Rules to Installing a theme

1. Read the instructions carefully. Every part of it. All the time.

2. Just install themes compatible with your ROM. Developers will always plainly state which mod a theme was designed to be applied. In the video below, I opted to load Ted’s Hero Theme on my Cyanogen 4.0 mod.  Here is the tutorial – both written and video – presentation on how I applied Ted’s theme.

1. Rename theme to “update.zip”

Themes usually come in .zip format showing its title. Download a theme you like and rename the file to “update.zip” (right click file > click “Rename”)

Tip: If you want to store several themes, keep them with original file names in a folder named “Android Themes.” When you desire to load a theme, you can copy it to the SD card first and then rename the copied file to “update.zip”

2. Copy update.zip to the ROOT of your SD Card

Don’t put the file in several folders. Put it directly on the drive letter home as seen here:

3. Re-launch the phone in Recovery Mode

• Long press the Power/End Call button
• When the phone shuts off, press and hold the Home and Power buttons together.
• Continue holding until the phone vibrates and the boot image (T-Mobile G1 or Android logo) shows
• Release and wait for the recovery screen

4. Perform an Android backup (optional)

When applying themes or ROM’s, it’s a good idea to make a backup just in case something goes wrong. I try to do one every other time I change something. If things go bad, I can restore my phone to a recent state. Backup is built into the Cyanogen Mod, so follow these steps

• Scroll to and select “[Alt+B] Nandroid v X.X”
• Place your phone down and wait until the screen displays “Backup complete!”

5. Apply theme to your phone

• Scroll to and select “[Alt+A] apply update.zip”
• Press the Home button to confirm
• Wait until the screen displays “Install from sdcard complete”

6. Reboot your phone

• Scroll to and select “[Home + Back] Reboot Now”
• Wait until your phone reboots with the new screen. It should take 5-10 minutes, so don’t worry if the phone takes a little while to get update.