Galaxy S8 Battery Saving Tips Featuring Package Disabler Pro/IFTTT

May 21, 2017 by Jeff Springer

Turn off Auto-Brightness
Decrease display resolution
Turn screen timeout to 15 seconds
Use a Dark Theme/Wallpaper/Icon Pack
Use Package Disabler Pro to Disable Samsung Bloat/Unwanted Apps:
1. Full List of Packages to Disable on S8 (from XDA)
2. My Package Disabler Pro List
Turn off Wifi/NFC/Bluetooth when not in use-IFTTT can be helpful for this.
If you're in a rush just use one of the built in Power Saving Modes to perform several of these simultaneously. These work well, but with much less granular control.

Black on Black Theme for Galaxy S8

May 08, 2017 by Jeff Springer

Apps/Files you Need for This Theme

Material Black or MINU Black
Backdrops
Action Launcher 3
Murdered Out Icon Pack (Or Kasatmata for higher contrast)
Zooper Widget Pro
Solid Explorer (for moving files around)
Zooper Template from XDA
Navbar Apps-To theme out navbar black throughout
Gboard-Black AMOLED Keyboard

Steps To Setup The Theme

Install your chosen black theme from the Samsung Theme Store. Possible Options (linked above) Include:
1. Material Black
2. MINU Black
Grab your AMOLED wallpaper, the version I am using can be found in Backdrops app under the premium AMOLED category. There are also a couple more good options for AMOLED wallpapers linked below
1. AMOLED mnml
2. Super AMOLED Wallpapers
Download and Install Action Launcher 3 or your favorite launcher. If you would like to customize your setup exactly as I show in the video, take the following steps in Action Launcher 3 Settings:
1. Settings=>QuickTheme. Search Box = Black. All Apps Background = Black. Quickdrawer = Black. Quickpage Background = Black. Folder/Quickcut/Shutter Background = Black.
2. Settings => SmartSize Icons ON. Icon Pack = Murdered Out or Katsatmata. Dark Status bar icons (at very bottom) ON.
3. Settings=> Desktop=> Grid = 5x5. Quickpages ON.
4. Settings=> Dock=>Width = 5
5. Settings=>Folders=> Auto-Covers ON. Quickcuts ON. Shutters ON.
6. Settings=> App drawer=> Style = Pixel. All Apps Background = Black.
Download Zooper Widget Pro, Solid Explorer (if you don't already have a good file manager installed), and the Zooper Weather Template from XDA. Follow these steps to get the weather widget from my video on your home screen:
1. Install Zooper Pro.
2. Move the template file to Zooper Templates folder. This can easily be done in Solid Explorer as it makes copying and moving files a snap.
3. Long press the home screen to add a Zooper widget to your home screen.
4. Browse SD card within Zooper to pick the template we previously copied there.
5. If you would like to get the exact look in my video, remove the location and enter in the color code #ff706c6c into the Temperature and weather icons (see the screenshots below.)
Install Navbar apps. If you want a black navbar to persist throughout the UI, take the following steps inside the app:
1. Choose static color option, change to black.
2. Click on the Settings menu with navbar apps. Choose the option "Color of Navigation bar when keyboard is open", set this to black also.
Install Gboard and choose the material black AMOLED theme as shown in the video. Your Black on Black theme should now be complete!

Android Themes Challenge: Blue/Black Top 5 Voting and Gallery

June 18, 2016 by Jeff Springer

The top 5 finalists for the Blue and Black Android custom themes challenged have been announced! Check out my video detailing the 5 winners in contention and scroll below for details of their setup along with the original screenshots. You can also vote for your favorite of the Top 5 to determine the overall winner at the bottom of this post. The winner will be announced on June 25, 2016.

Ronn's Blue/Black Theme.

Phone: Galaxy S6 Edge
Launcher: Apex Launcher
Grid size 5/4.
Icon pack: Glim dark.
Clock widgets from IO/2016 by Google.
Week day is from the Zooper widgets unity 2/3.
Calendar is month calendar.
Google widget is from Zooper widgets by unity2.
Wallpaper Is from star wars stripes.

Aakash's Blue/Black Them

XWidget : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.xwidgetsoft.xwidget
Superhero wallpaper : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.andromo.dev336753.app318634
Nova launcher
Glim dark lite : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.icons.dark.glim.lite
Fleksy keyboard : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.syntellia.fleksy.keyboard

J 123's Blue/Black Theme

Launcher - Nova Launcher Prime
Grid Size - 7/7
Icon Size - 90℅
Icons - Glim Dark Lite
Wallpaper for Lock screen: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1g_wuh3EUrCS2V1aU1GNk5xT1E/view?usp=drivesdk
Wallpaper for Desktop: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1g_wuh3EUrCQmZRcHRBNVFIcms/view?usp=drivesdk
Navy Bar theme - Layers - Navigate
Used Kolorette App to change the color of the widget
Widget - Zooper widget Pro - Stun Zooper 3

Raj's Blue/Black Theme

Launcher: Action Launcher 3
Grid 5/5
Widget: Trident Zooler Widget (customized to blue)
Wall : https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzIgfJs85LztbUlqemJzaUxKZkU/view?usp=docslist_api
Calender Widget : Month Calendar Widget
Keyboard: SwiftKey

Jay's Blue/Black Theme

Phone - Nexus 6P ( Custom ROM - Pure Nexus )
Launcher - Nova Launcher
Widget - Zooper Widget ( By Me)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bweuoc4L8RanQjhXRDR4UjlWVk0/view?usp=drivesdk
Icons - Glim Dark Lite
Wallpaper - https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bweuoc4L8Rand3hPRkdtQWFUeHc/view?usp=drivesdk

Turn off Auto-Brightness

Decrease display resolution

Turn screen timeout to 15 seconds

Use a Dark Theme/Wallpaper/Icon Pack

Use Package Disabler Pro to Disable Samsung Bloat/Unwanted Apps:

Full List of Packages to Disable on S8 (from XDA)

My Package Disabler Pro List

Turn off Wifi/NFC/Bluetooth when not in use-IFTTT can be helpful for this.

If you're in a rush just use one of the built in Power Saving Modes to perform several of these simultaneously. These work well, but with much less granular control.