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How do I get themes onto my iPhone (firmware 2.x)?
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Here are some instructions on how to manually get themes onto your iPhone and/or iPod Touch. These are instructions for firmware 2.x. If you need instructions for firmware 1.1.4 and below please see THIS post.
If a theme is not available through Cydia, you will have to add it manually yourself. You will need to have a jailbroke iPhone or iPod Touch in order to change the theme on your iPhone or iPod Touch. For more information on Jailbreaking, please see our F.A.Q. Page.
When you jailbreak your iPhone/iPod Touch, the Cydia application will be added to your SpringBoard with the rest of your applications. You will want to go into Cydia and search for the OpenSSH application. If it is not already installed, you will need to install it.
You will then need to install WinSCP on your PC. Macs come with openssh but if you’d like some alternatives check here. To connect to WinSCP you will need to go into your Settings application on your iPhone and then into the Wi-fi option, click on the little arrow next to the Wi-Fi you are connected to and get the ip address. Now open WinSCP on your computer….the Host Name is your ip address (with the periods) the user name is root and the password is alpine. Don’t worry about the Private key file, you don’t need to put anything there. Hit login.
Once WinSCP opens, you will see all the files on your iPhone/iPod Touch and the file structure. Themes are located in the Library/Themes folder. Once you are in that folder you will see all the themes that are on your iPhone. This is where you will want to add your new themes.
If you are creating a theme – Create a folder somewhere on your computer that is the title of the theme you would like to add (ex…Chalkwork) then inside of the Chalkwork folder create another folder called Icons (with a capital “I”). Inside the Icons folder put all of the icon images that you would like to have. They must be named the same as the Title of the app, starting with a capital (Ex…Calendar.png, WinterBoard.png, AppStore.pgn, Stocks.png….). You can also add a Dock and Wallpaper to the Chalkwork folder, they also need to be capitalized (do not put them in the Icons folder…just in the main Chalkwork folder). Once you have a folder of the theme with a folder of icons inside it you just drag the whole folder, Chalkwork, into the Library/Themes folder on your iPhone or iPod Touch via WinSCP and hit Copy. Once it is done transferring you can go on your iPhone into WinterBoard and select the theme you just added. Note: your iPhone has to be on for the file to transfer!
If you are downloading a theme that is in a zip file – you will have to open the zip file and then create a folder on your computer that is the same name as the theme you are trying to download. Then copy the Icons folder from the zip file into the folder you created on your computer. This unzips the file so that you can add it to WinterBoard through WinSCP. You can also copy the wallpaper and dock out of the zip file into the file you created if you would like them too. If you are looking for some themes to download, check out our Downloadable Themes page.
If you have any further questions, you can email help@appleiphoneschool.com
If you would like to add information about this process please use the comments!! Thanks!
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Is the openSSH on the mac, part of terminal, because I just cant seem to find it. Humm
[Reply]
Brooke on December 9th, 2008 5:56 pm:
Yes, it is built in to Terminal.
But, HERE is a video using cyberduck (it is a decent tutorial if you ignore the fact that he is interupted by his dad half way through
).
i still have my summerboard 1.1.4 themes backed up on my pc.
will they still work with winterboard once transferred using the above method?
[Reply]
Brooke on December 10th, 2008 7:12 am:
Yes, I tested this method with a 1.1.4 theme from SummerBoard. Though, the theme I tested only included icons, wallpaper and a dock. But, when I ssh’d it in, it showed up in WinterBoard. I then activated it in WinterBoard and it displayed correctly on my iPhone.
I use a program called DiskAid which allows you to transfer themes to iPhone using usb. It basically allows root access to the iPhone directory. Check it.
http://www.digidna.net/diskaid/
[Reply]
Keeter on December 16th, 2008 5:39 pm:
Keeter can you onswer me on something? Where did you saved the theme?
Keeter on December 16th, 2008 5:58 pm:
It’s in the root/library/Themes directory I believe. You should be able to navigate around in DiskAid until you find it. You will need to have a jailbroken phone with winterboard installed. If you do you can use DiskAid to connect then copy any winterboard themes to iPhone in that directory.
Ted on March 28th, 2009 5:52 am:
Very nice! works just like i wanted it to… none of the openSSH bull…thanks for sharing!
[...] instructions below are for firmware 1.1.4 and below. If you are on firmware 2.x, please see our How do I get themes onto my iPhone (firmware 2.x)? [...]
what about if i download them from cydia ??
what is the next step ?!? do i use customize as 1.1.4 ??
and what is the types of themes ??
i heared like ; winterboard ….. ???????
[Reply]
I do not have a Library/Themes folder. Am I to create a Themes folder in the library folder. After I have placed the themes in the folder, how do I get them to show up in winterboard?
[Reply]
So how does one install a Cydia-based theme? I thought I had installed the iComplete theme via Cydia, but absolutely nothing changed after I installed it except that my iPhone had to reboot. Where can I go to view all of the icons it is supposed to have?
I guess I really don’t know how themes work via Cydia. Please give a tutorial on how to install AND then modify a theme like iComplete.
Thanks!
[Reply]
Douglas on January 18th, 2009 9:44 pm:
You probably need to install Winterboard, that’s what controls your themes. Once it’s installed you just activate what them you want.
can i jailbreak my iphone 2.2.1 using winpwn 2.0.0.4? or how will i be able to jailbreak it?can anyone help me pls
[Reply]
how can i get themes on my iphone 3g if i dont want to jailbreak it ??????
[Reply]
Noora on July 18th, 2009 10:35 am:
you can’t, sorry bud
jailbreaking is fine-trust me