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Whats the benefit of installing themes vs skins with 3rd Party Home apps?

I see a ton of skins/themes on the market for aHome and Open Home. Whats the benefit of installing themes via recovery mode vs using a 3rd party Home app to install skins/themes?

androidmonkey said:
I see a ton of skins/themes on the market for aHome and Open Home. Whats the benefit of installing themes via recovery mode vs using a 3rd party Home app to install skins/themes?
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As far as ease and stability's sake, hardly none.
Some advantages of the themes via recovery mode are these (someone correct me if I'm wrong on some):
-A theme in aHome or Open Home can't do as many changes systemwide as a normal one can (for example changing icons in the music player app or changing the layout of the unlock screen) since it only has permission to change its own stuff and the notification bar.
-Themes from xda are more plentiful since not all of them are snagged and brought to the market.
-Anything new that comes out in theming is going to be available here first, and (no offense to the devs at betterandrod, etc. They do a great job) it just will take a while longer for those sorts of changes to be able to propagate into the replacement home apps.
Bottom line: It's far safer to install themes from the market, but here is where the developers can meet and share ideas, and it's bound to throw you some patchy themes, and maybe even a bricked phone or two. It's all a matter of preference.

Well themes from here give you a much more rich experience in my opinion. While skins save you time and are easier to use, i still prefer a theme from xda. I like the little details that really make the g1 shine. There really is no danger of bricking phone, none that i know of anyways. If you know what your doing then there are no worries.

ih why do just 1 ?
Not sure about the others, but with dxTop you could keep your root theme as far as notification bar and app bar went and use the icons wallpaper or optionally app bar from one of the market themes
I was using glossy min for a while with deep blacks icons and it all seems to go well.

The only thing a skin changes is the clock, application launcher, and icons.
A theme is a full theme, including full customization vs just a few little parts.

[Q] How to get different themes

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.
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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 ....
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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?
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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 ...
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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.

Notification Bar Color changer

If anyone wants to try this, It might be a great app for the users that have a hard time seeing the grey on black that the present notification bar is displayed on the stock jelly bean ROM. I have tried a bunch of apps that change the bar's colors and some are really vivid, but are not able to display active things that pop in the bar like weather beetle, screebl icon, etc. It should be possible even without root, because the apps that are already available, can work on non rooted phones. All I want to do is change the color. That ought to be a piece of cake for someone familiar with the inner workings of the jelly bean ROM! If root is required, then so be it! either way would really rock!
I hope someone will jump on this and make it an aroma with color options when flashing....Just change the color!
Thanke!

Like the idea, but to get better help with this you're better off putting it in themes and apps section.

mt3g said:
Like the idea, but to get better help with this you're better off putting it in themes and apps section.
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Thanks! I didn't know where the post would be most effective. Maybe a mod could move it there, rather than me double posting.
Thanks!
Hope there is someone that can do it for us!
Aloha!

I let them no, hope someone helps you out.

The Themes and Apps section is really for releases, mods and apks (once you boil it down). This is more of a request type thing. Maybe I can put it in Q&A?
Thoughts?
*****
Also you can check out the general Android Themes section too. IIRC in the old days, we used to use Metamorph and ZipThemer and you could use the correct xmls and they would replace your pre-existing files in the Framework-res.apk and make a redo.zip (only ZipThemer did this) that you could flash. But like I said that was in the old days before we ever had a systemUI.

I wasn't too sure but thought metamorph was his best bet. I've personally never used it... Q&A is good though, I think.

Choice of mods, frameworks, audio, visual, launchers, animations and theme.

Hello all,
As with pretty much all my devices I've always modded them from the box, only device I didn't was my corporate iPhone (although not through lack of trying : ) )
Anyway, i thought i'd make a thread showcasing my Rom set up and the mods i've chosen, no matter what device I have I always grab most of these mods if available and try to perfect the look I've had for years gone by, as I'm sure many of you do also.
Please feel free to share your home screen and the mods you have installed.
Here is my little lot, video below.
ROM
Venom Rom (Currently version 3.5.0 @ j to the 4n
Mods and Launcher
Launcher - Pixel Launcher with Dark elements and transparency, flashable zip - Link: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B5GXDOETwYGySm5vRjBDcGtjZkk
Xposed Mods
Screen off animation - Several choices, also allows screen on animations
XUI MOD - Complete control of all animations - One in video is wave left.
Unique controls - This is essentially Halo from Paranoid android, superb floating heads up display and floating window.
Flat Style Bar Indicators - Allows total control of the status bar and positions as well as a tonne of icons, animations and rules.
Greenify - I think we all know this one
The theme i'm using is directly out of Venom's theme pot, @Basil3 it's very very well done and little to nothing isn't themed, has a huge choice of colours.
For xposed installation I have another thread here guiding you through.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/htc-10/how-to/walkthrough-screen-off-animation-using-t3384651
Here is the video to the venom rom with all the mods i've picked https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgfD0p8RXQI&t=2s
*Note, lastly, these are not my mods, nor my Rom, they're simply the ones I choose to use for my daily driver, I can't thank them enough for delivering these so big thanks to them, they also play nice with the battery and overall, with 2 emails syncing and wifi running I only lose 1 - 2% overnight.
Any questions let me know and i'll do what I can to answer

Is the pixel launcher a flashable zip?

yldlj said:
Is the pixel launcher a flashable zip?
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The one that I've listed is yes. Reason being is because it's themed.

yldlj said:
Is the pixel launcher a flashable zip?
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You can obtain the pixel launcher, for it to work right with "Ok google" etc and google now with cards, the zip is best, i got it from Team Black out.

[themes] Create modify a theme

Hello,
I am looking to make and modify themes. I look for it but find nothing effective.
Can you orient me?
Thank you

Coffee one ui and +hex would be the closest you could get to modifying a theme. GL.

If you mean for your own phone use the Samsung Good Lock family of apks.
Many free downloads for theme and icon packs on the Galaxy store as well.
These are safe to use... unlike some 3rd party launchers.

thank you for your answers.
I'm looking to modify my theme to have it the colors I want. Some are getting closer but its not exactly as I would like.

k211098 said:
thank you for your answers.
I'm looking to modify my theme to have it the colors I want. Some are getting closer but its not exactly as I would like.
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Use the theme that gets the phone and keyboard looking the way you want, then add your own wallpaper for the homescreen, then the custom icon pack you like from the Galaxy store.
The Good Lock family apk, Theme Park sort of does what your looking for but you can't fine tune it's output.
These are a good apks for custom solid pattern wallpapers.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...ore&pcampaignid=APPU_1_BnVeX47qAofmsAWyzK7oDw
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...ore&pcampaignid=APPU_1_GnZeX5vEO4natAXjiYOoCw

Good lock does not work for France.
Theme park is too sketchy and i needs to refine my theme further.
thank you

k211098 said:
thank you for your answers.
I'm looking to modify my theme to have it the colors I want. Some are getting closer but its not exactly as I would like.
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Click to collapse
k211098 said:
Good lock does not work for France.
Theme park is too sketchy and i needs to refine my theme further.
thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are work arounds to get to work if you look and want to go through the trouble of doing them.
Rather thoughtless of Sammy....

I took the trouble to try several but the result is not satisfied. Theme park (nice lock idem good lock) and too basic.

Yeah I know. You still probably want the Good Luck family though especially for Quick Star.
These are some of the best things about Samsung; no root customization.

Hex Installer - Themes for OneUI - Apps on Google Play

k211098 said:
Hello,
I am looking to make and modify themes. I look for it but find nothing effective.
Can you orient me?
Thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hex Installer - Themes for OneUI - Apps on Google Play