[G1 Android Development] hoey2011:
Alright everyone, time for the Swype theme mania to gain some momentum once again! I have FINALLY figured out a way to theme our beloved Swype keyboard without violating Swype and XDA policies, while still making it a reasonable effort on your part. If you want these themes bad enough, I will include a tutorial here in the OP for you guys, as well as screenshots for each step of the way. I will create a Picasa album with the pictures in order from start to finish.

First off, here's the instructions to theme Swype with Metamorph, a free application on the Android Market.

QR Code for Metamorph at the Market

You have to be rooted for this to work, obviously. If you don't have root, then you have some learnin to do, but there are many users here on XDA who have simplified the process.

If your Swype apk is located in the /system/app/ folder to begin with, you do not have to move anything anywhere for this Metamorph to work for you.

Ok, there are two ways to approach this first step.

Picasa Album step by step: http://picasaweb.google.com/hoey2011/SwypeMetamorphTutorial

(Picasa Album photos #1-7)

One, is by using a paid application on the Market called Root Explorer. There are places to find it for free I'm sure, but I will not be responsible for that :P If this is not an option for you, then skip this portion, and head on to the Terminal Method section, or, if you use adb frequently, go to that section.

If you have this app, then open it, and navigate to the /data/app/ folder, where you will find the Swype .apk (com.swype.android.inputmethod.apk).

Long press this file and select copy. Press back twice, then navigate to /system/app/

Before you do anything, press the "R/W" button at the top. Then press the paste button located at the bottom left corner of the Root Explorer window. Change the system back to read only by pressing the "R/O" button.

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TERMINAL METHOD (Picasa Photos #8-15)

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Ok guys, if you don't have the option of using Root Explorer, I have the manual instructions on how to perform these steps, for those of you who don't already know how to do this.

Open your terminal emulator application, whichever one you prefer will work just fine.

Type these lines in order:

su

mount -o remount,rw -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock4 system

cp /data/app/com.swype.android.inputmethod.apk /system/app/

ls /system/app/

mount -o remount,ro -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock4 system

sync

The "ls /system/app" line is to verify it copied correctly, as I have shown in my Picasa album

Then exit out of the terminal app, and continue on to the next section

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ADB METHOD

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Open cmd.exe on your computer, or the terminal you use for w/e OS you have on your computer.

Navigate to your sdk/tools/ folder and type this:

adb remount

adb shell cp /data/app/com.swype.android.inputmethod.apk /system/app/

if you are implementing a2sd, then replace /data/ with /sd-ext/

The file is now in the correct place, continue on

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(Picasa photos #16-21)

Navigate to Metamorph, and follow all prompts to ensure it is running correctly. If it is not, then you need to go to the Metamorph thread to troubleshoot your problem.

Select extract/unzip new theme

Select your theme, which in this tutorial will be NakedSwype.zip

From there you will select apply all themes, and allow Metamorph to work it's magic. Go to a text field and long press to bring up the Select Input Method window. Boom, themed Swype!

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SWYPE METAMORPH FILES

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Naked Swype

http://www.4shared.com/file/cTsDVgSM/NakedSwype.html

Black Glass

http://www.4shared.com/file/5PLTElqY/BlackGlassSwype.html

HTC Swype

http://www.4shared.com/file/5y0Ck_BT/HTCSwype.html

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I will be adding more Morphs for the Swype beta asap :)

The reason you have to move Swype to the /system/app/ location is because when metamorph themes apps located in /data/app/ there is some sort of recognition problem beyond my understanding. If you are running a rom using A2SD like I am, just move it to internal storage temporarily for this theme method. In order to do that, follow the same instructions above, but replace /data/app/ with /sd-ext/app/ .

Any problems, just post a logcat and a detailed description of what's happening. If you apply this metamorph incorrectly, or try and modify it to work any other way, and lose Swype, NOT MY FAULT! :p

If you try this theme, and it just doesn't apply, then try cleaning out cache and dalvik-cache to give yourself enough space on /system/ to copy the files over. sometimes multiple attempts will even work :)