foreign language issues with summerboard themes

It’s been a problem that a lot of folks have emailed me about. My theme assumes English as the language selected on the iPhone and therefore the default Apple sanctioned applications whose names are different on iPhones using other languages, show up with the original Apple icons for those applications. Since making alternatively named, but essentially the same, icons available would make the install package for PlainJain huge, on top of being radically incomplete because I know I’d never be able to keep up with all the various names for all the various apps in all the various languages available on the iPhone, I won’t be doing that.

As I solution I’ll direct you to my previous post on renaming icons. Figure out what the name of your app is, and rename the icons involved to match the name your language selection has applied.

The only other alternative would be to switch to English and do as I do, run without icon labels on at all.

My hope is that eventually Summerboard will add a language set of alternative names for apps that automagically redirects the UI to the English named icons in iPhones set to use another language.

Cheers all! – Matt

Version 2.4 Update

Hey friends and neighbors,

2.4 is out and includes some new installer app icons, some requested icons, a new AIM.png icon for use with whatever chat app you like, PLUS (by special request) the OLD wallpaper and dock images. To use them, install Mobile Finder (through the installer) on your iPhone or iPod Touch, then use it to navigate to /var/root/Library/Summerboard/Themes/PlainJain(Or PlainJainDim or BlackJainDim whichever you use). Once there you can use Finder to rename Dock.png or Wallpaper.png to something else (or delete them if you are that adamant about it), then rename Dock[ALT] or Wallpaper[ALT] to the original name of the file by deleting the [ALT] part.

Coming soon: PlainJainCustom – Custom images for use with Customize. To make your iPhone even more PlainJain.

Cheers and peace out hommies.

^If you could see my face that would be even funnier.

Theme stats tabulated…

Shaun put together some download stats and I threw them into excel and spit this out the back end.

Gives me a nice warm fuzzy. It feels odd for something I decided to do out of sheer boredom and discontent with the Apple iPhone UI.

For dates September 26 2007 through December 3rd, 2007

blackjaindim 176215
plainjaindim 170878
plainjain 139653

Wow. Put together that’s more downloads than OpenSSH.

Thanks to everyone out there doing me the honor of walking around with my theme on their phones!

PlainJain hits YouTube

Too funny…. and a little creepy.

I guess I’m a fanboi of Diggnation also, so I can’t be too wigged out.

210 icons

It’s been pointed out to me (last night) that there are now over 200 icons in PlainJain.

I’m sure, if I look hard under the soda cans and old video cards on this desk here, I’ll find my life.

Anyway, I’ve been asked to make sure that folks coming here via the installer know that they can find this page at plainjain.wordpress.com

Maybe the Installer app will get a “View in Safari” option from the “More Info” area of the packages. Consider this my request for just such a button.

Cheers all! – Matt

Version 2.3

Ugh… ok. After fixing another half dozen errors, all bonehead moves on my part, I’m up to 2.3.

I’ve updated the preview page to show what all has changed.

Version 2.0 Update

Wow. That only took forever. Updated ALL the icons to include outlines in the opposing hue. IE White icons with black outlines and black icons (in BlackJainDim) with white outlines.

Wouldn’t you know it I uploaded too early and flubbed a few of the BlackJainDim icons… not to mention making, but not uploading a few of the new apps from the modmyifone.com installer source.

Which brings us to Version 2.1. I’ve uploaded it to Shaun (the ste installer source manager) and am crossing my fingers that he’ll grant me a flavor and go ahead with a quick update.

On the plus side I got permission from my friends to use their photograph for a new wallpaper to replace the craptastic old set I had in there.

Monica Boeckman is the photographer, Adam Freeman is the model (Monica’s boyfriend.) and the piercings are by my wife, Bombshell.

Preview Available

Added a preview page (link at top of blog) that shows ALL the current icons in the set.

Howdy

Just doing a quick post to explain that this blog is intended as an “official” page for the PlainJain family of Summerboard themes for the iPhone. I’ll post update icons here ahead of actual Installer releases and will take any icon requests for future versions here. If you have any thoughts or suggestions for ways to improve any of the themes, PlainJain, PlainJainDim or BlackJainDim, post a comment and let me know what you’re thinking.

Thanks! and Cheers!

Matt