Many of the default Android menus are white text on a black background. Not only do I find these visually unappealing, they are actually counter productive given how poorly dark themes read in sunlight.
Can these be changed to black text on a white background (or light background) instead? Does anyone have a theme they can share to accomplish this? Thank you.
OK, I guess this is not possible. It's a shame because I find Android's list based menus awfully plain and unaesthetic. White text on a black background with little visual art...it really looks like a plain vanilla terminal of yesteryear. While I love Android's openness, customization, and tweaker-friendly platform, it really needs a major overhaul in terms of looks and user friendliness. In short, the GUI needs some polish and consistency.
It would appear that Android has built-in "themes" for apps to use. If none is specified, then the dark or black theme is used. I wonder if there is a way to force apps to use the "light" theme even if specified otherwise. Perhaps a custom ROM could be created to always use the light theme.
http://www.anddev.org/tutorial_ui_themes-t4367.html
i know this thread is old enogh, but i'm searching for a answer to this question too.
Same here, I´m looking for a solution to this problem
For me is near impossible to read white letters on black background, and i have a new ZTE Blade that can´t use because this
If someone have a solution, please !!!
Thanks!
Recently this has been bugging me as well. I wish there was a very simple way to perhaps tweak the framework and systemui so that black on white can become a reality...
This is totally feasible. You would have to do a bunch of XML edits in your framework-res.apk and declare everything correctly.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Changing the theme style in styles.xml should work I guess... if I have little to do I can take a look
Sent from my Hero using XDA App
Okay, I've done it, just gotta see if I've caused any bugs and write a how to
Edit: Bah, it's hard, the whole system and lots of apps are based on how it is now, changing it causes lots of trouble. Don't know if I'll make it :/
Btw, I did it in my cm7 theme. You can see it in my signature
Sent from my Hero using XDA
AWESOME. There are some issues though, such as black text on dark backgrounds in the music app, which I'm guessing would take more than some xml editing to fix. But other than that it's GREAT!
EnMod said:
AWESOME. There are some issues though, such as black text on dark backgrounds in the music app, which I'm guessing would take more than some xml editing to fix. But other than that it's GREAT!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks I have fixed most of these issues I think, but one of the issues was kind of tricky, cause when I fix them, I create others :/ and I don't have the stock music app installed atm, I will install it and see the issue myeself
Habarug said:
Thanks I have fixed most of these issues I think, but one of the issues was kind of tricky, cause when I fix them, I create others :/ and I don't have the stock music app installed atm, I will install it and see the issue myeself
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't see that theme anymore in your signature. Would it be possible for you to share it? I'm still in search of a way to get Android to be a bit lighter (outside of going with MIUI), which I find far more visually appealing.
Related
Before installing this theme you must have the Lite version of JF 1.42 RC33, which can be found here.
This is my most complete theme thus far which includes icons, a menu bar, status bar images, etc. (Even a custom blue android during bootup)
My wife directed this theme and gave tips which probably made it better
If theres anything you notice that needs to be corrected or if you have suggestions, please leave feedback. Thanks!
Download - Theme (Updated - 2/18/2009)
Download - Wallpaper
Updates:
- Trimmed bottom line from menu launcher.
- Changed menu launcher arrows to white rather than transparent.
- Corrected folder distortion.
- Corrected Wallpaper Gallery crash.
- Corrected landscape mode menu arrows. (New)
downloading now, will give feedback after I gave it a good walk through...looks great from the screen shot.
there is no pictures icon....other than that its cool. really slick and i love the clock.
Any chance on going systemwide with this likethe buuf themes and the vintage themes? cause this looks realllllly good.
AbsoluteDesignz said:
there is no pictures icon....other than that its cool. really slick and i love the clock.
Any chance on going systemwide with this likethe buuf themes and the vintage themes? cause this looks realllllly good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the feedback, yea i'm having trouble finding the pictures icon file lol, still searching though. I do plan on going systemwide and adding more to it little by little.
well keep it up....great work.
Im also not personally a fan of the status bar. but only because im not a fan of gradients, doesnt really detract from the theme at all.
AbsoluteDesignz said:
well keep it up....great work.
Im also not personally a fan of the status bar. but only because im not a fan of gradients, doesnt really detract from the theme at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've located the pictures icon and will have an update in a few mins. I'm pretty sure i'll be changing the status bar and drop down bar to match the clock a bit more.
aiight, love the changes...one flaw now...the top bar for the folders....must be coded wrong or something because once selected it becomes distorted severely. I'll post a screenshot.
Thats why we dont edit .9.png files, unless you know the technique that someone has posted here somewhere.
well hopefully he figures it out or someone helps him out with it....its a good theme. and if he figures it out and goes system wide it could be a GREAT theme.
Up until this point, I've never seen a theme that looked slick enough to actually use, without being too niche. I've been tirelessly searching for a theme that just looked good, but wasn't too over-the-top. However, this theme struck me as just that, and installing it as my first theme, I must say I'm impressed.
I only have two complaints -- firstly, as mentioned, the top of the folder menu becomes distorted when selected. Secondly, I would like to see the blue color scheme more deeply integrated into the phone, replacing the orange color when making a selection, if possible. I recall seeing it in a theme somewhere else, so I believe it can be done. I know working with the .9. files are tricky, but I feel that with a little more effort, this can be an A+ theme.
Changing the music icons (Artists, Albums, Songs, and Playlists) would also be nice, if only changing the icons from green to blue.
Also, I find the background to be just a little too much. I think this one would make a good default; it meshes nicely with the color scheme:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=150891&d=1233074919
Thanks all for the feedback, its appreciated. Ill definately fix up the folder bar and start incorporating some additional icons to the music window & player, etc. Ill post an update soon today with the changes for the folder.
Excellent looking theme, honestly its beautiful, but I always have trouble downloading from megaupload so maybe if you could change the filehosting site to something more convenient that would be awesome. Don't stop making themes, you clearly have a gift 8D
I generally don't post a lot of feedback. I have just recently started my first theme. And didn't feel that posting feedback till I was contributing to the site was truely justified. (My upcoming theme is a US Presidential theme. With heads of presidents as icons....hopefully I can manage it.)
Back on topic now. I love the theme. It is my newest downloaded theme and my favorite. My only notice is when you go "menu" "wallpaper" "wallpaper gallery" it force closes android desktop. When I choose pictures instead of gallery it works perfect. I know its small, but thought I would let you know. Even with this, I love the theme. Wife wants to know if you have it in Pink, lol. Keep up the great work.
PDAJR24
T-Mobile Retail Store Manager
JF rc33 lite
T-mobile G1
HTC Vogue 6.1
One other issue I've noticed with the theme is that on the very, very bottom of the home screen, there's a bright blue line going across horizontally -- the top of the pull-out drawer. While this may have been your intention, I personally find it a bit distracting. Just my opinion. I feel the theme would be a tad bit better-looking if the line was simply not there, like with the stock appearance.
jayaustn said:
One other issue I've noticed with the theme is that on the very, very bottom of the home screen, there's a bright blue line going across horizontally -- the top of the pull-out drawer. While this may have been your intention, I personally find it a bit distracting. Just my opinion. I feel the theme would be a tad bit better-looking if the line was simply not there, like with the stock appearance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i noticed it too...I like it though.
I've made alot of the changes requested. There still are many changes to come.
about to update now
in portrait mode the arrow on the app slider drawer tab is off center.
other than that...the wallpaper gallery and the folder fix everything seems exactly the same.
still a great theme.
Great theme .... i just wish it was red....
and so im making it red lol
Fear_Zoa said:
Great theme .... i just wish it was red....
and so im making it red lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol, send me a screenshot.
As far as the arrow in landscape mode, I'll fix that up as soon as I'm back home. I'll have an update up at about 2am most likely. Let me know if you notice anything else so I can patch it up too. Thanks.
I'm so excited by all the great developer work to get us cm ROMs and wanted to try to contribute the best i can : ) (which isn't much)
Using the new CM ROMs I tried a metamorph by Cloverdale and loved it but thought, "Wouldn't it be cool to have android themed in both the newer Radiance and Ambiance?!"
Well I think so......so
These are a couple screenshots of the little work I've done so far(work not even worthy of being called work being as most of what's done could even be called copying).
The reason theres only two screenies is simply because the theme is FAR from done and in most use doesn't look very uniform. I'm VERY new to this and hardly even understand what I'm doing, or how I'm doing it lol
In fact the only reason I'm even posting this is because I'm self indulgent and want to see if anyone else likes this idea : )
Serious Props go to the developers that made cm available to us eris users (forgive me for not listing you all, just pm me if you want your name here ) Cloverdale for giving me the idea and to Stericson for giving me the tools to make it happen
I like light themes better so I'm staring with radiance but if i find out I don't suck, and can finish something like this, and people want it. I reckon ill try ambiance next. But first things first.
Edit:
Oh and if anyone has any advice they think may help me please privilege me with the information.
Use
sory for the double post but (reserved for later use) ambiance will be organized in the second post if/when i make it.
so far so good imo
i dig the simplicity of what youve done thus far.
Is this still being worked on? Not many themes with white status bars. Getting tired of the regular elixir by Cloverdale, I'll definitely flash this if you ever finish it.
I like it so far, too. I've been dying to MM some new themes to my phone and I think this would be great once finished!
Would love the Ambiance theme.
I notice that the volume icon is red, I would probably prefer the stock Ubuntu style which is to just keep it the same colour even when muted (at least on Ambiance). The battery too (although I think it does turn red like that when low, just isn't green when full).
Also the purple wallpaper but thats easy to add and the carrier name too that in the new CMs the text colour can be customized.
that looks great. very smooth and simple.
I love it! So simple and smooth. Can't wait till it's finished!
update
I'm glad to see theres some interest, I've progressed a little but been a bit busy lately.
The biggest things slowing me down is not knowing what all the pngs do, I've been changing them one at a time to bright purple then playing a short game of "Wheres Waldo" , and Ive no clue how to change text colors other than what spare parts will do. I've done a little googling ect but cant seem to find much on it - well...that i can understand - if anyone knows anything or of someplace that could help a newbie, I could use the help : )
Especially on the changing text and bg colors of like sms app, and dialer, in call screen, settings really everything, I want to make sure everything is uniform throughout.
Anyway mostly just making sure yall knew I'm still working on it, I hope to let out a half done version for everyone to play with soon.
H3g3m0n said:
Would love the Ambiance theme.
I notice that the volume icon is red, I would probably prefer the stock Ubuntu style which is to just keep it the same colour even when muted (at least on Ambiance). The battery too (although I think it does turn red like that when low, just isn't green when full).
Also the purple wallpaper but thats easy to add and the carrier name too that in the new CMs the text colour can be customized.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea I can change the silent icon to black if everyone likes it better and the battery is black other than when its low. and i think I'm gonna try to resize all the Ubuntu wallpapers add them to the default android ones.
your changing the colors to purple? :-(
I would love a clean green and black theme for the messaging app on MIUI that looks like the windows mobile 7 messaging along with a flat black stock keyboard buuuuut I have been able to find none of those anywhere. Is anyone feeling gracious enough to make one? I know its a lot to ask but at least you get the warm fuzzy feeling that comes with doing a good deed.
Nothing? Nobody is feeling the Christmas spirit?
Triple Post
Btw, all I need are the icons for the sms app. I know how to replace the files and even make the icons, I just don't have the means to do so.
SMS Theme
HEY!!! dont know if you have ever tried it...but why not just use handcent!! as your default sms and change the colors for that there. as for your keyboard...yeah idk.
I too would suggest Handcent if you haven't yet tried it...it has many customizable options as well as a clean interface.
I have tried it. I liked how you could change the colors but I'm meant change the buttons and the whole message bubble, not just colors.
Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk
Considering how popular PowerAMP is and how long people have went without customization for that program, I find it really strange that a version that supports custom widgets (and anything else that uses the PowerAMP API) has been out for weeks, but I have not seen any custom widgets.
Did I miss anything?
Good question. I've been wondering the same thing and I've searched every other day, no such luck.
Seems like a very popular app, surely some capable people greatly dislike the blue glow or gradients as much as I do... yet cannot deny the efficacy of the app itself!
Valsung said:
Good question. I've been wondering the same thing and I've searched every other day, no such luck.
Seems like a very popular app, surely some capable people greatly dislike the blue glow or gradients as much as I do... yet cannot deny the efficacy of the app itself!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm guessing because it just came out and maybe he hasn't released anything to any developers to help with making skins. You can already download the skins widget for it to get transparent.
Bumping this for more replies.
I tried to edit the apk for personal skinning a while back and for some reason could never get the recompiled apk to install. Every time I tried I would get something like "Package not properly signed". Use several different compiling and signing tools always with the same result. So I abandoned that idea and like you, waited for someone to do it for me.
Well, I was able to quickly modify the PowerAmp Widget Skin pack a little bit. I'm not experienced "theming" much of anything so I wasn't sure how to modify the font color.
I modified the background image of the widgets (4x1 and 4x2) to a half transparent black. I also changed the colors of the buttons to white.
If anyone can give me any tips as to which xml files I should edit for the font color, that would be most helpful! I can't try anything right now since I'm at work.
I used ZipSigner 2 to sign the apk, so it should hopefully be installable like normal from a file manager. I'm on a Droid X if it helps for reference.
I'd love a transparent widget and white characters to match the green wallpaper,...
I'll try to see how u did to change the app background...
In an attempt to push forward and encourage Themers from far and wide to develop MIUI Themes for V4.0 MIUI, I have provided the basic XMLS which are used in MIUI V4 Black Android. These are pretty much stripped and defaulted to two tone colours which would be very easy for users to follow, edit and create MIUI V4 Themes, as I class these theme_values as the starting point and base for Dark MIUI V4 Themes.
Over the past few weeks MIUI Android and Xiaomi have been working tightly to address various MIUI V4 Theme issues, there are few minor issues outstanding but most importantly the main Bugs are just about obsolete.
Thanks to the close communication between MIUI Android Team and Xiaomi Team.
Any questions please head over to HERE
GITHub sources here: https://github.com/miuiandroid/MIUI-V4-Theme-XML
Regards,
pele78 said:
In an attempt to push forward and encourage Themers from far and wide to develop MIUI Themes for V4.0 MIUI, I have provided the basic XMLS which are used in MIUI V4 Black Android. These are pretty much stripped and defaulted to two tone colours which would be very easy for users to follow, edit and create MIUI V4 Themes, as I class these theme_values as the starting point and base for Dark MIUI V4 Themes.
Over the past few weeks MIUI Android and Xiaomi have been working tightly to address various MIUI V4 Theme issues, there are few minor issues outstanding but most importantly the main Bugs are just about obsolete.
Thanks to the close communication between MIUI Android Team and Xiaomi Team.
Any questions please head over to HERE
GITHub sources here: https://github.com/miuiandroid/MIUI-V4-Theme-XML
Regards,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks peel.
work
jooode said:
thanks peel.
work
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your welcome.
I have a question you may be able to help me with since you know about the theme structures. I swapped some status bar files from a gb theme I like to V4 for my phone(GNex) and the phone signal icons and data icons are kinda on top of each other.
Is there somewhere in the xml files maybe that determines the placement of those since on ics the data icon is right up on the phone signal.
Thanks if you can help me
HumanXv2 said:
I have a question you may be able to help me with since you know about the theme structures. I swapped some status bar files from a gb theme I like to V4 for my phone(GNex) and the phone signal icons and data icons are kinda on top of each other.
Is there somewhere in the xml files maybe that determines the placement of those since on ics the data icon is right up on the phone signal.
Thanks if you can help me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
This is not XML related, so your in luck.
What you need to do is compare the GB Pngs against the ICS Pngs from both miuisystemui > drawable-hdpi folders.
You will see some slight differences in dimensions of the pngs, so you may have to adjust the image or canvas size to get it to look just right. Also you could look at the image itsefl and reposition it slightly.
Also, check that the filenames are correct. ICS has slight different filenames compared to GB.
Regards
Thanks a lot man. I will check sizes and all that stuff
I'm new to this theming thing so bear with me, but if I wanted to change the color of the text that appears on status bar notifications which value(s) would I have to edit. Because everytime I mix and match themes I always end up with black text on a black backgroud or vice versa
pele78 said:
Hi,
This is not XML related, so your in luck.
What you need to do is compare the GB Pngs against the ICS Pngs from both miuisystemui > drawable-hdpi folders.
You will see some slight differences in dimensions of the pngs, so you may have to adjust the image or canvas size to get it to look just right. Also you could look at the image itsefl and reposition it slightly.
Also, check that the filenames are correct. ICS has slight different filenames compared to GB.
Regards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the one thing that's driving me nuts about MIUI v4. In previous versions the statusbar icons displayed according to the image dimensions. Now it resizes the icons in seemingly random ways. Icons on the left are shown at 27x27, some on the right are at 38x38, and others seem to be displaying at 35x35. I want the old behaviour back, i.e 25.0dip across the board.
Well, thanks for the xmls, helped me solve an issue.
Hey,
Just wanted to say a BIG thanx for all the hard work! Loving your Black Android theme...
I've started it as my base... and I'm running into two font color problems I was hoping you could help me out with...
When downloading anything... the font is black in the drop down...
And second, the font is black with pop-up notifications...
If you could let me know which values these are... I would greatly appreciate it!
pele78 said:
Hi,
This is not XML related, so your in luck.
What you need to do is compare the GB Pngs against the ICS Pngs from both miuisystemui > drawable-hdpi folders.
You will see some slight differences in dimensions of the pngs, so you may have to adjust the image or canvas size to get it to look just right. Also you could look at the image itsefl and reposition it slightly.
Also, check that the filenames are correct. ICS has slight different filenames compared to GB.
Regards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what it was. They were 38x38 centered so I took them to 25x25 and moved them to the upper left corner and now they are on the upper side of my signal bars. Thank you
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Let me get this straight....
The files are basically a theme minus all associated images?
I am not a themed but I would love to learn so I can help get more themes usable on v4. I'm able to get the docks and status bars I want to work but that's about all I have messed with.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Beautiful! Just in time to finish my Dark Mint theme
frigers said:
I'm new to this theming thing so bear with me, but if I wanted to change the color of the text that appears on status bar notifications which value(s) would I have to edit. Because everytime I mix and match themes I always end up with black text on a black backgroud or vice versa
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Best option is to grab the xmls from BAT (black Android theme) as its mainly two tone colors for ease. Im not sure if your referring to the status bar of the notification bar. There are xmls in the miuisystemui that might be what you are looking for.
DeNitE said:
Hey,
Just wanted to say a BIG thanx for all the hard work! Loving your Black Android theme...
I've started it as my base... and I'm running into two font color problems I was hoping you could help me out with...
When downloading anything... the font is black in the drop down...
And second, the font is black with pop-up notifications...
If you could let me know which values these are... I would greatly appreciate it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Again same applies to what i mentioned to the above user. Grab the xmls from BAT as a start - thing with MIUI V4 is that there is ALOT of interweaving with colors - you change one part and it affects 3 other things which may mean change pngs, which might not appeal.
The pop up notifications you refer too, im unsure - but if you mean the tiny box at the bottom of the screen then that image can be edited - look for Toast.png in framework and miui framework, hdpi and xhdpi folders.
HumanXv2 said:
Let me get this straight....
The files are basically a theme minus all associated images?
I am not a themed but I would love to learn so I can help get more themes usable on v4. I'm able to get the docks and status bars I want to work but that's about all I have messed with.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes but BAT 1089 build is also released with images, play ard with it so you build up some knowledge on what affects what and same applies to the theme value.xmls
Hope i answered everyone with enough info
Regards
Thanx for the suggestions... I've figured out everything except the black font color when downloading a file... Its black on black in ur BAT theme as well...
Sent from my Galaxy SII T-mobile using xda premium
DeNitE said:
Thanx for the suggestions... I've figured out everything except the black font color when downloading a file... Its black on black in ur BAT theme as well...
Sent from my Galaxy SII T-mobile using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok note :
Samsung Galaxy S II users, there is a known issue for this device, when applying themes - does not apply correctly or permanently. I have mentioned this to the Xiaomi Theme Team and they are working on it.
Seems to affect Samsung devices so they are gonna check out the rest.
Im on the case dont worry.
Question... Everytime I edit the description.xml file... My theme stops working... It isn't recognized in the theme app... Or only part of the theme works... Suggestions?
Sent from my Galaxy SII T-mobile using xda premium
DeNitE said:
Question... Everytime I edit the description.xml file... My theme stops working... It isn't recognized in the theme app... Or only part of the theme works... Suggestions?
Sent from my Galaxy SII T-mobile using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
have a look at the description file in black android.
make sure your not changing the uiversion or post your description here so i can take a look.
Pele, can you confirm something for me regarding themes not being applied properly in ICS...
On my SGS...
1. Fonts don't apply
2. Certain theme_values.xml's don't seem to be applied. In my experience this is the case with MMS and Contacts... e.g. changing font colours or margins doesn't make a difference. This problem may affect other apk's too.
3. Any change to status_bar_icon_size in fw-res and systemui doesn't make a difference. The values appear to be unchangeable.
4. The secondary text colour in the notification pulldown can't be changed. Having investigated the various xmls, it appears to be hard-coded to a light orange colour.
I was wondering if you can confirm whether these issues also affect the SGS2, and whether some or all of these are Samsung-specific problems.
MIUIv4 still has a long way to go imo before it's as theme-friendly as GB.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="no"?>
<MIUI-Theme>
<title>MIUI v4 - DeNitE! - Black & Blue</title>
<designer>DeNitE!</designer>
<author>DeNitE!</author>
<version>0000</version>
<uiVersion>2</uiVersion>
</MIUI-Theme>
- With this file... the theme is recognized, but the status bar doesn't change... and it doesn't recognize some of the preview png's...
Jumba said:
Pele, can you confirm something for me regarding themes not being applied properly in ICS...
On my SGS...
1. Fonts don't apply
2. Certain theme_values.xml's don't seem to be applied. In my experience this is the case with MMS and Contacts... e.g. changing font colours or margins doesn't make a difference. This problem may affect other apk's too.
3. Any change to status_bar_icon_size in fw-res and systemui doesn't make a difference. The values appear to be unchangeable.
4. The secondary text colour in the notification pulldown can't be changed. Having investigated the various xmls, it appears to be hard-coded to a light orange colour.
I was wondering if you can confirm whether these issues also affect the SGS2, and whether some or all of these are Samsung-specific problems.
MIUIv4 still has a long way to go imo before it's as theme-friendly as GB.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Jumba,
ok
1. Currently discussing this with Xiaomi and finding ways and solutions around this ( GB and ICS have different Font systems )
2. Could you explain a bit more in detail on this, afaik MMS is fully editable
3. You should be able to change these but give me an example and if you are working with HDPI/XHDPI or both.
4. discussing this at the moment - though making good progress with some findings - hoping to have a automated way around this, at the moment its a manual method.
Yes Samsung devices and now possibly others are affected, though we have a solution, just seeing if it can be automated.
My aim is to get V4 Theme-Dev 110% editable - every visual UI editable.
DeNitE said:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="no"?>
<MIUI-Theme>
<title>MIUI v4 - DeNitE! - Black & Blue</title>
<designer>DeNitE!</designer>
<author>DeNitE!</author>
<version>0000</version>
<uiVersion>2</uiVersion>
</MIUI-Theme>
- With this file... the theme is recognized, but the status bar doesn't change... and it doesn't recognize some of the preview png's...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the preview pngs erm.... i dont know the V4 names off by heart but if you download a chinese V4 theme it should have the correct names for each preview image. also make sure your previews are in reasonable size e.g. 400x800 or xhdpi size.