The concept of theming the OS dates well back before the introduction of the Monet Theme engine with Android 12. Infact, the good old glory days of modding had this Substratum Theme which allowed you to theme each and every aspect of the OS and even numerous system apps as well. While its support has slowly dwindled down over time, however, we still have some noteworthy names in this domain.
In this regard, some of the popular players include the likes of Project Themer, Iconify, and Repainter. While these are mostly focused on the AOSP ecosystem, but that in no way is a limiting factor as all the Pixel devices as well as numerous custom ROMs boast of the AOSP ecosystem itself. With that said, as of now, all such apps are giving quite a tough time to the end users.
Custom Theme not working with Android 14 December 2023 update
Many users have voiced their concern that these custom theme apps are not working along the expected lines right after installing the latest Android 14 December 2023 update. All the three aforementioned apps, namely Project Themer, Iconify, and Repainter weren’t able to function along the expected lines. This clearly indicates that the latest update has broken some core underlying UI/UX components of the OS, thereby bullying these third-party modifications.
Remedial Measures
We were able to reproduce this bug at our end and our device did end up in a bootloop state. To rectify it, we had to flash the stock boot.img to get things back on track. So if you are also currently stuck in this situation, then removing the root by flashing the boot.img [devices launched with Android 12 or older versions] or the init_boot.img [for devices launched with Android 13 and higher versions] could be your best bet.
With that said, if you haven’t yet installed the December 2023 updater on your Pixel, then it’s you might consider delaying it for a couple of weeks till the developer rectifies the issue [because going forward, you shouldn’t expect Google to make any changes with the January update to make third-party theming apps compatible with its OS].
Or if you are still reluctant to use these apps, then at least stay away from the Quick Setting customizations, because that seems to be the major culprit among all the sections of the OS. On that note, we round off this guide regarding the custom theme apps not working with the Android 14 December 2023 update. As and when there is any further development surrounding the same, we will update this post accordingly. Stay tuned.
