[OFFICIAL][GUIDE] Starting with Substratum! - Andromeda, Samsung, Pie & OMS!

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bohrabhijeet

Member
Oct 24, 2016
39
322
Mumbai
Let's get ready and theme devices with Substratum!

Hey there! I'm Abhijeet, Substratum's Public Relations and Community Connections Manager, writing this noob-friendly guide so that you can easily theme your device.
Here is the full official guide on using Substratum and some important recovery methods for various situations.


Theme Engine Support:

Table of Contents
  1. Theming AOSP [ROOT]
  2. Using Profiles
  3. Theming Rootless AOSP with Andromeda
  4. Theming Rootless Samsung with Andromeda (Sungstromeda)
  5. Recovering from various situations
  6. Different colors for overlays in Manager
  7. Theming Android Pie [ROOT]
  8. Theming Samsung OneUI devices using Synergy theme engine

Please do note, this IS for beginners, so I'll try and respond to errors and problems only if and when you have read and followed the whole thread. I'll be going over the BASICS of getting started to theme.

If you're still facing errors, please head over to our support chats hub - Substratum on Telegram

Contributors:
@nicholaschum
@InFlames03
@djdarkknight96
Mihail Mihov
 
Last edited:

bohrabhijeet

Member
Oct 24, 2016
39
322
Mumbai
Theming AOSP [ROOT]

Theming AOSP [ROOT]

  • Open the Substratum App
  • Select the theme you wish to apply
  • Select your Android version from the dropdown list
  • Select the overlays you want to apply
  • Tap the floating action button in the bottom right corner and select Build and Enable

NOTE: If you are on the March 2018 security patch (or newer) you will have to do the following:
  • Tap Build & Update (this will not enable overlays, just build them)
  • Reboot your device
  • Go to the Manager, select the overlays, and tap Enable Selected
  • After your overlays are enabled, your SystemUI will restart
 

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bohrabhijeet

Member
Oct 24, 2016
39
322
Mumbai
Using Profiles

Using Profiles:

Backing up:
  • After applying the overlays of your choice, tap Profiles
  • Tap 'Backup current state’
  • Select the things you wish to back up

Restoring:
  • Tap Profiles
  • Tap on 'Restore’
  • Select the file that you had saved earlier
 

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bohrabhijeet

Member
Oct 24, 2016
39
322
Mumbai
Theming Rootless AOSP with Andromeda

Theming Rootless AOSP with Andromeda [NON-ROOT]

  • First off, install Andromeda from Play Store
  • Connect your phone to your PC
  • Enable USB Debugging from Developer Options
  • Open Substratum and follow the Andromeda guide thread.
NOTE: You will have to connect Andromeda each time you reboot your device.
 

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bohrabhijeet

Member
Oct 24, 2016
39
322
Mumbai
Theming Rootless Samsung Oreo

Theming Rootless Samsung Oreo [SUNGSTROMEDA] [NON-ROOT]

  • Install Andromeda from the Play Store
  • Open Substratum and select the theme that you want to install
  • Pick your Android version from the top, depending on the theme
  • Select all the correct/desired options for the overlay
  • Click the floating action button at the bottom right and select Install selected
  • This process is legacy so you will have to install each app overlay one by one using package installer.
  • You can still select multiple packages to build but you will be asked to install each one. I suggest 2-5 at a time for ease.
  • Once you have desired overlays installed with package installer, reboot and they will be enabled. “Note: Overlay manager only knows installed and uninstalled, in this mode all will be green”

NOTE: In order to remove the overlays, select the overlay from the Theme’s UI or Manager tab and then tap the floating action button and tap Uninstall selected. Then click ‘OK’ on all the prompts that come up on your screen.
 

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bohrabhijeet

Member
Oct 24, 2016
39
322
Mumbai
Recovering from various situations:

Recovering from various situations:

Crashes occurring due to wrongly applied overlays:
  • Open Substratum
  • Go to Manager
  • Select the app overlay
  • Tap the floating action button and select Disable selected
NOTE: If you apply more than 1 overlay on the same target, your device/System UI may crash.
In another case, you will either have to update the theme or the app that you wish to theme.

System bootloop; How to regain control?

Unrooted users:
  • Open the folder where you have all the Andromeda files and open a command prompt there
  • Connect your device to your computer
  • Write adb devices and make sure your device shows up there (it’ll show a string of random characters), then device after that
  • NOTE: If your device doesn’t show up make sure you have your OEM’s drivers installed
  • Type adb shell cmd overlay list and this will show you all your installed overlays. The ones with [x] in front are enabled.
  • The problematic overlays will be SystemUI (com.android.systemui.<ThemeName>...) and Android System (android.<ThemeName>...) overlays. You can disable them with adb shell cmd overlay disable <package name of the overlay>

NOTE: If you are a Substratum service (aka Sysserv) mode unrooted user you will have to download ADB and your OEM’s drivers and do the same as Andromeda users from step 2.

Rooted users with access to a custom recovery:
  • Boot into your custom recovery
  • Flash the zip located at sdcard/substratum/SubstratumRescue.zip
  • This will disable all your overlays and prevent from bootloop
 
Last edited:

bohrabhijeet

Member
Oct 24, 2016
39
322
Mumbai
Different color for overlays in Manager

Different color for overlays in Manager:
Substratum is all about colors, just kidding.
  • Blue: It means that another theme has an Enabled + Installed overlay. For example, if you installed Twitter overlay from Sai’s Oreo Theme and you open up OrangeKittens, it will show up in Blue in OrangeKittens, but Green in Sai’s Oreo Theme.
  • Green: If your overlays appear Green that means that the overlays are successfully applied
  • Pink: You’ll have to reboot for the overlays to be activated.
  • Orange: The overlay is disabled. You can enable it by selecting it and clicking the floating action button then Enable selected.
 
Last edited:

bohrabhijeet

Member
Oct 24, 2016
39
322
Mumbai
Theming Android Pie [ROOT]

Theming Android Pie:

  • Use the latest version of Substratum.
  • Make sure the theme you're using supports Pie.
  • Select the overlays you wish to install
  • Select Build & Update from the FAB
  • Reboot your device
  • Open Substratum and go to Manager
  • Select the overlays you built earlier
  • Enable selected from the FAB
Requirements:
Rooted device running on Android Pie.

NOTE:
  • You'll not be able to apply themes on non-rooted Android Pie because Google blocked custom overlays since March Security patch.
  • DO NOT install Andromeda or you won't be able to proceed after the splash screen.
  • If you're using any magisk module(s), disable module(s) and reboot, build overlays, enable magisk module followed by another reboot and enable overlays.
 
Last edited:

bohrabhijeet

Member
Oct 24, 2016
39
322
Mumbai
Theming Samsung OneUI using Synergy theme engine

Theming Samsung OneUI using Synergy:
  • Download and install Synergy and Substratum Lite apps from Play Store
  • Open Synergy and tap on Add overlays » Select Substratum Lite
  • From Substratum Lite app select supported OneUI Theme and select overlays.
  • Click on the FAB and select Install
  • After it is imported to Synergy, tap on the FAB and it'll prompt you to download a Samsung theme. Tap ‘Download’ and switch to Synergy and build follow the procedure to install the overlays.
  • After the building of overlays is complete, reboot your phone.
  • Open Samsung themes select the theme that install from Synergy and apply.
  • Some of the themes require dark mode for theme to work properly. For that go back to Synergy > Menu > Dark mode settings and enable it.
  • Reboot your device again.
  • Enjoy the theme!
 
Last edited:
Some notes I've taken creating my theme update to ONEUI 2.0 Q

1. BUILD overlays in Substratum Lite, build theme in Synergy, reboot.......

"Make sure NOT to open Galaxy Themes until it opens itself or notification says to finish. If you don't the system framework will not work."

2. Apply blue synergy theme

"if not there clear store cache and reboot"
it should go right to 100 after it starts, if it freezes at 97 a long time then you didn't wait after reboot and need to uninstall the blue theme and rebuild in synergy.

3. If you get trial notification you'll need to apply the pink High Contrast Synergy theme "you'll see stock stuff DO NOT PANIC" reboot then set wall and enjoy theme!

Hope this helps

DJ





Awesome
 
Last edited:

staharuddin

Member
Nov 5, 2017
17
1
Substratum is one of the best theming systems for Android. It is highly customizable, flexible and provides further means of theming not found in most stock theme engines, i.e bootanimations and overlays for non-system apps. Kudos to the devs of this amazing framework!
 
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  • 61
    Let's get ready and theme devices with Substratum!

    Hey there! I'm Abhijeet, Substratum's Public Relations and Community Connections Manager, writing this noob-friendly guide so that you can easily theme your device.
    Here is the full official guide on using Substratum and some important recovery methods for various situations.


    Theme Engine Support:

    Table of Contents
    1. Theming AOSP [ROOT]
    2. Using Profiles
    3. Theming Rootless AOSP with Andromeda
    4. Theming Rootless Samsung with Andromeda (Sungstromeda)
    5. Recovering from various situations
    6. Different colors for overlays in Manager
    7. Theming Android Pie [ROOT]
    8. Theming Samsung OneUI devices using Synergy theme engine

    Please do note, this IS for beginners, so I'll try and respond to errors and problems only if and when you have read and followed the whole thread. I'll be going over the BASICS of getting started to theme.

    If you're still facing errors, please head over to our support chats hub - Substratum on Telegram

    Contributors:
    @nicholaschum
    @InFlames03
    @djdarkknight96
    Mihail Mihov
    55
    Theming Android Pie [ROOT]

    Theming Android Pie:

    • Use the latest version of Substratum.
    • Make sure the theme you're using supports Pie.
    • Select the overlays you wish to install
    • Select Build & Update from the FAB
    • Reboot your device
    • Open Substratum and go to Manager
    • Select the overlays you built earlier
    • Enable selected from the FAB
    Requirements:
    Rooted device running on Android Pie.

    NOTE:
    • You'll not be able to apply themes on non-rooted Android Pie because Google blocked custom overlays since March Security patch.
    • DO NOT install Andromeda or you won't be able to proceed after the splash screen.
    • If you're using any magisk module(s), disable module(s) and reboot, build overlays, enable magisk module followed by another reboot and enable overlays.
    43
    Theming Samsung OneUI using Synergy theme engine

    Theming Samsung OneUI using Synergy:
    • Download and install Synergy and Substratum Lite apps from Play Store
    • Open Synergy and tap on Add overlays » Select Substratum Lite
    • From Substratum Lite app select supported OneUI Theme and select overlays.
    • Click on the FAB and select Install
    • After it is imported to Synergy, tap on the FAB and it'll prompt you to download a Samsung theme. Tap ‘Download’ and switch to Synergy and build follow the procedure to install the overlays.
    • After the building of overlays is complete, reboot your phone.
    • Open Samsung themes select the theme that install from Synergy and apply.
    • Some of the themes require dark mode for theme to work properly. For that go back to Synergy > Menu > Dark mode settings and enable it.
    • Reboot your device again.
    • Enjoy the theme!
    31
    Recovering from various situations:

    Recovering from various situations:

    Crashes occurring due to wrongly applied overlays:
    • Open Substratum
    • Go to Manager
    • Select the app overlay
    • Tap the floating action button and select Disable selected
    NOTE: If you apply more than 1 overlay on the same target, your device/System UI may crash.
    In another case, you will either have to update the theme or the app that you wish to theme.

    System bootloop; How to regain control?

    Unrooted users:
    • Open the folder where you have all the Andromeda files and open a command prompt there
    • Connect your device to your computer
    • Write adb devices and make sure your device shows up there (it’ll show a string of random characters), then device after that
    • NOTE: If your device doesn’t show up make sure you have your OEM’s drivers installed
    • Type adb shell cmd overlay list and this will show you all your installed overlays. The ones with [x] in front are enabled.
    • The problematic overlays will be SystemUI (com.android.systemui.<ThemeName>...) and Android System (android.<ThemeName>...) overlays. You can disable them with adb shell cmd overlay disable <package name of the overlay>

    NOTE: If you are a Substratum service (aka Sysserv) mode unrooted user you will have to download ADB and your OEM’s drivers and do the same as Andromeda users from step 2.

    Rooted users with access to a custom recovery:
    • Boot into your custom recovery
    • Flash the zip located at sdcard/substratum/SubstratumRescue.zip
    • This will disable all your overlays and prevent from bootloop
    29
    Theming AOSP [ROOT]

    Theming AOSP [ROOT]

    • Open the Substratum App
    • Select the theme you wish to apply
    • Select your Android version from the dropdown list
    • Select the overlays you want to apply
    • Tap the floating action button in the bottom right corner and select Build and Enable

    NOTE: If you are on the March 2018 security patch (or newer) you will have to do the following:
    • Tap Build & Update (this will not enable overlays, just build them)
    • Reboot your device
    • Go to the Manager, select the overlays, and tap Enable Selected
    • After your overlays are enabled, your SystemUI will restart