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Repainter goes freemium, v2 update brings custom theme sharing support
Repainter, the Material You theme customizer app by well-known developer kdrag0n, has been updated with a new freemium payment model. Read on!
For those who like to tinker with the Material You dynamic color theming on a regular basis, the Repainter app from Danny Lin is a great way to style your rooted device with seemingly endless possibilities. The app also works without root access on Samsung Galaxy devices and select Google Pixel phones. Its $4.99 price tag, however, made it a little bit unattractive to those who chose not to pay. Fortunately, Repainter 2.0 takes a wrecking ball to that paywall and makes a few other key changes.
DotOS 5.1 will add a new wallpaper-based theming system and QS UI inspired by Android 12
The DotOS custom ROM introduces a new wallpaper-based theming framework and QS UI inspired by Android 12 in its upcoming v5.1 release.
Android theming has come a long way from the early days of the CyanogenMod Theme Engine to Substratum and now the native RRO and OMS APIs. With Android 12, Google might push Android's theming engine to the next level thanks to the new wallpaper-based theming system code-named “monet.” When “monet” is enabled, the user’s wallpaper determines the background color and accent color throughout Settings and SystemUI, making it a true dynamic theming solution. Developers and modders, however, can't examine the codebase of Google's enhanced theming system just yet. This is because Android 12 is still under the "Developer Preview" stage and the software giant will only start to upload the Android 12 source code onto the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) website after the stable release.
Extras for AA uses Substratum to heavily customize Android Auto's in-car UI
Extras for AA is a Substratum theme created by XDA Senior Member shmykelsa that helps you to modify the in-car UI elements of Android Auto.
If you've dabbled in custom themes on Android, then the name “Substratum” may ring a bell. The overlay-based theming mechanism dynamically modifies the resources of an app without actually touching the corresponding APK. Such a design makes Substratum an ideal solution to alter the UI elements of apps like Android Auto that otherwise offer very few customization options. In fact, last year we covered a mod that used Substratum theming to change the Android Auto wallpaper.
Change the Android Auto background with Substratum themes
If you are looking for a way to change the background on Android Auto, you can now do so with this substratum theme called Substratum AA Wallpaper. Read on!
Android Auto might have lost its place in Google's priority list to Google Assistant's Driving Mode, but there are still plenty of users who remain committed to the Android Auto app. But even that commitment can get boring and drab sometimes—irrespective of the redesigned interface with the dark theme and simplified controls. If you are looking to try something new and different, you can now change the background wallpaper on Android Auto with Substratum AA Wallpaper—substratum themes.
[Update: Video] Substratum Lite launches with a faster, smaller, and more stable experience
Substratum Lite is a new version of the popular theme engine that promises to be faster, smaller, and more stable, plus it already supports Android Q.
Substratum Lite is the newest release from Projekt and they're billing it as the "most essential features, in a light package." This new version aims to be faster, smaller, and more stable, plus it already supports Android Q (in preview). The development of Substratum Lite was lead by Ivan Iskandar, one of the Substratum developers.
Download EMUI 9 theme for EMUI 5/EMUI 8 Huawei and Honor devices
The "9x8 Project" theme brings the look of EMUI 9 to both Huawei and Honor devices if either have EMUI 5 or EMUI 8 installed.
Huawei has an interesting theme platform in place where themes work for multiple devices and sometimes across multiple versions of the OEM ROM. As an example, yesterday we highlighted a dark theme called Deep Black that was made for the Huawei Mate 20 running EMUI 9, but it was shown to work on the Honor Magic 2 as well as other Huawei and Honor devices which are currently running its EMUI 9 software. Today, we want to highlight a theme by XDA Senior Member TenSeventy7 that was posted to our Huawei Y6 forum.
Samsung Experience 10 theme for Galaxy phones gets new icons and better night theme
Thanks to Samsung's theming system, a lot of the Samsung Experience 10 changes can be brought back to Galaxy S9 and older devices with a simple install.
At the tail end of last month, we highlighted a Samsung Experience 10 theme that could be installed on the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S8 devices. We already know the update is going to be based on Android Pie as we got our hands on the update for the Galaxy S9. Not only did that reveal there were going to be four different models of the Galaxy S10, but it also gave us an inside look at what changes were coming with the upcoming software update. Thanks to Samsung's theming system, a lot of these changes can be brought back to some older devices with a simple install.
Download ASUS ROG Phone Wallpapers, Live Wallpaper, and Theme
We have extracted the wallpapers, theme, and live wallpaper from the ASUS ROG Phone. If you can't afford the ROG Phone but want the look, download these!
The ASUS ROG Phone is ASUS' first Android smartphone with a gaming focus. It has an overclocked Qualcomm Snapdragon 845, a display capable of 90Hz refresh rate, a couple of really neat accessories, and other high-end specifications. This gaming phone will certainly cost you a pretty penny once it eventually launches outside of China, but for those of you who want the look and feel of the software without spending a dime, you can now download the ROG Phone's wallpapers, live wallpaper, and theme.
Download Google Pixel 3 Live Wallpapers Ported for Android 6.0+
Do you want the Google Pixel 3 Live Wallpapers but you don't have Android Pie? No worries, download a port of the Pixel 3 Live Wallpapers for Android 6.0+!
Earlier today, the official Google Pixel 3 wallpapers leaked online along with the Pixel Wallpapers app containing the new Live Wallpapers. While the high-quality still images of the live wallpapers are nice, what people really want are the new Google Pixel 3 Live Wallpapers. The few users who could install the leaked Live Wallpapers APK discovered that some of the wallpapers appeared on the Always on Display on their Google Pixel 2, but most users can't install it because the APK requires an Android Pie device. Now, XDA Recognized Developer Pranav Pandey has ported the Pixel 3 Live Wallpapers app so it'll work on Android 6.0 Marshmallow and later.
Download the Google Pixel 3 Wallpapers Right Here
The wallpapers from the Google Pixel 3 and Google Pixel 3 XL have leaked online. Download the Google Pixel 3 wallpapers and customize your phone!
For some, the most exciting thing about the upcoming release of the Google Pixel 3 and Google Pixel 3 XL is the availability of the new Pixel wallpapers. The Google Pixel 2 wallpapers were quickly ported after the release of the device and the XDA forum thread for the Google Pixel and Pixel 2 wallpapers remains one of our most popular forum threads. A few days after we leaked the Huawei Mate 20 wallpapers, now the Google Pixel 3 wallpapers have been leaked online too. If you're interested in the wallpapers from the Google Pixel 3 and want to customize your device, then check out the newly leaked wallpapers!
Get Status Bar Clock Tweaks for Android P [Root]
XDA Recognized Contributor has created a mod for Substratum called Statusbar Clock Tweaks for Android P that gives you back control of your status bar.
I for one have not been a fan of how Google has handled certain parts of Android P. They could have done the navigation gestures much better, and I feel they could have handled the placement of icons and information in the status bar better for notched displays. It may take time to get used to things like the time being on the left side of the status bar, but a new mod means you can move it back. XDA Recognized Contributor/Themer AL_IRAQI has created a mod for Substratum called Statusbar Clock Tweaks for P that gives you back control of your status bar.
Pluvius themes system UI and accent color based on the wallpaper [Giveaway]
Pluvius is a new app that uses OMS on rooted Android devices to dynamically theme the System UI and accent color based on the current wallpaper.
With Android 8.0 Oreo, Google introduced Sony's native theme framework called the Overlay Manager Service (OMS.) Overlays can be built to target the resources of any application, including the SystemUI and Android framework, and override them with their own values. This allows us to theme almost any part of Android to our liking on Android 8.0 Oreo and Android 8.1 Oreo. Unfortunately, Google blocked access to the OMS APIs in Android P, stating that OMS is only intended to be used by OEMs. However, if you have root access such as through Magisk, you can still install custom themes on Android P. A new app called "Pluvius" has just been released, and it uses OMS in a really clever way: Dynamically theming system UI and accent colors based on the current wallpaper. It requires root access to work, but if you pass that basic requirement then you can enjoy personalized themes on any Android 8.0 Oreo, Android 8.1 Oreo, or Android P device like the Google Pixel 2 or Essential Phone.
Custom themes now possible on rooted Android P devices with Substratum
Substratum, the popular third-party theme manager, has been updated to support rooted Android P devices like the Google Pixel, Google Pixel 2, and more.
Android P's user interface changes were initially met with some controversy (mostly due to perceived similarities with iOS and obvious accommodations for devices with notched displays), but it seems that the criticisms have died down some as people have gotten used to the changes. There's one missing feature that Android enthusiasts have begging for over the past few years: custom themes. Android Oreo introduced Sony's theme framework which the popular third-party Substratum theme manager hooked into to provide rootless custom themes. Unfortunately, Android P blocked third-party overlays from being installed by requiring overlays to be signed by the system. For those of you itching to get a system-wide dark theme on Android P, however, the Substratum team has just released a new beta that supports rooted devices.
Samsung Good Lock addon brings new Always on Display/Lock Screen clock designs
An addon for Samsung Good Lock adds new Always on Display & Lock Screen clock designs for the Samsung Galaxy S8, Samsung Galaxy Note 8, & Samsung Galaxy S9.
Samsung released a revamped version of Good Lock last week with a new addon system for UI customization. It was first released to just South Korea, but then it was expanded into the United States on Monday. Today, Samsung Good Lock has been updated with a new app called ClockFace. It works on any Samsung Galaxy smartphone running Samsung Experience 9.0 (Android 8.0 Oreo) such as the Samsung Galaxy S7, Samsung Galaxy S8, Samsung Galaxy Note 8, or Samsung Galaxy S9.
Rootless custom themes on Android P are over as Google confirms restrictions are intended
Google confirmed that changes in Android P that block installation of custom overlays are intended, meaning rootless custom themes are no longer possible.
Android P (Android 9.0) is an exciting release for Android enthusiasts because of the many changes it's bringing to the user interface and user experience. Thanks to Google's work on Project Treble, the latest Android release is available in beta for not only the Google Pixel and Google Pixel 2 devices but also phones like the OnePlus 6, Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S, Sony Xperia XZ2, Essential Phone, and more. One not-so-exciting change in Android P, however, is the restriction the OS places on installing custom overlays. Overlays are used to modify the resources of an app and they're what the Substratum Theme Manager uses to make rootless custom themes possible on Android Oreo. Now, Google has confirmed that the restrictions are intended behavior, which means that rootless, system-wide custom themes will no longer be possible on Google smartphones and smartphones without existing theme engines moving forward.
Although stock Android is typically favorable over custom skins and interfaces that OEMs layer atop of the operating system, there are sometimes a few good aspects about each custom interface that we wish would find their way to stock Android. Sony's custom take on Android for Xperia devices may look a bit dated in some aspects, but one area that actually looks quite good is the lockscreen.
The Substratum theming engine has only been around for a little over a year at this point, but its popularity has exploded since its introduction and, thanks to the hard work of awesome developers, we now have access to hundreds of incredibly cool modifications. There are plenty of themes out there that can completely change the entire look of your Android device while others exist only to make a small tweak here or there.
How to Automatically Change Gboard's Theme to Dark Mode at Night
A tutorial on how to automatically change Gboard's theme to Material Dark when it's night time, but have it be Material Light during the day.
On the XDA-Developer Forums, one of the most popular reasons why people still love to root their phone is so they can theme their phone however they like. Thanks to Substratum, most System UI elements and many applications can be themed. If a Substratum theme does not exist for your favorite app, then in some cases you can seek out alternative versions of those apps that do offer theme capabilities. Although Google's keyboard app, Gboard, does offer you the ability to change its theme, many people are disappointed to discover that there's no way to automatically change the theme based on the time of day. Perhaps you like having the Material Light theme throughout the day, but want to switch to the Material Dark theme at night so you aren't blinded by its brightness. In that case, here's a tutorial on how to automatically change Gboard's theme based on whatever criteria you want.
How to Add Custom Icons to the Navigation Bar in Android O
A tutorial on how to add custom icons of your choice to the navigation bar in Android O, so you'll always know what your custom key represents.
If you've been following our coverage of Android O, then you might have seen our tutorials on how to modify the navigation bar to toggle picture-in-picture mode, enable media control keys while playing music, and today how to add forward/previous buttons to quickly browse through your e-mails. The possible uses of a customizable navigation bar are huge, and our first three tutorials only scrape the surface. But while we do have a couple of more useful tutorials to share with our readers, there's one thing we had to cover before we can move on to our next tutorials: how to add custom icons to the navigation bar keys in Android O.
Substratum introduces FloatUI: A Per-App Theming Solution
FloatUI is a new per-app theming solution by the team behind Substratum. It creates a floating icon you can use to quickly customize an app's theme.
Recently, we broke the news that CyanogenMod Theme Engine won't be making a return in LineageOS.