What's new
Apple iPad Forum 🍎

Welcome to the Apple iPad Forum, your one stop source for all things iPad. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Changing icons manually?

Coffeeboy

iPF Novice
Joined
Jun 6, 2011
Messages
184
Reaction score
2
Location
Orebro, Sweden
Since I can't seem to get my downlaoded WB-themes to work (and not being friends with the search function :p ), I was wondering where I can find - or indeed if it's possible - where (in iFile) to change the icons manually. I'm on an Air running 7.0.4 (JB-ed of course), and I do strongly dislike many of the stock iOS icons; they are ugly...

Something on the WB thing: I download themes from Cydia and they show up in WB. But after selecting (and put at top of list) and respringing, nothing happens...

//Stefan
 

willerz2

iPF Novice
Joined
Feb 22, 2012
Messages
1,341
Reaction score
255
Location
New York
Are you sure that the theme was designed for retina iPads on iOS 7? Not all themes are compatible with iOS 7, and not all themes are iPad and iOS 7 compatible.
 
OP
Coffeeboy

Coffeeboy

iPF Novice
Joined
Jun 6, 2011
Messages
184
Reaction score
2
Location
Orebro, Sweden
Are you sure that the theme was designed for retina iPads on iOS 7? Not all themes are compatible with iOS 7, and not all themes are iPad and iOS 7 compatible.

I sort of figured this could be the case; Cydia isn't all that clear on this point through and through... Anyways, I also figured, maybe one could use the icons within the themes? The one thing I'm trying to do here is get rid of the hideous bog standard stock icons... Hence the query...

//Stefan
 

willerz2

iPF Novice
Joined
Feb 22, 2012
Messages
1,341
Reaction score
255
Location
New York
I sort of figured this could be the case; Cydia isn't all that clear on this point through and through... Anyways, I also figured, maybe one could use the icons within the themes? The one thing I'm trying to do here is get rid of the hideous bog standard stock icons... Hence the query...

//Stefan

It depends on what the theme is. Retina icons in general have to be 144 * 144 in dimensions. If the icons are readily available in your downloaded theme as 144 x 144 in pixels, you can create a new theme directory in /var/stash/themes.XXXXX/, then in that newly created directly in the themes folder, create another directory called "Bundles" then place your bundle folders into that directory. Bundles are in the form of <ext>.<developer>.<appname>, so a few samples would be com.google.Maps or eu.heinelt.ifile. In your currently downloaded them, they should already be in this format, but the master plist may differ, or, the dimensions may differ as well, so check the dimensions of the icons, and check to see if the icon names have ~ipad.png at the end of them.
 

Mickey330

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Aug 30, 2010
Messages
11,890
Reaction score
2,226
Location
Western NY state (USA)
Oh my - I totally agree with you! Some of the stock icons ARE ugly! :D But, I like the look of iOS 7 overall, so, for me, Winterboard is out. So, I have changed a bunch of my iPad Air's icons manually; here's how I did it:

(1) Obviously, find an image you want to use. Make sure it's the right size (generally, non-retina iPads have icons that are 76x76 while retina iPads are 152x152). Oh, and the image must be a PNG file

(2) Get the image onto your iPad (I usually e-mail them or use Dropbox, then I open them with iFile)

(3) Open iFile. You should be at the Home page. If not, navigate until you are there - then press on the "Applications" line. All your AppStore apps should be listed. Scroll to find the app you want to change.

NOTE: If your apps are not in "plain text" (you see a bunch of gibberish/numbers), you'll need to change their display in iFile. Do by going to iFile's settings (the gear icon) > File Manager and ensure "Application Names" is turned ON.

(4) When you open the app folder, there will be a bunch of folders. Find the one that has the app's name (also has the extension ".app") and press it.

(5) Scroll down until you find PNGs starting with "icon." Most apps use Apple's naming convention, so a retina iPad's icon should be called "[email protected]" and a regular iPad will be "Icon-72.png" (the key is, retina iPads will always end with "...@2x").

NOTE: Not all developers follow Apple's naming conventions. I'll get into how to locate them in a bit...

(6) Rename the original PNG image. You don't want to delete it cause what if you change your mind? So, slap "BAK" or "Original" on the end of it, so you'll know.

(7) In iFile, go to where you have your PNG image and copy it. To copy, press the "Edit" button in the upper right. Then, tap the open circle next to your file. Once the circle is selected/filled it, tap the clipboard icon in the lower right. Then, tap "Copy/Link." Then press "Done" in the upper right.

(8) Navigate back to your app for which you're changing the icon (go all the way into both folders). Tap "Edit" again, tap the clipboard icon - this time, select "Paste." Your new icon will be put in.

(9) Now you have to clear the cache so the iPad loads your new icon. So, in iFile, navigate to /var/mobile/Library/Caches/com.apple.IconsCache. Delete this file (com.apple.IconsCache) [ONLY!] by swiping left and selecting delete.

(10) Respring the iPad and your new icon should show. And ... you're done! :)

Now, as I said, most developers follow Apple's naming convention for icons. But, some just have to be different! :) So, for those, go to Cydia and download the free app/tweak called "AppInfo." It reads your iPad and will have/display the names given to your icons. Very handy, that little tweak!

And that's it. Just be careful to save/backup your original icon(s) and delete ONLY the icon cache.

It's a bit complicates and daunting at first. But, once you've done a couple, it becomes pretty simple. Regardless, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Good luck and happy modding.

Marilyn
 
OP
Coffeeboy

Coffeeboy

iPF Novice
Joined
Jun 6, 2011
Messages
184
Reaction score
2
Location
Orebro, Sweden
By Jove, Marilyn! You are the greatest! In another time and age, I'd probably would ask you to marry me! :D Step-by-step and easy to follow! Not even me, could F this up! Many - and then some - thanks. A bunch.

//Stefan
 

Most reactions

Latest posts

Top