BTW - thanks for doing this. I've stopped using it but saw the thread and just went to download it. Much prefer the black to the purple. I think that Channels is a pretty much topnotch dev team but I have to say the purple does not support that notion - it has too much of a kitchy feel to the app.
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Once you load, what's the maintenance like for the end user? I'm curious to try, but if it creates problems with the app when needed to upload and I'm away from home, I don't want to do it and then impact the "WAF".
Thanks.
No maintenance other than updating the app from time to time, which would involve installing the .APK whichever way you chose to originally install it. That's it. And when it installs, it updates, so any app specific settings you have set will persist.
I'll be updating the app soon.
Thanks. What happens until you update? The theme stops, elements are misaligned, etc?
Nothing, you just won't have the latest bug fixes / added features until I make an update. I'm still using a November version.
I know I don't update this as often as I'd like, not sure how many others share this sentiment. I'll be updating it today or tomorrow, and if requested before then, I'll document and screenshot the process for applying the modified files to the latest beta version, it's actually quite simple. I will not mod the stable version, that is the company's product and shouldn't be altered, and I ask that if I do provide detailed instructions on how to apply the theme yourself not to tamper with the stable version.
At the top of this page under "Downloads" there is one called App and one called Modified Files. Which do we dl to get the latest update? Thanks.
EDIT: Never mind. Just noticed the App is the apk file. Got it.
Correct, the .APK is the installation file, and the .zip file is the files modified to change the colors in case anyone wants to play around with them, and also for full transparency about what I changed.
I will be updating the app today, I'm out of town doing work and will have time to update it and possibly make a guide.
If anyone can think of a better way to update the app than file synced or just redownloading / updating the .APK, I'm all ears. I know file synced is an ad monger, so I would like a better way. I have played around with linking Google drive to X-Plore, and it seems to work. For my Google drive. Y'all would have to add a shortcut to the file into your drive before it would work for y'all.
If you haven't updated it yet, I would love if you could do a screen record session showing the whole editing process so those of us who would be willing to do future updates ourselves would know how to do it. Appreciate your work though, the black is SO MUCH BETTER than the purple! Thanks!
You could always look into submitting it to the play store under a different name / edit (so people know it's a mod and not official) but this could start to hit a nerve with the devs.
I honestly wish they would enable theming support so we can specify our own colors.
It could be accomplished with setting variables for each color type (main, access, highlighted, font, etc) and then we could set that in the web interface for clients.
I sent the Devs a list of colors and that were touched/ replaced back when I made my Metro Blue theme. That same list could be used to specify variables instead of colors for customization.
Not sure why this doesn't get any love. Plex, Emby, Kodi, WMC (yep that old thing) have themes. Why doesn't channels?
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That's a bad idea. The devs have enough issues with Google.
Yea. I really wish the devs would consider theme support.
Or at the least, a dark/ black mode that would make many OLED tv owners happy.
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UPDATED TO 502220233
HOW TO MANUALLY UPDATE THE LATEST BETA WITH THE CARBON THEME
Or maybe even get playful, and create something fantastic
Preparation:
Ensure you have a proper Java environment setup by downloading and configuring both Java JDK and JRE
WINDOWS:
Install the following apps:
APK Easy Toots 1.6 Portable
Beyond Compare (OPTIONAL)
LINUX:
You will have to setup a Java environment and use apktool.jar from the command line to decompile / recompile .APK files
Download the latest Beta .apk to your computer from:
https://cdn.channelsdvr.net/android/ChannelsBeta.apk
Download the modified files from the original post
Decompile the xxxxx.apk with APK Easy Tools by clicking the Decompile button:
You can find the extracted files in the /1-Decompiled APKs/ folder if you would like to poke around.
The files we are interested in are in some of the subfolders contained in the /res folder
Overwrite the original files with the modified files in the decompiled beta xxxxx.apk's /res/ respective subfolders manually or with Beyond Compare.
I use Beyond Compare because I open the left side as the previous version I modified and the right side is the new version, compare contents, then manually select the files with Ctrl-Click on the left side and merge them over by right clicking and choosing "Copy to Right Side"
NOTE: IF YOU ARE GOING TO USE BEYOND COMPARE, TRYING TO SELECT ALL FROM THE DROP DOWN MENUS AND COPY ALL AT ONCE DOES NOT WORK, YOU MUST MANUALLY SELECT THEM, THEN RIGHT CLICK, AND 'COPY TO RIGHT SIDE'
Recompile the .apk with APK Easy Tools by clicking the compile button:
Once recompiled, the APK will be found in the /1-Recompiled APKs/ directory.
Copy the newly compiled xxxxx.apk to your playback device's storage and install it by opening the file with a file manager.
PROFIT
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I really enjoyed your theme, and wish you would update it. The problem with the color names etc is it's Apple first, and must be portable to Android. Maybe you found a better way, but some of the color names, one color would control 2 elements I want to change to 2 different colors and ended up having to change more than just the colors file. Your idea would work for Android, but not iOS, and we aren't first
I chuckled.
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It has been a while. I think I'll need to dust off the ol apk decompiler this week.
I've been rocking the stock app recently but after my family made fun of my Barney TV during the super bowl, the purple has to go.
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Probably. But it's all good. I'll theme that one too. I will probably wait until it's further along in development and if I ever get some free time. I messed up and took a job as a Comcast contractor.... My whole life is Comcast now...
I'm hoping that the colors will be managed more independently, meaning that if each UI Element had a specific color associated with it, even if that color exists elsewhere, it would be waaay easy to change anything to any color you want, and someone more experienced than me can write a program to load the colors file from the decompiled .APK and have a nice interface to choose new colors, and descriptions of what is what UI element, etc.
I may have a look at it today some
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