How to Use Customize: A Walkthrough
Author: Nic Elder | Posted under: How-TosTags: customize, Jailbreak, system
Customize v2.1.1 | Published by SpicyChicken | Via built-in Production Cydia Repo | Free
Overview
SpicyChicken has been working hard to get one of our favorite apps ready for the 2.0 software. Customize lets you do exactly what the name implies. . . ‘Customize’ anything and everything dealing with the appearance and sound of your iPhone.
Some of the customizable options include:
Here we’ll walk you through changing an entire theme all at one time, as well as applying just individual parts of a theme.
NOTE: This walkthrough assumes you have already jailbroken your phone, see our 3G Jailbreak Tutorials for Mac Users & Windows Users.
How-To
1. Download Customize v2.2.1 from Cydia (see this Tutorial for help)
2. Run Customize
When you start Customize it will connect to the Theme Server and allow you to browse through numerous themes ready to be loaded on your iPhone. At the time of this, the theme server was under a really heavy load and it took us numerous attempts before we were able to connect and actually browse themes.
If your screen shows the message above about ‘Server Unavailable’ you will want to hit the home key and re-open Customize. It may take 10 or more tries before it finally connects. I’m sure this is likely due to the high demand on the server, and as things smooth out this message should go away.
3. Create a new account
To be able to browse the themes available on the theme server your phone needs to be registered to an email and password. Put in your information on the following screen when it appears. This will only happen the first time you load the program. (If you got the Server Unavailable message you might also see this screen again, you need to close and reopen until you successfully connect to the server).
4. Browse the available themes
Tap ‘Theme Browser’ on the main menu. You will be put into the browser which has several options for browsing themes. I’ll tap ‘Top 40′ and see what themes a lot of other Customize users like. After tapping ‘Top 40′ I immediately noticed the X360 theme, so for this walkthrough I’ll use that one. You may select whatever theme catches your eye.
5. Download theme of your choice
After selecting the X360 theme I’m presented with a screen similar to that found when downloading apps in Cydia. Tap ‘Download’ on the top right of the screen.
6. Apply downloaded theme to the iPhone
Now that you have downloaded the theme you want (or themes if you’re like me), then go back to ‘Browse Themes’ on the main screen, select your downloaded theme from the ‘Local Themes’ section of the ‘My Themes’ tab at the bottom. You will get prompted with another information screen about the downloaded theme.
From here, at the bottom, you will see a button for ‘Apply Theme To Device’. Selecting this will apply all available theme parts to your iPhone. You can then hit the home button to exit Customize and look at your newly themed iPhone.
NOTE: This currently will not work for backgrounds behind the icons. You will have to wait for an update to SummerBoard or possibly a later update to Customize for this functionality.
7. Removing a theme that you’ve applied
Ok, so now you decided that this theme is ugly, I like the ultra elite look of the stock iPhone better, how do I get rid of this theme?
Well there is no ‘Unapply Theme’ button, you’re stuck, live with it! Just kidding. . .
SpicyChicken has made a backup of the original iPhone theme, which you might have noticed in the list of local themes in the screenshots above (or on your own phone). Just follow step 6 but select ‘OriginalBackup’ instead of your downloaded theme.
8. Applying individual icons or images from a theme
Let’s say you like the Customize icon from the X360 theme, but really like the original iPhone theme for everything else. Fear not, SpicyChicken has you covered.
Open Customize, and on the main menu select ‘Customize Images/Sounds’. We’re changing one icon, so I’ll select ‘Application Icons’, though you could select Dock Image, Status Bar Images or any other iPhone part that you want to change.
Select the application icon you would like to update from another theme. We’re changing the ‘Customize’ icon, so I’ll select it. Select the theme from which you want to get the new icon from. I chose X360.
Look at the Preview, if it’s the correct icon, go ahead and tap ‘Apply’, then go back to your SpringBoard and look for your new icon. Notice the totally stock iPhone appearance with the updated Customize icon below.
9. Saving your custom changes to your own theme
Say you spend a lot of time customizing individual elements of the phone from different theme sets. Now you want to be able to save that as your own custom theme so that you can apply it later. SpicyChicken, again, has you covered.
From the main menu select ‘Make Backup Now’. You’ll be prompted to enter a name for your theme. You may not use any spaces or symbols in this box. We fittingly called ours AppleiPhoneApps. After you hit OK, Customize will begin backing up all of the images you currently have applied to the phone, and then you will be presented with a dialog box notifying you that the Backup was Created.
Your new theme will appear in the themes browser under the ‘Local Themes’ section and can now be applied like any other theme using step 6 above.
10. Changing system strings and messages.
One of my favorite features of Customize is the ability to change system strings. Anywhere there is text on the phone, that text can usually be modified from customize.
To check out what’s available to change, tap ‘Edit System Strings’ on the main menu.
Select the language you wish to edit (I chose English since that’s all I speak).
Scroll through the available strings to change.
Type in your new custom string.
Tap Save at the top right of the screen when finished.
Summary
Customize has been a great tool since its first release to the jailbreak community. The release of version 2.1 allows those of us using the new 2.0 firmware to break away from the binds of conformity and make our iPhone our own. So far it’s a great start.
This software is still a bit buggy, many have reported the error about connecting to the server, and backgrounds are still not able to be applied to the Springboard. Despite that, it allows you to customize your phone and therefore delivers on its promise. We look forward to future updates by SpicyChicken.
If we missed anything let us know in the comments below!
oh yes i will be trying this out when i get home.
the_skaz on July 31st, 2008 at 12:43 pm
@the_skaz: let us know how it goes
Nic Elder on July 31st, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Had this since day one. Its awesome! I can’t wait for there to be more content. Keep it up guys!
timespacemotion on July 31st, 2008 at 1:10 pm
Say i were to get that pop-up saying can’t connect to the theme server, but i click on theme browser then click on top 40 themes and it shows me the themes and I goto download it and it looks like it might be downloading which afterwards it goes back to the theme screen. I hit apply theme and it does it’s thing. I reset and nothing happens, did customize think it was connected to the server and acted like it was downloading and installing when really it wasn’t doing anything because it never really connected in the first place?
I ask because I’ve tried to apply themes and it never works. I’ve had to change like 1 or 2 icons and even the batter image once but it’s never constant ( i can’t continuously change the theme ) and lately nothing works at all.
Peter on July 31st, 2008 at 1:11 pm
@Peter: I had similar issues… the only thing I found that makes it work consistently is when you close and reopen until you don’t get the can’t connect to server message. When this message doesn’t come up everything seems to work as expected, when this message comes up, it’s less than predictable as to what it will do.
Nic Elder on July 31st, 2008 at 1:17 pm
@Nic: Nice! It was just a theory but it seems to perhaps hold true! I’ll try it again when i get home tonight from work because I notice with no wifi theres no chance of connecting to the server. I was hoping that was the issue and not something else. I’ve read things from chmod to reinstall and nothing seemed to work but i knew it had to do with the not connecting to the server.
Peter on July 31st, 2008 at 1:37 pm
@Peter: I actually did the entire review using 3g not wifi… so there is a chance, it just took sometimes closing and re-opening 10-20 times before it would connect. Be persistent and it will work eventually
Nic Elder on July 31st, 2008 at 1:51 pm
i’m on edge lol gen 1 so i’ll try but i’m doubtful lol. hey thanks again.
Peter on July 31st, 2008 at 2:00 pm
can u create your own home screen background
andre on July 31st, 2008 at 5:09 pm
I already know how to use Customize, but it’s walkthroughs/tutorials like these that make this blog quite valuable. Keep it up.
iamse7en on July 31st, 2008 at 7:21 pm
@andre: There currently is no way to modfiy the background on the springboard (homescreen), it remains black no matter what theme you apply. There should be an update to summerboard, or customize in the future to allow custom backgrounds though.
@iamse7en: Thank you for the praise, we enjoy what we do, and just hope that we’re able to help at least one person.
Nic Elder on August 1st, 2008 at 9:17 am
Thank you so much for explaining this so that anyone can understand.
wmandi on August 2nd, 2008 at 8:28 am
I was wonderin if you can use ur own pics for the icons? Or if you have to use what’s given.
keatonec on August 2nd, 2008 at 1:31 pm
it doesnt show the theme after i aply it
d on August 3rd, 2008 at 12:04 pm
after downloading customize, everything worked good for about two days, i know have a picture on my wallpaper that i can’t get rid of, and i can’t change….i am glad to know that user error wasn’t the reason i couldn’t change the color of my springboard!!!
ladynredd on August 3rd, 2008 at 7:50 pm
@keotonec: You can use your own icons but it requires you using SFTP to transfer the files to the phone. Look for our SSH/SFTP how-to coming soon.
@d: What theme were you trying to apply, maybe I can try to duplicate your problem
Nic Elder on August 3rd, 2008 at 8:45 pm
@ladynredd: I’ve read about others having problems getting rid of their wallpaper too. You need to delete/var/mobile/Library/LockBackground.jpg to fix this problem. If you need help with doing that let me know, I’m going to be posting a tutorial on using SSH and SFTP soon.
Nic Elder on August 3rd, 2008 at 8:48 pm
how to change the lockscreen wallpaper?
Max on August 4th, 2008 at 9:45 am
@Max: If you applied a theme sometimes they have the permission set wrong on the LockBackground.jpg file, and you can no longer change it. In order to fix the problem install MobileTerminal from cydia, open a terminal session, and type
rm -rf /var/mobile/Library/LockBackground.jpg
(Everything is Case Sensitive)
Nic Elder on August 4th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
hi i did the rm-rf/var/mobile/Libary/LockBackground.jpg through mobile terminal all i got was no file found what does that mean? i really want to use the themes in customizer at moment i cant my iphone is jail broken its a 2g on 2.0 firmware please help
charmaine on August 5th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
@charmaine: You missed a space
rm ’space’ -rf ’space’ /var/mobile/Library/LockBackground.jpg
It’s all CASE SENSITIVE.. make sure you type it exactly as you see
The other thing is.. the themes won’t put a background behind the icons, there currently is no way to put a wallpaper on the springboard, so all of the themes will still have a black background
Nic Elder on August 5th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
thankyou nic it accepted it that time but still not doing the themes i go to customise pick my theme after installing it then select apply theme it goes to slide to unlock and when i unlock my winterboard theme is still there is it me lol
charmaine on August 6th, 2008 at 12:00 am
I’ve used Customize successfully, but I recently had to restore my phone. Once I re-installed Customize, I was never prompted to create an account, and on top of that themes aren’t being applied. I AM NOT getting “server unavailable” prompt, so I’m assuming I’m connected. Any suggestions outside of removing and re-installing, because I’ve tried that.
DL Broussard on August 8th, 2008 at 8:43 am
i have customize 2.0 but i can’t get the themes to apply, can somebody help me please??
jc on August 8th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
@charmaine: sorry for the delayed response… I have not tried using customize in conjunction with winterboard, but I assume winterboard is controlling the themes on your phone (I know it runs in the background). I’m not sure you can apply a customize theme while winterboard is running.
@DL Broussard: I’m not sure what you’re asking… the first time you register w/ a name and password I believe it registers the phone ID on their server, I don’t think you need to re-enter the information again, are you having trouble applying themes now?
@jc: You need to be more specific as to where you are having the problem? in what step is it not working?
Nic Elder on August 11th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
when i apply a theme i downloaded form the customize menu it said it applied it but when i hit the home button to be sure nothing has changed
jc on August 11th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
I have cydia customizer and nothing downloads wallpapers,iphone sounds,nothing.Gets to downloading srceen but nothing downloads so t fill up with blue at all ! Can some please help I’m lacking customization of a iPhone it’s really f#%king with me!
Dmitch on August 13th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
@Dmitch: I just finished a tutorial on using WinterBoard. It’s pretty much a SummerBoard replacement, look for it to be posted sometime today, might help w/ your angst a bit
Nic Elder on August 14th, 2008 at 9:11 am
In detail: Downloaded Themes and File Sets are ONLY listed in My Themes Browser, but are absent from the Categories in the Customize Images/Sounds Section. SOME Dock Images I’ve downloaded DO appear in the Customize Images/Sounds Section, but I get an Error when trying to apply them. In general: Themes ARE NOT applying.
DL Broussard on August 16th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
I did a complete restore on my phone and now customize is working fine.
DL Broussard on August 21st, 2008 at 10:36 pm
@Nic Elder……thanks for the “LockBackground.jpg” deletion tip…..it worked….however there are other elements that are still locked. 1) my header 2) sliders
Bronze on August 29th, 2008 at 1:09 am
@Bronze: I haven’t experienced this issue, I’m not positive where all of the different files are stored, if you’re having multiple file permission issues your best recourse is to backup and restore the phone.
Nic Elder on August 29th, 2008 at 9:20 am
@NicElder: hi. i see it here that you are good in customize. but my question is how can i have the menus in customize as many tab that i’ve seen with others. what i have are the few ones. starting with theme browser. others # Dock Background
# Application Icons
# Main Battery Images
# Dialing Keypad Images
# Notepad Background
# Keyboard Images
# Slider Images
# System Text Strings and the likes. well, i want to have those. how would i install it? do i need to have new sources? im using customize 2.0 1.1.4 firmware. thanks
Popoybangis on September 7th, 2008 at 6:49 am
@Popoybangis: As far as I knew customize 2.0 only worked on the 2.0.x firmwares, are you sure you are using Customize 2.0 on the 1.1.4 firmware? The original customize will also edit all of the above things, it’s just a tad different in the way you change individual items. I honestly don’t remember how to use it.
Nic Elder on September 7th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
Hi,
How can I uninstall customize?
serfi on September 19th, 2008 at 4:59 am
@serfi: Cydia -> Manage -> Packages -> Customize -> Modify -> Uninstall
Nic Elder on September 19th, 2008 at 10:32 am
Thank you so much
serfi on September 19th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
how can you enter your info if you accidentally skipped it?
greg on September 20th, 2008 at 2:25 am
Whats better Winter Board or Customize?
Ed on September 24th, 2008 at 10:26 am
i cant get back to my iphone facotry settings
ive done original backup 3 times , it stays the same
HELP PLEASE
Farhan on September 24th, 2008 at 11:51 pm
so,anyone knows something about not being able to change the wallpaper after installing customize?i have the same wallpaper for months and i cant change it..and i see you know stuff..so.a little help??:))
o on October 17th, 2008 at 8:15 am
@o: Please see comments #18 - #23 above for the answer to your questions
Nic Elder on October 17th, 2008 at 10:43 am
Completely useless and frustrating. Installed, try to run, nothing happens. After a few moments, it goes back to the un-customized screen. Tried reinstalling. Same results. If there is some prerequisite to using this program, it’s not in the instructions. Not everyone is a Power Geek. There seems to be no way to reach “SpicyChicken” for direct contact. Since this is what I really wanted to do, customize, there’s no point to jailbreaking. Very, very frustrating.
Bart on October 28th, 2008 at 5:56 am
@Bart: Most people have stopped using Customize… Winterboard is the accepted way of customizing your phone now. Check out our tutorial
How to use Winterboard
Nic Elder on October 28th, 2008 at 9:11 am
Customize doesn’t seem to work with version 2.2. I installed it twice and everything i load the application, it just goes back to the main screen.
any helps?
Suresh on December 28th, 2008 at 9:02 pm
Mine does the same thing. =(
Also, wont let me register online.
relladilik on January 4th, 2009 at 9:30 pm