[prjkt.io] SlimBeaner:
Are you leaving the device connected at all times? You do that until you have all your overlays installed within substratum. For others, there seems to be a common and concurrent disconnect between applying the theme on the individual theme page where you 'make it' first, and the overlays that are created from that.

Anyway, for me if I did not leave the device connected while I first ran substratum it would not link up. But in your case I think you need to update substratum to the latest version if you have not already.

Like I was saying above to Meerkat:--- the best thing to do if you are in the middle of everything and its a bit messy/difficult to keep track is to uninstall ALL overlays in the overlays menu then start again. Funny stuff happens if you apply on top in that it won't seem to have worked when maybe it has and you have to waste time rebooting to see, then reconnect, ect.

So this is what I do from scratch. Get my themes lined up. So far I am using the Swift Dark and Swift Black. For myself I made all the overlays for swift dark because it has the best contrast of the two (I dont know why people would want an all black, it makes text harder to read in general for me anyway BUT damn Swift black has the best notification colours while swift dark is simply your selected accent colour it seems at all times; the Oreo white seems to have been selected because it gives the best contrast for all people [ I dont have vision problems I just detect ones better for viewing] which is part of the reason I think Oreo has switched to white).... and long digression there!!.... all black all the time is simply the same thing=bad contrast. But....

....so I make all overlays for Swift Dark BUT I DON'T apply them just yet (though on one occasion I did and it worked fine), I just select the create and update option while at the same time unchecking the override all themes one.

Thats ok because its a two step process rolled into one otherwise. In fact you probably could apply it with these two themes. I make sure to keep it blue because this is the accent both themes have in common, and its no big deal; but you will come to see. Anyway, then I go into Swift black and just create the system UI and system/notifcation tray and pixel launcher one (this seems to only come with blue accent for swift dark/black I forget which, no biggy)...and of course I create the swift black notification one (system UI I think, its one of them) because remember I want the black notifaction shade with its multi colour notifaction headings - to me thats a good blend of black/contrast/clarity...and its impactful.

** * Need I say I am very pleased with this effort from the devs. ** *

So if this is not making sense, I want a device thats got the good contrast but dark theme and swift dark does this best for all apps in my opinion; but I also would like the swift black notification shade and system settings and system menu (the one where it says rebooting) and the clock. Im sure the battery life is not much different because the majority of apps are not pitch black. You either apply all that in the theme section, or you leave it for later. But in any case I then go into the overlays section where you have finer control/more clear control over what you're doing. I make sure I have applied swift dark by a visual check. And then I apply the overlay I previously created for swift black to do with the pixel launcher (remember this includes the home screen items and they are not dissimilar to the other swift theme at all, and make the bottom row darker too along with the google now icon on the top left + i create the notification shade for swift black.

So as you can see I have one main theme and coat of paint, then I do a touch up with the overlays.

Very good stuff, and the more complex your creations, the better you will find this system I think.

_

Here's where it can get tricky however. I have found that the app likes things clean. Normally by doing it fresh and because they are so similar I can just apply Swift Black notification shade and pixel launcher/google now icon, ect thats all a part of pixel launcher (make sure you create them with the accent you want) and it works; but sometimes you have to disable the one you don't want then apply the one you do want.

Thats because IF you apply one on top of the other it may not fully work and you will have to reboot in order to clear up the old theme where it replaced.

^> I think some people are tripping up here and saying it doesn't work. All you need to do if its not sticking properly is reboot and connect again and go back into the app. If not by then the theme is not fully appeared, you can go through and enable/disable again those bits, and you can also select the option thats on top in the overlays section (the one after you made the selection in overlays to apply, ect)... the top option mentions overlay switching or something, try that.

But in any case if you just keep it simple for the app, and make use of the overlays section as well as the theme section, you should go alright.

TLDR: if you are having trouble, try rebooting, clearing all the overlays and starting again, creating your overlays in the themes section only, and applying overlays in the overlays section (as a 2 step process instead of all-in-one), and each time make sure you are connection via your computer and computer script.

You only need to connect once and create your overlays, and you can disconnect once you have done that. But if you reboot you will have to connect all over again. And if you get stuck simply go into overlays, select them all then execute the option to delete them all. Then just start again.

And for heavens sake - once you have it set up, don't touch it again haha. :crying: