work..
Thanks everyone for the help..
Greetz
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
could you give a step-by-step HOW-TO?
I also want to do the same, just flash it with the ROM and then its done.
Still trying to figure this out.
Thank you!
Chief-Glider said:
Hi,
could you give a step-by-step HOW-TO?
I also want to do the same, just flash it with the ROM and then its done.
Still trying to figure this out.
Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use 7zip so you can edit .zip files without needing to re-sign them
Delete LatinIME.apk in /system/app folder in your ROM zip
Extract the libswiftkeysdk-java-internal.so file from Swiftkey.apk in the /lib folder to your desktop
Add the libswiftkeysdk-java-internal.so file to the /system/lib folder in your ROM zip
Add the Swiftkey.apk file to the /system/app folder in your ROM zip
Done.. !!
Greetz
Hello.
In this tutorial, I will try to explain how to add some language(s) in your phone when it's not implemented by the vendor (localized ROM).
I will not cover how to change the keyboard language (or layout) as there are a lot of free keyboards in the market with a lot of localizations. (In my case I need azerty French keyboard that is not implemented in my ROM).
I did it with KitKat (4.4.2) but should be ok with almost any version.
It's for Samsung devices, I really don't know if it's work with others brands try it !
I'm pretty sure that only the 1st phase should maybe not work in other brands, The last 3 phases should be OK with any brand.
I'm French and living in Japan, I recently bought a Samsung Galaxy S4 who is restricted by Japanese vendor (DOCOMO) to only English, Japanese & Korean languages.
I've read a lot of things before I could translate the OS (French in my case) , and I could'nt find any good tutorial. Some people say you can't, some say you have to recompile your ROM , etc...
First, you could install something like "applocal2" for add your language in already translated apps, but of course, it will not work for the non-already translated apps (usually system apps).
As I'm new here (look at my join date ), I coudn't post link, so google for them !
What you need :
In your device :
Your device must be rooted.
Root Browser or equivalent.
USB debugging turned on.
In your PC :
A Rom for your device with the language you want inside in the same version of Android. (Find it in sammobile.com site for Samsung devices).
sgs2toext4.jar. (Transform the system.img.ext4 from the extracted ROM to a readable format for the next tool)
ext2explorer. (Extract the files from the system.img.ext4)
Virtuous Ten Studio. (Don't have to present it !! The must have tool !!)
7zip or equivalent.
What you have to know :
This is always dangerous to play with system files ! I'm not responsible if you broke your device !!
Always do a backup of the file you will modify ! I suggest you copy them on your PC and you keep them in the original folder with a modified name, as this you could maybe try to restore them via ADB if something is wrong.
You don't have to bother with the signature mode when recompiling system (only) apk (any of them are ok). But you should copy the "META-INF" folder & "AndroidManifest.xml" file from the original apk to the newly repacked apk. (First erase them from the newly created apk inside 7zip, then open the original apk with 7zip and copy and paste to the new apk).
When copying new apk from PC to device, first copy them in the /system/ folder, then change permission to 644 (rw-r--r--) before finally moving them to the original folder.
How it's work :
The principe, as you should understand, is to extract both your apks and the apks from the dowloaded ROM, copy the ressources in your language from it to your apks and then rebuild them.
In our case (at least mine ) these apks are in the folders :
/system/app/
/system/framework/
/system/priv-app/
Ok, here we GO !
1st phase : extract the files from the downloaded ROM with the language you want.
Extract the ROM (.zip) with 7zip, and then extract again the resulting file (.tar.md5) with 7zip (you should have an error : don't care of it).
Open sgs2toext4.jar and past in it the file system.img.ext4. Wait it take time. It will produce a new file named : system.img.ext4.img
Open ext2explorer and choose open the previously created file. Then right click on it and save. Create a new folder (I named it sys), and press ok. Wait it take time.
You now should have the /system/ directory extracted inside the sys directory with the apks who have your language in them.
2nd phase : Find the apks you need to modify. This is actually the most harder part !
There are a lot of apks in the 3 directories I say earlier. You don't have to translate all of them.
The 1st one you should change is /system/framework/framework-res.apk or /system/priv-app/SystemUI.apk. One of them (don't remember wich one ) give you the option of your language in the settings.
Launch VTS (Virtual Ten Studio) and click New Solution
Choose the file you want to open, then Import.
Project-Type must be Apk-Project.
Choose a Solution Name (for example Original_name_of_apk or Translated_name_of_apk), then Click Next.
Should be Basic Theming. Click Next.
Click Next.
What I did is to open some of them one by one to see if there are localized languages in it.
Here a non-exhaustive list of what I found :
Some of them are the overlay by Samsung (TouchWizz), and some of them are Japanese version of app.
Try to find yours (for example JContacts.apk could be SecContacts_OSup.apk in the downloaded ROM) by opening both versions and comparing the file /res/values/strings.xml.
/system/framework/twframework-res.apk
/system/framework/framework-res.apk
/system/priv-app/SystemUI.apk
/system/priv-app/Keyguard.apk
/system/priv-app/Jcontacts.apk
/system/priv-app/SecLauncher3.apk
/system/priv-app/SecPhone_JPN.apk
/system/priv-app/SecSafetyAssurance.apk
/system/priv-app/SecSettings.apk
/system/app/AccessControl.apk
/system/app/AssistantMenu.apk
/system/app/EasySettings.apk
/system/app/MultiWindowTrayService.apk
/system/app/SViewCoverService.apk
3rd phase : Copy the language from one apk to another.
Now you have found some apk to "translate", we must copy the /res/ folders we want from the decompiled apk of the ROM who contain your language to your original apk.
Look in the /res/ folder in VTS and find the differents languages : they are /res/value-xx/ but you could have in some case /res/raw-xx & /res/xml-xx.
Anyway,
Copy from the folder created by VTS all the directories who have the language you want (in Windows Seven it's : \Documents\Virtuous Ten Studio\Projects\Translated_name_of_apk\name_of_apk\Data\res) and copy them to the VTS directory of your original apk ( \Documents\Virtuous Ten Studio\Projects\Original_name_of_apk\name_of_apk\Data\res).
In VTS, reopen or reload the original solution.
Click Build all in the top tab Home. Wait it finish.
Very important : As said before, open your original apk and the newly created apk ( \Documents\Virtuous Ten Studio\Projects\Original_name_of_apk\name_of_apk\Binary) with 7zip, and replace META-INF folder & AndroidManifest.xml file from the original one to the new one. This will sign your apk.
4th phase : Replace the original apk whith the new one.
Copy the new apk on your device, and copy it in the /system/ folder.
Very important :Change permissions to 644 (rw-r--r--) with Root Browser in the device, and then move it to the original folder remplacing the original one.
That's it, wait few minutes and play with your device to see if there are no problems and then reboot, go settings, change language and see the changes !
I suggest you reboot after each change you made in case something goes wrong.
Notes :
In some case I had errors when decompiling apk. I had resolved that by remplacing the version of ApkTool in VTS by the last one (C:\Program Files (x86)\Virtuous Ten Studio\External\ApkTool) version apktool_2.0.0rc3.jar. Then remove the other 2.0.0 jar file.
In some case I couln't build the new apk because of errors in some layout files. I didn't manage to resolve that as the both ROM I have (mine and downloaded one) have the same issue.
If something goes wrong (but it shouldn't be), for example lot of messages "error xxx should close" just when you replace the apk before rebooting try to lanch an adb shell and to retrieve the original apk you had saved in the original dir by erasing the new one and rename the saved one. In some devices you have first to remount the system partion in rw as it's read only.
EDIT :
I had a bug with 1 file I modified : SecMms.apk
I'd tried it and it was working fine, but after I receive message, it crash always.
After some testing, I got it working by using the old version of APKTOOL (1.5.2) for decompiling it.