How To Theme An Android Phone With LibreSubstratum App

Android is widely preferred by consumers from around the world, primarily for the level of customization it offers. In that very aspect, theming plays a very crucial role. We earlier covered how it was possible to theme your Android device using Substratum.

While the tool works really well, it has lately been reported to have analytics built into their app which allows the app to share user-specific data with the developers. Thankfully, there is an alternative to that – LibreSubstratum.

While we’ve already covered what LibreSubstratum is, and how it differs from the original Substratum app, let us take a look at how to actually go about installing and using LibreSubstratum on your device.

Note: The following method only works on Android Nougat (7.x.x) ROMs that have full OMS (Overlay Manager Service) Support. Stock ROMs are currently not supported.

Install & Use LibreSubstratum On Your Android Smartphone:

• To begin with, head-over the Google Play Store and install "LibreSubstratum" on your phone. This is a free app, so you don't need to panic.
• Next, Install "Substratum Theme Engine Root" from play store (a free app). This is to enable LibreSubstratum to function properly. Hence, LibreSubstratum is just an alternative to Substratum app.
• Now, navigate to your Phone Settings => Developer options => Scroll down to the "Debugging" section and enable the toggle next to “Force authorize every theme app”.

• Now, install any Substratum theme of your choice from the Play Store. For this tutorial, we will be installing the Greyce theme (free). Alternatively, you can try out these themes as well.
• After you've installed the theme installed on your phone, open the LibreSubstratum app. Here, tap on the theme that you just installed. It will now present you with a list of overlays.

• Select the overlays that you wish to apply by checking the box next to them. Once you’re done with that, tap on the “+” icon in the bottom-right corner and select “compile, install and activate”.

• All done and thus you've successfully themed your Android device using LibreSubstratum. The overlays will now be compiled and then installed on your device. Once done, simply reboot your device to see the changes. As you can see in the screenshots down below, I chose the pink accent overlay for my SystemUI.

Use LibreSubstratum To Theme Your Android Phone:

While the Substratum app in itself is technically, open-source, it has lately been reported of using specific trackers. However, the original app does not allow it's user to install any themes through a 3rd-party sources such as APKs or alternative app stores. Thus, LibreSubstratum is something benefiting and it is simple, fast, contains no bloatware, and has no anti-competitiveness.