Black Google Apps for Android (Revisited)
A while ago I posted about some black Google Apps. Since then, things have obviously been updated quite a bit, so I decided to touch base on it once again. If you want to find my old article on the black Google Apps, you can find it here.
Click to enlarge pictures.
Black apps are great modifications for many reasons. They often look better, they are battery saving for AMOLED screens, and they are easier on the eyes during night time operation.
A few things you should note before attempting to install these black apps. Many of them can be installed without issues, but others require root access. Basically non-system apps can be installed on any Android device without any complications, where system apps will require you to remove the system app before installing the modified one which requires root.
Apps That Require Root Access:
- Gmail
- Google Talk
- Google+ (only on Galaxy Nexus and other ICS phones)
Everything else should install without Root just fine.
What I used in the pictures above, (with links below)
- Google+, Google Music, Docs, Reader, Translator and G Talk. modified by Rujelus22
- Widget Locker for Lockscreen
- Go SMS pro + ICS Theme for my Messaging app
- Gmail by TeamBamf.net
Rujelus22 offers nearly every Google App in black, you can find his link here.
Rujelus22 also offers a black Gmail, but I find it has issues with black on black making some emails unreadable. For those reasons I use TeamBamf.net’s Gmail instead.
TeamBamf.net offers many different variations on black Gmail. They offer all different sorts of colors, as well as transparent versions for your picking. You can find TeamBamf’s post on black Gmail here
!Notes and Warnings!
- you will notice I didn’t mention the dark themed Android Market Rujelus22 offers, due to the fact it screws up your phone. Installing this market looks and works fine, but once you go to purchase paid apps, you either Force Close or fail to authorize the purchase payment. For those reasons, I highly recommend not fiddling with the Android Market.
- Making backups before installing the “Root Required Apps” is very important. They all worked for me without issues, but I cannot guarantee you will have the same success as I did.
That’s all I have to give you in terms of Black Google Apps for now, I will keep you guys updated as things change. If you know of more black apps you would like to share with our community, feel free to share their names within the comments below.
If you’ve tried this out, come back and let us know what you think.