Board Thread:Fun and Games/@comment-24187738-20150426160921

This is not a full guide on how to do this, as much of the process requires self-exploration and trial-and-error. This is not meant to spoonfeed you the entire process but rather simply point you towards the tools that you will need in order to complete it.

A word of warning if you intend to try this: This is a very, very lengthy customization process that can take you hours. Do not proceed unless you are ready to commit. Also, it is best that you have at least some basic knowledge of Android phones: if terms like "launcher" and "widgets" confuse you, you should look them up yourself first.

This is all based on this article. But essentially, this is the end result:



Or if you prefer to keep your own wallpaper but still want some LLSIF swag on your homescreen, you could do it like me:



First off, this will work even on unrooted phones. However, as it requires both a different Launcher as well as widgets constantly running in the background, it is probably not advisable to do this on any device with only 1GB RAM. If you do this and find your phone/games slowing down, this was probably the issue.

The launcher used in this is Nova Launcher. The paid version is not required. Using Nova Launcher will allow you to customize the Desktop:
 * 1) Switch Desktop Grid to the largest dimensions possible, and check subgrid positioning.
 * 2) Width Margin, Height Margin, Persistent Search Bar and Scroll Indicator should be set to None to give you more screen space.
 * 3) Resize all widgets, Widget Overlap, and Overlap when placing (in Advanced) should be checked. This will give you flexibility with your widgets later.

Next, you customize the Dock.
 * 1) Set Dock Icons to the number of desired icons.
 * 2) Set Dock Height to Medium
 * 3) Turn off Show Divider.
 * 4) Turn on Dock as Overlay (in Advanced) if you want your dock to overlay your other widgets. If you refer to the original's screenshot, it's what allows Rin's picture to be beneath the dock. For me, that wasn't necessary as I was only adding some icons and not using a SIF character.

Under Look and Feel, you can turn off Show Notification Bar and Transparent Notification Bar.

Do note that most of the steps above are optional. If you have a lot of screen space, or want to do it your own way, feel free to go ahead! Experiment and go with what looks best for you.

The next step is to actually build the widgets. The tool you will require for this is Zooper Widget. Zooper Widget allows you to place widgets on the screen, which will display your images and phone data (eg. time, battery level etc) for you.

Building widgets is a relatively fun process if you like tinkering with things. The steps are always as follows:
 * 1) Place down a widget and customize its size.
 * 2) Tap on it to begin customizing it.
 * 3) Switch Widget background to completely transparent: This is done by dragging the bottom slider bar below the colour chart to the extreme right. Tap on the new Color to apply.
 * 4) Press Layout, and then the Plus sign at the top bar. This is how you add new elements to the widget design.
 * 5) Add the background image of your widget, which could be either the status bar, or a "Goal" board, or just the app icon itself. There is no shortage of customizability here: Use both Scale, and the X&Y Offset to set it into the right position. Take note of which app icon you're using, as there are two sorts: one with a rounded bottom right corner, and one without. The ones without are for the dock, the ones with are for on the screen's main area.
 * 6) If it's the status bar or a board displaying a goal or weather, add the text elements onto it. Experiment here with what sort of data you want it to display. The original had it display the current Android version, but I found it more useful to display my daily/weekly/monthly data usage instead. The app handily provides both a list of possible values to display, as well as coding syntax for you to refer to.

Important notes for widget building:
 * 1) Remember to name each of your widgets and elements before you exit it. Trust me, there is nothing more annoying than having something wrong, and then realising you have a whole page of widget numbers that don't make sense.
 * 2) You are not limited to only the images provided in the source link. Feel free to build your own. My Chrome icon was self-built using a program called "paint.net", and I managed to do it the first time I ever used such an image program without any help. The font you require for the text is Calibri size 29 if I'm not mistaken. The important thing is not to give up and just give it a shot.
 * 3) For the Status bar, the colour hexcodes are as follows. Battery: #fff883b1. Date: #ff32bb45. RAM: #ff32bacc. You can get the same information using paint.net and color picker, but this is just to save you the trouble.

However, this is where the problem hits: Zooper Widget (free version) does not allow your widgets to launch a program upon tap. This is a feature locked to the paid version.

If you're like me, you could fork out a few dollars to support the developer. Or you could find some other way to get a copy of the paid version.

Or if you're morally rich but financially poor (I respect and sympathise with you), here's how the other solution looks like.
 * 1) Start by building your widgets, same as above.
 * 2) Make many copies of the relevant app shortcut and overlay them on the widget until it's fully covered as pictured.
 * 3) Use Nova Launcher's feature to change the app icon to a transparent icon. Do this by holding onto the icon until the menu comes out, then press Edit. Tap the picture to change it to something transparent (one such image is in source link, search for 透明アイコン).

And that's basically the entire process summed up. All the images you require for each app are in the source link. If you need one for an app that doesn't have one yet, you could try your hand at making one.

Good luck!

PS: If you want to upload your works here to show them off, please keep in line with our Image Policy, and name your files "Android Homescreen LLSIF Customization - [USERNAME]" before uploading them. Thank you! 