theme

Six 'theme' stories January 2012 - June 2015

Material Design-based theme now available for Samsung Galaxy S6, S6 Edge

Stephen Hall Jun 25 2015 - 8:20 am PT

Update: It looks like some are having a hard time finding the theme on the Theme Store. It’s not clear if it has been pulled, but we’ll update when we learn more.

If you have one the latest Samsung smartphones, the Galaxy S6 or S6 Edge, you may be waiting for a way to ditch TouchWiz. Because even though Samsung’s skin has definitely gotten better over time and — this year in particular — has seen much-improved visual design, stock Android’s Material Design-based interface can’t really be beat. Now, thanks to developer Samer Zayer, there’s a new Material Design theme available through Samsung’s official Theme Store app…
Expand
Expanding
Close

SwiftKey gets Android Lollipop treatment with two new Material Design themes

9to5 Staff Oct 23 2014 - 11:17 am PT

0 Comments

Users of the popular third-party keyboard SwiftKey will be glad to hear that two new Material Design themes are now available for the keyboard ahead of the upcoming release of Android Lollipop. The two new themes, based on Google’s new Material Design guidelines, are named Material Dark and Material Light and available through the SwiftKey Store today.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Gmail’s “Shelfies” April Fools joke will live on as new custom theme sharing feature

Jordan Kahn Apr 2 2014 - 9:52 am PT

0 Comments

Google continued its April Fools tradition with a long list of pranks yesterday, one of which included announcing a new “Shelfies” feature for Gmail that let users snap and share selfies to use as background in Gmail. The feature, which was completely functional within Gmail yesterday, was clearly just a bit of fun for April Fools day, but Google announced today that it will actually stick around as a new custom theme sharing feature.

While Gmail has allowed users to create custom themes since 2012, it will now provide an option to “Share your theme” within settings. The Gmail team will also be sharing some of its favorite themes shared by the community through its Google+ page. Here’s how it works:
Expand
Expanding
Close

Google confirms redesigned Google Play Store, begins rolling out

Alex Allegro Apr 9 2013 - 8:39 am PT

0 Comments

An updated Google Play with an image-centric design will be rolling out to all Android devices running Froyo (2.2) and up over the next few weeks, the Official Android blog confirmed. The redesign focuses on connecting ‘similarly themed’ content so apps, songs, and movies of the same genre are grouped rather than scattered everywhere.

Perhaps it’s too soon to state this with any certainty — surely this update has been in the works for some time now — but we may already be seeing the influence of Facebook Home on app design, at least as it pertains to the use of larger imagery and simplified interface. Something to keep an eye on at the very least.

Twitter releases redesigned Android app with new features

Jordan Kahn Apr 3 2013 - 12:36 pm PT

0 Comments

On top of rolling out support for new Twitter cards for developers that will allow users to launch and install apps directly from within tweets, Twitter today released an overhauled Android app that finally follows the Android 4.0+ Holo design theme:

We just released a new version of Twitter for Android. Its new design reflects a native Android experience: wider and taller timelines that fill the screen, a flat navigation bar, tap and hold for quick actions, and more. You can now quickly navigate between tabs by swiping across your screen. And as you type your Tweet or search, you’ll see username and hashtag suggestions, making it easier to connect with friends and join conversations.

Other improvements in the updated app include @username and #hashtag auto suggestions when typing in search for composing a new tweet, as well as the ability to install and launch apps from developers that support a new mobile app deep-linking feature Twitter outlined on its developers blog.

The updated Twitter for Android app is available on Google Play now.

Android 4.0 default ‘Holo’ theme required by Google for Market access

Jordan Kahn Jan 4 2012 - 10:16 am PT

0 Comments

When Google unveiled Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, we quickly learned that a refined version of the “Holo” system theme would be used throughout the operating system. Now, Google has announced in a blog post on the Android Developers website that it will require vendors to use the theme to gain access to the Android Market and Google apps and services. Android Framework engineer Adam Powell explained:

In Android 4.0, Holo is different. We’ve made the inclusion of the unmodified Holo theme family a compatibility requirement for devices running Android 4.0 and forward. If the device has Android Market it will have the Holo themes as they were originally designed. This standardization goes for all of the public Holo widget styles as well.

The benefit, according to Google, will be easier to implement future updates for vendors. As The Verge pointed out, “it most definitely does not mean that Google is enforcing usage of the theme on” third-party developers. It will, however, allow developers to avoid using the system themes of TouchWiz and other third-party skins, and instead they can utilize Holo. Powell wrapped up Google’s final thoughts on the decision below:

Expand
Expanding
Close