How to: Create Your Own Folder/Switcher Background

Hey, everyone! It’s been a while since I’ve done a theme tutorial, so I thought I’d show you a quick an easy one today. If you’ve upgraded your device to iOS 4, you’re probably enjoying the new multitasking and folder features. iOS4 uses the same background for both, and is easily changed, if you have your device jailbroken, with Winterboard installed.

Here’s the tools you need to accomplish this: Your device must be running iOS 4, or newer. Your device must be jailbroken. You must have access to your root folders, to install the new background (via SSH or USB). You must have Winterboard installed. You must have some kind of image editing software on you computer (I’ll be using Photoshop).

First thing you need to do pick or create an image. It can be just about anything you can imagine. I’m making an iPhone in Canada one, for my iPhone 4. Once you have your image you have to get it to the right size and format. For iPhone 4, the image should be 640 x 960, and for older devices it should be 320 x 480. You’ll want to save in PNG format. Just save it to your desktop, for now.

Next we need to package it up, for use with Winterboard. On you desktop, create a new folder and name it what ever your new background is called. Mine will be “iPiC FolderSwitcher Background“. In that folder create another, and call it “Bundles“. Then in that folder, create another, and call it “com.apple.springboard“.

Now, you need to rename your image, so Winterboard recognizes it. For iPhone 4, name your image “FolderSwitcherBG@2x.png“. For older devices name it “FolderSwitcherBG.png“. Place that image in the “com.apple.springboard” folder. The folder hierarchy should look something like this:

Your theme is now complete. You just have to install it on your device and enable it in Winterboard. Access your root folders on your iDevice, and navigate to Library/Themes, and transfer your theme here. There are many tutorials around the net on how to do this, so just use Google. The most common method, is to install OpenSSH on your device, and use an FTP client on your computer to transfer the files. I like to use the USB method, with DiskAid.

Once your theme is installed, simply enable in Winterboard, and respring. Hope this was easy to follow. If you have any questions, feel free to comment below, and I’ll do my best to help out.

Check out more jailbreak news and how to’s at www.iEvolution.ca. You can also follow me on Twitter: @rorypiper. rorypiper

written by Mike McKinnon

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