The carrier label is that piece of text that says which mobile network you're using. I'm on Vodafone and I'm in the UK, so when I pull down my notification screen, I used to see this all the time..
Now, I don't need to know which network's signal I'm currently using. The UK's relatively small so Vodafone covers pretty much everywhere I go and if I'm abroad, I still pay them regardless of whether I'm using Orange's signal or anyone else's.
So I decided to change the carrier label to something else.
And I thought I'd let you know how to do it as well.
First, you need to decompile framework-res.apk. If you're on Gingerbread or above, decompile SystemUI.apk as well. SystemUI.apk sometimes has the files we'll need for this and sometimes doesn't, it depends on the rom. If you've got it, decompile it just in case you need it. If you haven't got it, don't worry about it.
(There are a few different ways you can do this. Personally, I'd suggest using Tickle My Android which is available here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1568713 But then...I might be biased..lol)
In the layout folder of either framework-res.apk or SystemUI.apk, find and open status_bar_expanded.xml for editing.
Now, to change the carrier label would actually be quite tricky because you'd dig deep into the smali code. It's far easier just to replace it.
In the .xml file, find this line of code or one similar to it:
For some reason, if you just delete the line, your phone won't work and you'll get FC after FC after FC.
So we can't hide the carrier label, we need to hide it instead.
Change the "textAppearance" part to "android:textAppearance="@style/invisible" and delete the "android:textColor="#ffffffff"" part. Then change the "layout_width" and "layout_height" to "0.0dip".
This will now give you the line:
This will now apply the style "InvisibleText" to the carrier label and display the string "Mytext" next to it.
Neither the string not the style exist yet, so next we need to make those.
In the values folder of either framework-res.apk or SystemUI.apk, find and open strings.xml for editing.
In that file, add a new line between the lines that say "<resources>" and "</resources>" That new line should say:
Save and close.
Finally, in the values folder, find and open styles.xml
Add these lines, again between "<resources>" and "</resources>":
Now recompile the app's and push them back to your phone. Only do this with the phone in recovery mode and the /system partition mounted. Do NOT push while the phone's running!
Wait for it to load and that's it. Now, when you pull down the notifications screen, you should see something like this..
(Obviously, with your own theming!)
Now, I don't need to know which network's signal I'm currently using. The UK's relatively small so Vodafone covers pretty much everywhere I go and if I'm abroad, I still pay them regardless of whether I'm using Orange's signal or anyone else's.
So I decided to change the carrier label to something else.
And I thought I'd let you know how to do it as well.
First, you need to decompile framework-res.apk. If you're on Gingerbread or above, decompile SystemUI.apk as well. SystemUI.apk sometimes has the files we'll need for this and sometimes doesn't, it depends on the rom. If you've got it, decompile it just in case you need it. If you haven't got it, don't worry about it.
(There are a few different ways you can do this. Personally, I'd suggest using Tickle My Android which is available here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1568713 But then...I might be biased..lol)
In the layout folder of either framework-res.apk or SystemUI.apk, find and open status_bar_expanded.xml for editing.
Now, to change the carrier label would actually be quite tricky because you'd dig deep into the smali code. It's far easier just to replace it.
In the .xml file, find this line of code or one similar to it:
The "plmnLabel" is the carrier label so this is the one that displays it.<TextView android:textAppearance="?textAppearanceLarge" android:textColor="#ffffffff" android:layout_gravity="center_vertical" android:id="@id/plmnLabel" androidaddingLeft="4.0dip" android:layout_width="wrap_content" android:layout_height="wrap_content" />
For some reason, if you just delete the line, your phone won't work and you'll get FC after FC after FC.
So we can't hide the carrier label, we need to hide it instead.
Change the "textAppearance" part to "android:textAppearance="@style/invisible" and delete the "android:textColor="#ffffffff"" part. Then change the "layout_width" and "layout_height" to "0.0dip".
This will now give you the line:
Now add another line just beneath that one that says:<TextView android:textAppearance="@style/InvisibleText" android:layout_gravity="center_vertical" android:id="@id/plmnLabel" android
Save the file and close.<TextView android:textAppearance="?textAppearanceLarge" android:textColor="#ffffffff" android:layout_gravity="center_vertical" android:text="@string/MyText" android
This will now apply the style "InvisibleText" to the carrier label and display the string "Mytext" next to it.
Neither the string not the style exist yet, so next we need to make those.
In the values folder of either framework-res.apk or SystemUI.apk, find and open strings.xml for editing.
In that file, add a new line between the lines that say "<resources>" and "</resources>" That new line should say:
(Where it says "Your Text Here", replace that with your own text. Don't make it too long.)
Save and close.
Finally, in the values folder, find and open styles.xml
Add these lines, again between "<resources>" and "</resources>":
Save and close.
Now recompile the app's and push them back to your phone. Only do this with the phone in recovery mode and the /system partition mounted. Do NOT push while the phone's running!
Wait for it to load and that's it. Now, when you pull down the notifications screen, you should see something like this..
(Obviously, with your own theming!)
