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2012 Nexus 7 Discussion Forums (1st Generation) => Nexus 7 Root, Hacks, Mods And Development => Topic started by: ericarenee on September 21, 2012, 10:22:40 AM

Title: How to (ADVANCED USERS) Mod for system ui.app icons/ colors notifications.
Post by: ericarenee on September 21, 2012, 10:22:40 AM


Backup first.
Recomended for advanced users . But if you understand the not so well written instructions you should be just fine. Any comments are welcome.  Remember to always backup.As well as Know how to restore your device before attempting any type of Mod.

Ok Thought i would share a fairly easy Customization Process

what you will need
1 a rooted phone
2 file manager (prefer root explorer)
3 Desktop computer with the fallowing software
a. 7 ZIP (or any program to work within a zip file without extracting it )
b. editing software such as photo shop or paint shop gimp.. (To work with.png files.

Ok to begin with BACKUP UP YOUR PHONE FULLY.I recommend doing this only if you have CWM or another way from pre boot to restore your device. Such as fast-boot knowledge and files needed. If you do brick your phone im NOT responsible.

The system ui app in your phone is the user interface. what you see and touch. All the icons in your notification try and so on. You can edit these with the instructions below. AGAIN BACKUP SAVE ORIGINAL. NEVER EDIT ORIGINAL ..

First
from your phone
go to system /app folder.Using a r/w file browser
copy the systemui.apk to a folder we will use /download
Second .
Create a folder on your computer c/system ui
in that folder create a folder Original and another called edited
looks like this ... c:/ system ui
original
edited
Third .. Copy the file system ui from the Devices download folder and place in the original folder at c:/system ui/original.
4th copy the file system ui from original and place in the edited folder .
you will have this structure
c:/system ui/original/systemui.app
edited/systemui.app
the above is for backup purposes yes its redundant .

what we will work with is the edited folder ONLY. Inside that folder create a folder called workspace
NOW OPEN 7 ZIP.. browse to the edited/system ui.
open the file in the 7 zip file browsr . DO NOT EXTRACT IT!!!1
in there you will see folders. i suggest you browse around in them and get yourself with where you find the icons and so on.
Once you decided what you want to change and edit. COPY THE FILE Containing the icons you want to change out of there.. copy and past it to the workspace folder. Close the 7 zip..
open the 7 zip . find the icon you wish to edit. copy it out of that folder to a place you want to work on it with. This will keep from confusion. Remeber that icons have different states and many have up down on and off files. as well as files for effects such as glow and so on.
I suggest you edit one file at a time at first and see the changes you do. Say use photo shop to change color.
Pay close attention to file name file size these have to match the original . if you use a different file size it will look bigger or smaller and could cause framework issues once back on the device.

Once you have edited the file..
go back to the /edited/systemui.app and open it with 7 zip (again do not extract or decompress this file)
In another window open the workspace folder then the folder you pulled out of the the system ui .app
Copy the edited file.. and past it into the edited/system ui.app . you will get a already exist tell it to replace. or add to zip. (the message depends on zip program)
once this is done
put this edited system ui file back to the phone ..
then copy and paste it back back into system/app folder . (use must use a r/w file manager again) it will overwrite the original.. say yes.
Now this willl crash your system ui .. At this point reboot the phone by holding the power button. The phone will reboot. If you edited exactly as above you will see your changes .
I have been doing this for years on my android devices .If you follow the above instructions you will have no issues. If you do happen to get stuck in boot loop . boot into cwm/twrp and run restore of the backup you done in step one.
This was a quick walk thru i wrote for a friend a few days ago.
Good Luck . hope this is understandable i will update it when i have time to make it more structured as well as add how to edit the xml files to change behavior .

Thanks Everyone enjoy.. BACKUP BACKUP BACKUP.

Moderators If this is not appropriate for this forum or in the wrong section Please forgive and move or delete at your discretion
Erica Renee
Title: Re: How to (ADVANCED USERS) Mod for system ui.app icons/ colors notifications.
Post by: ericarenee on September 21, 2012, 03:16:38 PM
screen shot of my own mod. this is running nova launcher to remove the dock. I see no use for it on a tablet.
Title: Re: How to (ADVANCED USERS) Mod for system ui.app icons/ colors notifications.
Post by: S.Prime on September 21, 2012, 04:14:07 PM
If you are not an advanced user and fail to grasp the complexity of ericarenee's mod and what she has accomplished, look at her screenshot and look for the Play Store and Chrome icons in the right bottom part of the screen and you will note that she has colorized the icons to fit her personal taste. Noteably she demonstrates the power and open structure of Android, when one uses the power of "root." Thanks to ericarenee for sharing.