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Theme-ing Without Winterboard

D

donm3ga

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 19, 2008
89
0
Can you change your springboard theme without using Winterboard? I am asking because Winterboard causes apparently slowdowns, which I would like to avoid all together.

Can I just drag and drop png files to replace the icons and dock? This won't cause any slowdowns right? Since its just calling a different png file.

Are the png files supplied when you download a theme from macthemes2.com?
 
I don't know if you could or not but you can try with SSH but changing every file every time would be a pain. I don't notice a slowdown with WinterBoard. I would give it a try first before you go this route.
 
LSUtigers03 said:
I don't know if you could or not but you can try with SSH but changing every file every time would be a pain. I don't notice a slowdown with WinterBoard. I would give it a try first before you go this route.
Click to expand...

I would just SSH the icons and dock right?
 
I believe you could (of course, assuming your iPhone is Jailbroken). You would just replace the icon.png with what you want. You would also be able to change the background as well. The disadvantage of doing it this way is it is a hassle evertime you want a new theme. But if you're going to stick with it it should be fine. You can do this with your sounds too using .caf files.
 
You can't theme without Winterboard completely, the farthest you could get would be changing the home screen dock and wallpaper but other than that, you wouldn't be able to change the individual icons for every app as they are specially packaged and are integrity checked every time you run the app. Believe me, i tried before using Winterboard a while back, none of your AppStore apps will work...the icon images will be replaced if you simply replace the .png's, sure, but as soon as you try to open it, it will not let you. Unless you're using tons of widgets, Winterboard should be causing you very negligible lag, and it's far more convenient and safe.
 
Why are you so opposed to Winterboard?

There are some Winterboard theme elements, that cause lag, but most don't.

Rather than sweating something that you read, why not just try it and see how you like it?
 
Wirelessly posted (iPhone 3G (16GB, 2.1 PWNed): Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5F136 Safari/525.20)

TheConfuzed1 said:
Why are you so opposed to Winterboard?

There are some Winterboard theme elements, that cause lag, but most don't.

Rather than sweating something that you read, why not just try it and see how you like it?
Click to expand...

I have experienced major slowdowns when using Winterboard to run basic themes (WP, dock, icons only) every time I've tried. I have a 2G iPod touch to compare the iPhone to, and the difference in app launch times and general responsiveness is extreme.
 
jcde7ago said:
You can't theme without Winterboard completely, the farthest you could get would be changing the home screen dock and wallpaper but other than that, you wouldn't be able to change the individual icons for every app as they are specially packaged and are integrity checked every time you run the app. Believe me, i tried before using Winterboard a while back, none of your AppStore apps will work...the icon images will be replaced if you simply replace the .png's, sure, but as soon as you try to open it, it will not let you. Unless you're using tons of widgets, Winterboard should be causing you very negligible lag, and it's far more convenient and safe.
Click to expand...

I'm still confused by this.

I am under the impression that if I download a theme from macthemes2.com, then SSH into my iPhone 3G, if I just go into the folder where the icons are for the theme and just drag them to replace each icon inside my iPhone that it should work fine. Is that not what Winterboard does anyway?

People on this board highly recommend www.hackthatphone.com to learn. After researching it contradicts what the quote says.

Someone please provide some clarity.
 
Manual theme-ing

Yes you can indeed ssh into your device and manually replace these items:
Icons for all the Apple and Cydia provided applications.
Icons for your WebClips
You can also replace system sounds

*with some extra work you can
Replace AppStore icons

Without WinterBoard:
You CAN NOT display any background on your homescreen
You CAN NOT display any of the other theme-able components, like UI images or pretty much any original file contained in an .artwork file

What you are looking to do is use a program like Customize, which for all I know has been abandoned by the developer due to the power and ease of WinterBoard.
:cool:
 
I've noticed massive slowdowns using Winterboard. So much so that when I would press on an icon, the whole phone would lag, and instead of opening the app, would start to jiggle them as if I had pressed them down for a long time. I now only jailbreak to get a video recorder and 5 icon dock. Those two things complete my iPhone experience.
 
CyberGreg said:
Yes you can indeed ssh into your device and manually replace these items:
Icons for all the Apple and Cydia provided applications.
Icons for your WebClips
You can also replace system sounds

*with some extra work you can
Replace AppStore icons

Without WinterBoard:
You CAN NOT display any background on your homescreen
You CAN NOT display any of the other theme-able components, like UI images or pretty much any original file contained in an .artwork file

What you are looking to do is use a program like Customize, which for all I know has been abandoned by the developer due to the power and ease of WinterBoard.
:cool:
Click to expand...

Could you explain how to change AppStore app icons without winterboardd?
 
analytical44 said:
Could you explain how to change AppStore app icons without winterboardd?
Click to expand...

I will repeat this again, since no one seems to want to take the time to read through the whole thread:

YOU CANNOT REPLACE YOUR APPSTORE APP ICONS WITH CUSTOM ONES UNLESS YOU USE WINTERBOARD. THEY ARE INTEGRITY CHECKED, REPLACING THEM WILL BREAK YOUR APP, AND IT WILL NO LONGER OPEN.

Don't believe me? Try it. SSH into your Applications folder, choose an app, replace its icon. The custom icon will show when you respring, and you might even be able to open the app ONCE. Afterward, you will get a dialog box stating that your app is not working and it will not open. You will then have to uninstall the app and reinstall it, or plug the original app icon .png back in the folder. I know this cause i tried. But if everyone wants to keep insisting otherwise...then by all means, go for it.
 
jcde7ago said:
I will repeat this again, since no one seems to want to take the time to read through the whole thread:

YOU CANNOT REPLACE YOUR APPSTORE APP ICONS WITH CUSTOM ONES UNLESS YOU USE WINTERBOARD. THEY ARE INTEGRITY CHECKED, REPLACING THEM WILL BREAK YOUR APP, AND IT WILL NO LONGER OPEN.

Don't believe me? Try it. SSH into your Applications folder, choose an app, replace its icon. The custom icon will show when you respring, and you might even be able to open the app ONCE. Afterward, you will get a dialog box stating that your app is not working and it will not open. You will then have to uninstall the app and reinstall it, or plug the original app icon .png back in the folder. I know this cause i tried. But if everyone wants to keep insisting otherwise...then by all means, go for it.
Click to expand...

I have no reason to test this but clearly it did work -> LINKAGE

Again have no idea if the process still works in 2.1 and frankly don't care... :p
 
CyberGreg said:
I have no reason to test this but clearly it did work -> LINKAGE

Again have no idea if the process still works in 2.1 and frankly don't care... :p
Click to expand...

Again, YES, if you replace the icons your custom icons will show up fine. If you try to open those apps is where the problem occurs, they will NOT open, thus leaving Winterboard as the only viable theming option. So technically, NO, YOU CANNOT THEME WITHOUT WINTERBOARD.

And for further proof if you want, feel free to PM the posters at ModMyI who said it worked and asked them if they were able to access their apps after replacing each app icon without Winterboard ;)
 
mavis said:
Wirelessly posted (iPhone 3G (16GB, 2.1 PWNed): Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5F136 Safari/525.20)



I have experienced major slowdowns when using Winterboard to run basic themes (WP, dock, icons only) every time I've tried. I have a 2G iPod touch to compare the iPhone to, and the difference in app launch times and general responsiveness is extreme.
Click to expand...

I thought the 2nd Gen iPod touch couldnt be jailbroken yet just the 1st gen?
 
Airforcekid said:
I thought the 2nd Gen iPod touch couldnt be jailbroken yet just the 1st gen?
Click to expand...

That's right. I had a 1st gen Touch, jailbroken from 1.1.1 last fall right up to 2.1 in September. I sold it and bought the 2G Touch ... Between the two of them, I was able to compare 2.1 virgin, 2.1 jailbroken, and 2.1.1 to my iPhone 3G - the iPods are consistently faster than the iPhone (booting, powering off, launching apps, rotating images in Photo.app, etc) whether the iPhone is jailbroken or not - but the difference is much greater once Winterboard is installed. ;)
 
You can absolutely change AppStore icons without Winterboard.

SSH into Var/Mobile/Applications and double-click folder named after the App then find 'icon.png' rename it, drop your new 'icon.png' into the folder. Reboot iPhone. The only App that doesn't play nice with the above procedure is Star Wars Force Unleashed.

Login to modmyi.com for a few minutes and you'll discover that once you can SSH you can change anything with the right amount of will. This includes, background, sliders, text, etc.
 
ntrigue said:
You can absolutely change AppStore icons without Winterboard.

SSH into Var/Mobile/Applications and double-click folder named after the App then find 'icon.png' rename it, drop your new 'icon.png' into the folder. Reboot iPhone. The only App that doesn't play nice with the above procedure is Star Wars Force Unleashed.

Login to modmyi.com for a few minutes and you'll discover that once you can SSH you can change anything with the right amount of will. This includes, background, sliders, text, etc.
Click to expand...

Re-read the entire thread. No one said you couldn't change the icons.
 
jcde7ago said:
Again, YES, if you replace the icons your custom icons will show up fine. If you try to open those apps is where the problem occurs, they will NOT open, thus leaving Winterboard as the only viable theming option. So technically, NO, YOU CANNOT THEME WITHOUT WINTERBOARD.
Click to expand...

I did read the thread. Will use quotes in the future.
 
ntrigue said:
I did read the thread. Will use quotes in the future.
Click to expand...

Lol gotcha. Yes, you can change the icons. Will your app open afterwards? Nope. Which means manually theming by replacing the icons through SSH defeats the purpose of having those apps anyways as they will not open. Hence, you cannot PROPERLY theme without Winterboard unless you plan on never opening those apps whose icons you replaced.
 
yo.. ive read this thread, very funny,. so [at the risk of annoying someone] its def not poss to change my homescreen bkgrd via SSH ? has anyone managed this ? if so, where is the file i need to change? thanks..
 
I know this is an old post but it's the top results in google for the question i was trying to get an answer. So I figure I would post the correct answer because there is a user claiming modding the icon files directly causes the app to crash, that is incorrect. I have modded all icons for every native and app store app i have, even changed more than just the icon files in the apps without winterboard and all apps work just fine.
 
Project Help.

If anyone is interested im going to be running a project on a permanent theme for those of you that dont really care about theming all the time.

My idea is we make a tool that will instead of changing the file locations we replace them so instead of causing lag by loading 2 of the same damn icons it will be rewrote and the originals will be saved. No Lag!! :D

But email me if your interested and have your dev hands ready..

Thanx, iModr :apple:
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8H7 Safari/6533.18.5)

I can't stand the lag that Winterboard causes.
 
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