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One of our favorite trends in smartphones right now is themes. Users can easily change the look of their entire phone without complicated rooting or ROMs. The Samsung Galaxy S6 and Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge both support themes. Before the phones launched there were rumors about a “Stock Android” theme that would make TouchWiz look more like Google Lollipop. No such theme was available at launch, but soon that will change.
A user over at XDA has submitted two Material Design themes to Samsung, and both have been approved to show up in the Themes Store. There is a dark and light theme, and both will skin the notification bar, settings, wallpaper, icons, keyboard, and some stock apps. The themes should show up in the next couple of weeks. If you want stock Lollipop on your Galaxy S6 with minimal effort these themes will be your best option.
Will you be downloading one of these Material Design themes? Dark or Light? Are you currently using a theme on your Galaxy S6?
[via iTechTriad]
I will be, please update us when they launch.
Should be sometime this week since they’ve been accepted already :D
Dumb it doesn’t even change the status bar icons
That’s because Samsung’s theme engine is limited for right now and doesn’t allow those kind of modifications.
awesome. So far pretty damn stoked with the S6. Really wanted this time around to be htc or lg or sony but the S6 outshined em all. Gotta give credit where credit is due
This is awesome news. Hoping this would happen. Looks very nice from the pics!
Dopest thing Sammy has done in my opinion, good way to get some possible Nexus fans to grab a S6
Never.
Your loss.
While the stock look option is welcome, that’s not the main problem with Samsung’s skin. My main issue with TouchWiz is twofold: 1) the fact that they completely change the settings and configuration screens, to where nearly nothing is where it’s supposed to be and 2) the fact that they bloat the phone with their own duplicates of apps which try to mimic their Google equivalents, and which are almost universally inferior to the stock (Google) implementations. Samsung could learn a thing or two from Motorola, who enhance their phones with some neat features not found on Nexus devices, but they largely leave Android alone. Their “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach is vastly superior to Samsung’s, IMHO.
That’s true exactly…One thing i always do when i buy a samsung device is root it and replace all the Samsung apps with all google apps.
They really should add more finesse to their stock apps.
I use a Note 3 on Lollipop, and I get this feeling that it is Google’s software that is inferior to Samsung’s. Don’t get me wrong – I do wish Samsung toned down on the software load, but that would be acceptable if the Google-made software offered same-to-better functionality than the Samsung ones, but it simply doesn’t.
Case(s) in point:
– New Google Photos is panned for trouble identifying photos in non-traditional folders (DCIM, Pictures, Downloads,) in my experience (and others,) deleted an ENTIRE album from my phone in its attempt to sync to the cloud, and has terrible editing options. Unacceptable oversight.
– What sense is there for GP Music when GPM All Access is NOT EVEN AVAILABLE where I live? And its equaliser piggybacks from Samsung’s. (It becomes a featureless music player.) GPM should not be forced onto phones if the service is not even there in the first place.
– Samsung (used to preload their phones) with a decent Office viewer, sometimes an editor (Note-class.) It can tap into Google Drive as well. In stock Android, to view and edit Office documents in G Drive, you’d have to install (or was preloaded with) THREE apps (one for Word, Excel, and Powerpoint EACH.) Why did Google do this?
– The camera could be faster to launch, but so much more granular control than what the Nexus 6 has OOTB.
– I found the Samsung layouting of the settings tab logical – it groups the settings by deeper phone stuff (General,) Networks, Sounds and Displays, and Input methods. It makes more sense that way. I wish it was side swipe-able, though; no two Lollipop builds from Samsung for any one phone are the same, apparently (Note 3 Lollipop is different from S5, S6, etc.; the Lollipop for LG G2 is roughly the same as LG G3, G Pro 2, etc.)
– Quite few phones (non-Samsung anyway) allow for directly calling a contact from the messages app by lifting the phone close to the ear. Not even Nexus devices have this feature; I cannot overstate how convenient this is.
Bottom Line. I understand that Samsung has to make their own software when we feel that it shouldn’t because Google already software that offers essentially the same functionality in different garb, but before we chastise Samsung for its slow Gallery app and the inefficient messaging and contacts app and sing praises for Google Photos and Hangouts, we must consider what the ‘ideal’ Google alternatives are (they aren’t.) The same goes for nearly every other phone maker out there.
I am waiting for the new android themes.
Awesome, the stock Dark theme is perfect but it would be nice to see a little more color in the text app, granted I’ll probably use Hangouts exclusively.
Just in time my company finally ordered my GS6. Now if they can just fix the aggressive app close / RAM issue I keep hearing about.
Already have the theme :)
where did you get it from ? The theme store ?
I already have one installed on my phone. It is awesome. 1st theme I knew I would enjoy using. When they officially release I am going to use the dark theme. As for now I am using the one that I found on a Google+ community. Installed the “trial” and then disabled some apps to make it permanent
where did you find the one you have now? Please share !!
Community on Google+ otherwise if your phone is rooted you can find it on an XDA Forum
A theme to make TouchWiz look like stock Android… I hope the irony isn’t lost on Samsung.
That looks sick.
Rooting is so much better and it’s not complicated anymore…. As a matter of Fact, you can also get Un-root insurance and a 30 day root warranty…. :) I love my Note 3, but the rooted experience improved it in so many ways and even if Samsung has themes to offer, it’s still TouchWiz. Come see what I mean: http://www.moisfamilytech.com/mobile-phones.html
Rooting is no longer a no brainer as it permanently removes Samsung pay capabilities from the S6 on. You may be able to still use untokenized methods, but you’d also be completely without MST capabilities which was a huge selling point.
In all honesty, I don’t really use anything Samsung (store, pay, music etc…) other than my note specific apps and I believe that where there’s a will there’s a way and tech solutions are always available sooner or later. At the same time however, it really depends on the user and personal needs or wants. I really Love my Root and it works Very well for me and with the System I am presenting ( http://www.moisfamilytech.com/mobile-phones.html ) I have insurance and a guarantee to back the root, so that made the decision to root my Note 3 was too easy. :)
Personally, when I bought my SGS6 edge I didn’t root it (first phone not rooted in a long time). There are now too many capabilities that just won’t work with root. Also, it is a pain in the ass to make some apps work such as Barclays Banking or Good Mobile when you root your phone; Not worth the trouble in my opinion
Nice and boring…just the way Google likes it…Zzzzz
I love how people are bashing Samsung for using touchwiz and saying stuff like if they used stock they would sell more. The reality. No one outside for us minority actually prefer stock android. If more people actually really cared about stock. Nexus series would sell and galaxy wouldn’t.
That’s because the average consumer doesn’t know what stock Android even means. I gave up my Moto X 2014 for the S6 because of the hardware, but I really miss stock (or at least near stock) Android. Clean, easy to use, and the truest competitor to the iPhone. The funny part is I’m not even a techie. I just know what I want from my mobile device.
there is a material design one called “Flat Candy” and i love it but the color pallete isn’t my favourite, instead of red i would have programmed cyan or teal
really good news!! can’t wait for being able to download them
Bring on the stock Android dark material theme!