Tag Archives: themes

What Is Cydia Substrate For Android & How To Install Winterboard On It

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The Cydia store has always been there for the rescue of many iOS users when their Android-wielding friends start mocking the iPhone for its lack of customization options. Admittedly, even a host of tweaks and themes cannot match the level of modification a custom ROM or root-level tweaks and mods for Android can offer, but having a collection of such root-level tweaks that can be applied to the device without having to flash files from recovery does have its advantages. So, some might find it bit absurd that Saurik has released Cydia Substrate and Winterboard in the Google Play Store, it can potentially take Android customization to a whole new level! In what follows, we'll take a more detailed look at Cydia Substrate, and show you how to install it on your Android device, and get Winterboard (or any other extensions, as they become available) up and running afterwards. Read More

Peekly Is A Lock Screen Theme For iPhone With Weather & Live Feeds

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We rarely cover iOS themes, but Peekly is anything but just just another Winterboard package. The theme really transforms your iPhone’s lock screen into something completely different, and comes with a touch of usefulness as well. Peekly doesn’t mess with every area of iOS, and sticks to changing just the lock screen. It has weather information, a beautiful clock, and the ability to display your Twitter or RSS feeds. You have to manually do some work to get Peekly up and running on your jailbroken phone, but the level of customization the theme offers makes the effort completely worthwhile. Read More

25 Best Windows 8 Themes & Visual Styles

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Anyone would get bored looking at the same computer screen day after day. Changing the look of your system with new wallpapers and themes every now and then makes it feel fresh. Applying new themes isn't all that hard; it's looking for the perfect theme that takes a fare bit of time. Back in 2009, we compiled a list of great themes for Windows 7, and now, after a long time, we have put together for you a collection of awesome Windows 8 themes. While the themes remain roughly the same, a major (and much needed) addition in Windows 8 personalization now allows you to apply a different wallpaper to the each display in a dual-monitor setup. In what follows, you'll find some of the best themes from deviantArt and Windows' own downloads page, plus a little surprise for our dual-monitor users. Read More

wpMail Weekly Newsletter Covers WordPress Themes, Plugins & Tutorials

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Wordpress is an excellent Content Management System and it has a large user base. This user base doesn’t just comprise of blog owners; a large number of developers and designers create widgets and themes for Wordpress. The amount of development that goes on and around Wordpress is huge and designers, developers, and bloggers all need to stay up to date with it. The official Wordpress blog keeps you posted on the changes they make but there isn’t a place for you to go to to find new themes and plugins. wpMail is a Wordpress newsletter that curates the best from Wordpress developers and designers and emails you once a week. Newsletters are something that you selectively subscribe to but if you’re looking for an easy way to keep up with independent developers, read reviews of plugins and find some really great tutorials, wpMail is the newsletter to subscribe to. Read More

GO SMS Comes To iPhone With Themes, Emoji & Quick Reply Pop-Ups

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GO SMS is among the most popular SMS apps for Android, and has successfully turned many people away from the stock messaging app in Android devices. The app offers everything you could ever want in a messaging app, and its integration with GO Messenger is the icing on the cake. Due to Apple’s strict App Store policies, the GO Dev Team hasn’t been able to bring their famous SMS client to the iOS Store, but that’s where Cydia comes into play. The official GO SMS client for iOS has just been released in the Cydia store, and you can start using it on your iPhone right now if you happen to be running iOS 4. We know that most of you have upgraded to iOS 5 and won’t be able to use the app, but GO SMS for iPhone gives the impression of being in a really early phase of development, and we might see major improvements (and the addition of iOS 5 support) in the app in the near future. However, the app is fully functional even now, and has the full potential of becoming a complete replacement for the stock Messaging app for iOS 4 users. Read More

Metroon Brings A Working Windows 8 Experience To iPhone

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I remember back in the day when customization was one of the bigger reasons behind jailbreaking an iPhone. Over time, the jailbreak aesthetics scenario evolved much like the platform itself, and Winterboard was no longer the sole theming platform for iOS devices. Of the many contenders that surfaced (and vanished), Dreamboard remained the sole worthy alternative to the much-acclaimed Winterboard, and brought with it perhaps an entirely new scope for iPhone and iPod touch themes. Not only was theme switching made dead easy, but the themes and skin packs themselves were much refined and more customized on Dreamboard. We even did a roundup of our top 5 picks in free Dreamboard themes back in November 2011. What that roundup was missing, however, was the new Metroon theme, a fresh release in Cydia that brings a complete and (surprisingly) functional Windows 8 experience to jailbroken iPhones. Whether you hate Microsoft’s latest operating system or deem it a right step towards the future is another debate, but Metroon is one Dreamboard theme you have to try out, and we’ll explore it in depth just past the jump. Read More

Keep Your iPhone’s Lock Screen Wallpaper Visible Even While Charging [Cydia]

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iOS blacks out the wallpaper as soon as you put your iPhone or iPad on charging. This is meant to be a feature that lets users distinguish between the charging and normal states at a glance. It might be a bit useful for some users, but most people might argue that the green battery icon is more than enough to alert you that your device is currently being charged. Also, the darkening of the background doesn’t look too good aesthetically, and that is precisely why ChargingBackground has been released in the Cydia store. If you have got this tweak installed on your jailbroken iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, the lockscreen wallpaper will always remain visible, even when you put the device on charging. That does not mean that the big green charging icon will go away, the icon remains unchanged and just the black background behind it is replaced by your current lock screen wallpaper. Read More

Get Windows 8 Themes On Windows Phone 7 With Themes Install [Homebrew]

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Windows 8 is all about Metro, the beautiful interface that is full to the brim with live tiles and colorful themes. Before implementing the Metro UI to Windows 8, Microsoft used it in Windows Phone 7. We can’t say that WP7 doesn’t have its critics, but most people tend to agree that Mango has the most beautiful interface among all smartphone platforms. Despite the similarities in Windows 8 and WP7, you have to remember that Windows Phone is a mobile platform, and hence, can’t have all the features available in its desktop counterpart. Consider the accent colors for a basic example, where WP7 sports only approximately half of the themes available in Windows 8. Well, that’s one area where WP7 has caught up with the future desktop OS, thanks to the new Homebrew app named Themes Install. If you have a rooted Mango phone, you can now extend the themes section in your device to include all the Windows 8 color accents! Read More

Timenotes: Reminders & Countdowns In An Elegant Interface [iOS]

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Some apps do not bring anything completely new to iOS, and still get insanely popular, the latest example being the Clear app for reminders. There are many factors that might lead to this, with luck not far behind an intuitive interface. No matter how much you are annoyed by this phenomenon, the fact of the matter remains that a beautiful app does have the potential to catch the eye of most users. A prime example of this can be Timenotes, an app which does nothing more than letting users set reminders and countdowns, with the major difference from other apps being its ability to let users apply gorgeous themes to each countdown individually. Timenotes can be considered a perfect cross between a reminders app and a notes one. You can create themed notes using this app, but at the same time it is also possible to associate timers with your notes that will ensure you are alerted whenever the time for action arrives. Read More

Install Boot Animations On Android With One Click [How To]

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Boot animation was truly revolutionized with the launch of Android based mobile devices. One of the first things you see when you turn the device on, a true Android fanatic will never take the boot animation part lightly. It’s like the build up in progressive trance lifting you up as the beat kicks in, or for that matter the OS boots up. Bootanimation Manager by D4rKn3sSyS over at XDA-Developers is just the app enthusiasts were looking for to manage their boot animations on an Android device, without getting into the whole ADB mess. Well, still using the ADB framework of course, the application executes all those commands through a simple and easy to use GUI. There are always the boot animations one can flash through a custom recovery to get the desired boot animation, but that’s not universal and you have to do it manually at times. We take a look at the ease and convenience Bootanimation Manager offers, after the break! Read More

How To Transform Windows 7 & Windows 8 Into Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion

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Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion skin pack hits Windows 7 and Windows 8 Consumer Preview shortly after the preview version of the OS was released a few days back. Earlier, we had covered skin packs for Windows 7, and more recently, Windows 8 as well, but as Mac OS X Mountain Lion gets ready to take on the computing world by storm, user and fans will have to wait it out. However, if you’re using Windows 7 or Windows 8 and want a taste of Mountain Lion’s aesthetics, this skin pack will do it for you in no time. The skin pack will automatically install a few 3rd party apps as well in order to mimic the Mountain Lion UI and experience. Screenshots and brief guide on how to install it, after the break. Read More

Qute: Cross-Platform Eye Candy Text Editor With Mood-Based Themes

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Different text editors offer you different types of options for performing both simple and complex text editing tasks. Simple tasks can be performing using the default Windows Notepad, while for the complex tasks, you can use Notepad++, an open source text editor massively reviewed on the AddictiveTips. Having a proper tool for the job is necessary in order to perform it smoothly and without glitches. Using a complex software to do something simple will only reduce your productivity. You will have to spend more time in learning how to use the tool than actually using it. Qute is a simple, open source, multiplatform text editor available for PC, Mac and Linux with Markdown and TeX support. It allows users to preview text paragraph wise, and lets them switch between editing and viewing modes. If your work requires you to work with text for long hours, Qute offers its users different themes to make looking at a single file for hours more appealing. You can quickly switch themes, as well as font effects. Keep reading to find out more about Qute. Read More

Screen DIY: Get Free Themes & Icon Skins For Non-Jailbroken iPhone

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Usually you can differentiate between a jailbroken and non-jailbroken iOS device by merely looking at its Springboard. The amount of theming capabilities on offer via the Cydia store is pretty impressive, and the major portion of updates in the jailbreak store consists of themes and other cosmetic stuff for your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. So, to quell the jealousy of all such iOS users who don’t have access to the Cydia store, there are many apps which can act as an alternative to applying custom themes to your iDevice. One such app is Screen DIY, which brings a lot of themes, icon skins and icon shelves to your non-jailbroken iDevice. Read More

iSounds: Add Custom Sound Effects To iOS Actions [Cydia Tweak]

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If you have a jailbroken iOS device, then you should know that the Cydia Store is full of themes for making graphical changes to your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, but what if you want to make changes to the sound effects on offer in Apple’s mobile platform? There are a few options for that as well, but iSounds is a Cydia app which covers just about every aspect of sound effects related to iOS. This app offers popular sound profiles for your iPhone, including Windows XP effects, Mac OS 9 sounds and a whole lot more. Read on to know how you can use this handy Cydia app to revamp the sounds your iDevice produces. Read More

Bring New Year Joy To Your Desktop With New Year 2012 Skin Pack

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2012 has finally arrived, and the New Year celebrations and decorations are in full bloom across the world. In the wake of 2012 celebrations, we have something special for Windows 7 users, i.e., the New Year 2012 Skin Pack. This skin pack has been created by Hamed, who has previously brought us several elegant skin packs, including the Android , Mango, iOS, Zune, Windows 8, Mac OS X, and Ubuntu Skin Pack. Interestingly, the New year skin pack has some very similar features to the recently released Christmas Skin Pack, and even the boot screen shows a Christmas tree (perhaps some elements that the developer can modify). Just like our previously-reviewed skin packs, you can install this one by simply launching an executable file, and following the simple setup wizard. Read More

Bring Holiday Joys To Your Windows 7 Desktop With Christmas Themes

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Christmas has arrived once again, and all the houses, streets and cities are lit up with the Christmas spirit. While your house is filled with Christmas pleasure and goodies beneath the Christmas tree and you probably have been looking forward to the arrival of Santa Clause, it’s also time to brighten up your Windows 7 desktop with sparkling images of holiday celebration and Christmas wonder, as we have four beautiful Christmas themes for your, including a complete Christmas transformation pack to give your PC the snowy, festive look. Read past the break for more. Read More

Themes for WP7: Create & Apply Custom Skins To Unlocked Windows Phone 7

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Although the idea might seem laughable for now, but looks like Windows Phone 7 is slowly striding towards getting everything iOS has. Barely two days ago, we got WP7’s version of Cydia (dubbed Bazaar) and today, the folks over at Windows Phone Hacker have launched the first ever comprehensive theming platform for the metro OS. Themes for WP7 is a desktop application using which you can create custom themes for your Mango phone, incorporating any image and color of your choice. Read More

Skinery For WP7: Create & Apply Custom Skins To Start Screen Tiles

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A lot of people who have shifted to Windows Phone 7 from Android (or jailbroken iOS), complain that among the main features they miss on the platform, one is the option to apply customizable themes. Even I was quick to notice that some of the Live Tiles on my Start screen do look a bit dull because of the single, solid color which serves as their background color. HTC HD7 owners can enjoy customizable skins by flashing currently available custom WP7 ROMs for their devices. as a huge bonus point. Now, however, anyone using a WP7 device can have a tastefully customized Start screen using a free app named Skinery. Read More

5 Stunning Free Dreamboard Themes For iOS 5

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Sick and bored of the conventional Winterboard themes? Not too excited about having to edit files in your iOS device to add some oomph to your otherwise boring themes? We’ve been there and we are right there with you when you say that it can give you a headache. Dreamboard, Winterboard’s counterpart is here to take the possibilities of theming your iOS device to a whole new level. No more manual file editing and downloading multiple Cydia tweaks to form one theme. Less clutter, less headache; this app has it all. The downside you ask? Well, not many themes are available in Cydia at the moment and almost 90% of those are paid, and rightly so; forming these themes can take up a lot of effort. Imagine not being able to pull it off with a step-by-step guide and ready-made tweaks. iNav HD users would know what we’re talking about. More so, those who have moved onto iOS 5 and have their devices jailbroken will find that majority of the themes are no longer supported in iOS 5. This is why we here at Addictivetips, gathered up 5 of what we believe to be some of the finest free Dreamboard apps that are compatible with iOS 5 as well. Read More