Ever since the release of Android Oreo, we always wished for self customized themes for our Android phones. Although Google provided a command line interface through Android Oreo, for Sony’s OMS theme framework, but for Android Pie, no such feature was available and also Google has even restricted the access to Custom Overlays.
So, in the first Beta of Android Q, we already sensed that users will now have an access to Overlays for customizing the fonts, icon and accent color upto some limit. This hint was just normal and very basic theme feature that user can apply by using the settings in Developer option – nothing new!!
But as soon as the Google rolled out Android Q Beta 2, it is confirmed that Android Q will come along a dedicated application for customizing themes, however, it seems like it will be limited to Pixel phones only. The app we are talking about is called ‘Pixel Themes’
In this new Beta, Google has provided a hidden app for Pixel devices named “PixelThemesStub”, which is an empty and pre-installed Apk. The stub is empty so the Google PlayStore can update it at the final release of Android Q. Because it is just a stub, we can’t really see the design, interface and also the working of the app.
But that’s not all about it! Google has provided the preview of each theme that will be available. So, even when we got the empty Apk for now, we can still have an idea about the themes that the app “Pixel Theme” will include.
There are three custom themes available for preview named as “Anthon”, “Johanna”, and “Reiko”. These themes will change the accent color, font and shape of the icons.
Below is the detailed description for each of the above mentioned theme:
- Anthony changes the accent colour to Black, Rubik font, and Rounded/Squircle shaped icons.
- Johanna changes the accent colour to Green, Arvo and Lato font and Filled shape of icons.
- Reiko changes the accent colour to Purple, Arbutus font, and Circular/Teardrop shaped icons.
All of this is stored in the package com.google.android.apps.customization.pixel. When the Android will release, we will find it on Google Play store using the same URL.
By accessing the custom overlays, you can also change the shape of icons in other places inside Settings, SystemUI and Android framework.
The Apk also includes four latest wallpapers. Some of these wallpapers have distinctive resolutions. So, you can definitely try out these wallpapers. You can download these Wallpaper from here.
So, this is all for now about the reveal of “Pixel Theme” for the pixel users. All we can do is to wait till the official release of Android Q, in order to explore and enjoy the custom theming in our pixel devices. For more information about Android Q, you can check out our previous articles.
