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Official Android Device Hacking and Customization Thread
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Joom
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Official Android Device Hacking and Customization Thread
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I have to start this to rival the other thread.

This thread is here for references and help on how to mod and customize Android.

Installing a Custom Boot Animation
Rooting Your Device
APK Edit

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(This post was last modified: 26/02/2011 10:15 AM by Joom.)
14/02/2011 07:37 PM
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SkyDX
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RE: Official Android Device Hacking and Customization Thread
So wee got a phone forum now? Nice!^^

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Spoiler for Old Rainbow Sounds sig^^:
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14/02/2011 09:01 PM
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S7*
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RE: Official Android Device Hacking and Customization Thread
What are the best Widgets available for Android phones?

I took the time to figure out LauncherPro and damn, it's a quality bit of software. Makes the Android experience much better.. but can I make it much better?

I'm not wanting to hack my Galaxy S at the moment. Why? It's an expensive device and I just don't want to risk it at the slightest at the moment - not until I have a cushion in case things do go wrong.
15/02/2011 01:37 AM
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Joom
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RE: Official Android Device Hacking and Customization Thread
Extended Controls, Last.fm, and Beautiful Widgets are really great.

[Image: r57Mw.jpg]

LauncherPro and Beautiful Widgets pictured here.

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15/02/2011 03:52 PM
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Joom
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Installing a Custom Boot Animation
[Image: AndroidMinimal1.gif]

This is a really cool way to customize your phone by replacing the stock animation with an even cooler one.

Now then, if you're a PSP theme designer, the method of designing one is very similar to making a wave. Using ADB, the terminal emulator, or a root file explorer, you'll find a file named bootanimation.zip in /data/local. Inside it are two folders containing JPGs or PNGs (depending on the phone). These images are used for the animation. The file "desc.txt" contains dimension information. If you want to create your own, I imagine the easiest way would be to make an animation then export the frames as JPGs or PNGs.

-Installing an animation

Note: Make a nandroid backup before doing this just in case you screw it up.

This is a bit simpler than making your own. Just place the ZIP containing the folders part0 and part1 and desc.txt to the root of your SD.

Quote:ADB
- Install the android SDK
- Open Command Prompt
- Locate the SDK tools folder where ADB is located (example: <cd c:\android-sdk-windows\tools>)
- Now enter the following code in Command Prompt

    adb remount
    adb push c:\temp\480x800_AndroidGlow1.zip /data/local/bootanimation.zip
    adb reboot

Quote:Terminal Emulator
- Connect your phone to your computer via USB
- Copy the downloaded file to your sdcard
- Disconnect phone from computer
- Open Terminal Emulator on your phone and enter the code below (press enter after every line)

    su
    cp /sdcard/480x800_AndroidGlow1.zip /data/local/bootanimation.zip
    reboot

Quote:Root Explorer
- Connect your phone to your computer via USB
- Rename the downloaded file to 'bootanimation.zip' and copy to your sdcard
- Disconnect phone from computer
- Open 'Root Explorer'
- Copy/Paste the /sdcard/bootanimation.zip to /data/local/ (make sure it's read/write)
- Reboot

This thread over at XDA has some great animations for beginners.

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(This post was last modified: 19/02/2011 10:13 PM by Joom.)
19/02/2011 08:41 PM
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Joom
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Rooting Your Device
This process couldn't be any easier. This only takes about 10 to 15 minutes.

Supported Phones

    Acer Liquid Metal
    Dell Streak
    HTC Magic (Sapphire) 32B
    HTC Bee
    LG Ally
    Motorola Charm
    Motorola Cliq
    Motorola Droid
    Motorola Flipside
    Motorola Flipout
    Motorola Milestone
    Nexus One
    Samsung Captivate
    Samsung Galaxy 551 (GT-I5510)
    Samsung Galaxy Portal/Spica I5700
    Samsung Galaxy S I9000
    Samsung Galaxy S SCH-I500
    Samsung Galaxy Tab
    Samsung Transform M920
    Samsung Vibrant
    Sony Ericsson Xperia E51i X8
    Sony Ericsson Xperia X10
    Sprint Hero
    Telus Fascinate

Quote:Incompatibility list

With the absolutely beautiful ADB exploit I use, titled rageagainstthecage (ratc), absolute ALL devices can be rooted. This is because it exploit is ADB which all devices use. There is an issue though. Some devices have a NAND lock which does not allow you to write to the /system mount. Because of this, you can't copy su, sqlite or busybox to /system/bin. This creates some issues but there is a work around. For things that don't need access to /system (like enabling non-market apps) I can use the ratc exploit to make those changes. If your device cannot use su in /system/bin then you can simple select a checkbox (as of v1.5) that says to use ratc.

There are 3 levels of "root" wee can define:
Level 1: Shell Root (with ratc rooting the adb shell but no /system write access)
Level 2: Temporary Root (/system/bin/su installed but lost on reboot)
Level 3: Full Root (/system/bin/su installed and sticks)

Some devices have a NAND lock. SuperOneClick will only give a Shell root until you remove this lock.
The following phones can use http://unrevoked.com to remove this lock:

    Sprint EVO 4G (HTC Supersonic)
    Droid Incredible (HTC Incredible)
    HTC Desire GSM
    HTC Desire CDMA (HTC BravoC)
    HTC Aria
    Droid Eris (HTC DesireC)
    HTC Wildfire (HTC Buzz)


THe HTC Legend and My Touch 3G 32A also have a NAND lock and need more specific methods to unlock.

The T-Mobile (HTC) G2 has something different which may or may not be a hardware flaw. I have yet to really research the device, but while it may root, it won't be permanent since copying /su to /system/bin/su has problems. I believe this is a Level 2 root, but to be honest, I need to research more.

-How To

First, download this - SuperOneClick 1.6.5 (Guide on how to run on Linux)

Run it and connect your phone via the USB. Make sure you have all of the required drivers installed for your device.
  Note: I had to have RSDLite installed for this to work on my phone (Motorola Droid).

Depending on your phone, you'll either need to just root it or shell root (tethered root) it. If your phone is on the supported list, you can fully root it. If it is not, shell root it and perform the perquisites to fully root it (read above).

If all goes well, your device should be rooted. See if SuperUser was installed. If so, you're ready to go.

-Recommended Root Apps
  • Titanium Backup
  • Root Explorer
  • AdFree
  • Terminal Emulator
  • Screenshot
  • ROM Manager
  • Wireless/Wired Tether
  • Extended Controls


If you need any help, just ask.

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(This post was last modified: 20/02/2011 02:02 AM by Joom.)
20/02/2011 02:02 AM
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Joom
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APK Edit
whiskeybro Wrote:  APK Edit V0.3

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ever wanted to simply change an icon on your Android phone and found yourself lost in the endless lists of forum posts saying: you have to change heaven and earth to do this...
NOT ANYMORE!!!!

APK Edit is born!

With this little program you can simply change icons of your android application.
It even lets you change the applications name.
But wait mike..... there's more.....
It even lets you edit the text used in applications.

Sounds to good to be true...
Well... to be honest.... it is.
But I've come a long way from that initial question to the final answer.
My conclusion so far, it works for most of my applications.
It probably will work on most of yours as well.
Try it out now!

(Caution: when overwriting an existing application, using the adb Wireless feature, you will loose your associated data!!!)

For the record... only use on you're own apk files, otherwise it's not that legal I think.

Version history:
0.3 - Update
Added: Language support.
Added: Installation method (USB Cable).

0.2 - Minor update
Added: Save confirmation dialog (as req by droidzone)
Changed: Recreated the loading animation so that it theme's better with the rest of the application.

0.1 - Initial release



[Image: 123wk79.png]

Special thanks goes out to: Brut.all for creating Apktool, the backbone of this little project.
and to: anoniem100 to make it functional for noobs like me :) Orginal Post click here

Download

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20/02/2011 03:04 AM
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300nukez
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RE: Official Android Device Hacking and Customization Thread
I'm looking for an app that will make my voice sound more manly/deep but with my limited time on the web I'm hopping you guys could halp me out...-_-

Knock-knock Please note is like to use it with phone calls.

-
(This post was last modified: 24/02/2011 09:44 PM by 300nukez.)
24/02/2011 09:42 PM
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Joom
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RE: Official Android Device Hacking and Customization Thread
(24/02/2011 09:42 PM)300nukez Wrote:  I'm looking for an app that will make my voice sound more manly/deep but with my limited time on the web I'm hopping you guys could halp me out...-_-

Knock-knock Please note is like to use it with phone calls.

Um, there's a caller ID spoofer floating around that does that. I'll upload it when I can.

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10/03/2011 07:04 PM
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300nukez
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RE: Official Android Device Hacking and Customization Thread
yes...
my phone has ROOT!!!
i feel the same way after i hacked my first psp...

-
24/04/2011 06:41 PM
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