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
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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.
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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?
After "un-rooting", I was able to successfully load Lollipop on my Note 4, and then re-root it. Everything is working well for me.
I would however prefer to find a dark theme to replace the silly looking bright colors used in the stock theme. (ie: settings, dialer, contacts list, … )
Anyone know of a dark theme mod that will work will Lollipop on Sprint Note 4?
You'll need to wait for tx_dbs to build his hybrid sprint ROM for LP he'll make a dark version of it unless someone else does it via themes note 4 section. Until then, wait it out.
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
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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:
Hi, i have ocd with white system ui and would like to change it to dark mode. As our device is currently on 8.0 that means there is no system support builtin for theming.
I know zenui offers its own theming but lets be serious here , changing wallpaper and icons is not called theming.
Here in this thread i would like to know if anybody has tried andromeda support for rootless substratum theming on zenfone 5z. If yes, then how it works. Also would like to know if it would be bad option to go this way. Any other theming method suggestions are also welcome.
In past root had been my daily friend so i had no struggle with theming. Hope, that will be true here. Just waiting for development to settle.
Update : Ok so i went ahead and purchased andromeda for rootless substratum.
So far i have tried swift dark theme. I was able to theme most of the google apps but no success with system ui. I believe that it a drawback from asus that zenui is not OMS ready.
I will try bunch off other themes and see where i can get.
I did the same thing 2 days ago with the same results. Sucks. I also paid an tried another theme, same results, it's was Sai's Oreo dark. The Swift dark theme also crashed my Outlook from opening and affected other apps negatively as well.
Please let me know if you find one that changes the system UI a well!!!!
I am not sure about the system UI but I can get the Settings page to go dark using 'Dirty Dark' from Playstore. You guys can try that. Andromeda and substratum works fine for me. I also have swift black. It does the heavy lifting for me. I miss AOSP. I just don't see myself liking the zenUI. It lacks A little elegance for my taste.
Attaching a screenshot of the settings page.
Hello, i was searching for a Pixel theme and nothing, any ideas?
oli231 said:
Hello, i was searching for a Pixel theme and nothing, any ideas?
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Probably the easiest way would be to use a custom launcher, something like Ruthless or Nova can be configured to look like a Pixel. You can use custom icon packs and widgets to complete the look.
If you want to go deeper then something like Hex Installer would work as well. I prefer the AOSP status icons over the Samsung ones personally.