How-To: Change Android HTC Dial Pad Key & Background Colors

If you are using an Android phone by HTC and want to change the colors of the keys and background of the HTC Dial Pad, you can now do so easily using ADB and a file archiver utility such as 7-zip. Read on after the break for detailed instructions.

This method was originally posted on XDA-Developers forums by pack for the HTC myTouch 4G but we don’t see why it should not work for most other HTC phones. It is quite straight forward but requires a bit of command prompt / terminal use, an archive utility like 7-zip and a little basic graphic work.

Disclaimer: Please follow this guide at your own risk. AddictiveTips will not be liable if your device gets damaged or bricked during the process.

Requirements:

You must have ADB installed to be able to proceed. If you don’t have it, refer to our guide on what is ADB and how to install it.
You will also need an archives handler utility. We use and recommend the free and excellent 7-zip.
You must use this method with an HTC phone only, as the file we will be manipulating is specific to HTC devices only and is not found on other phones.

Procedure:

Make sure USB Debugging mode is enabled on your phone in Menu > Settings > Applications > Development, and connect your phone to your computer via USB.
Launch a Command Prompt / Terminal window on your computer and enter these commands:
```
adb remount adb pull /system/framework/com.htc.resources.apk c:\
```
Note: We have saved this file at it at C:\ but you may use another path.
Browse to the location where you saved the com.htc.resources.apk file in the previous step and make a backup copy of it in case you mess up and need to restore it later.
Now open the file using 7-zip or your favorite file archiving utility and navigate to /res/drawable-hdpi/
Find ‘phone_keypad_background.jpg’ and ‘htc_pin_asset_rest.jpg’ files at this location and extract them. The first one is for the keypad background and the second one is for the keys.
Use your favorite image manipulation program like Adobe Photoshop, GIMP, Paint.NET, Microsoft Paint etc. to edit these files with colors of your choice. If you want to build them from scratch, just select all and delete whatever’s there to get an empty canvas of the suitable size to build one on.
Save the files once you have modified them the way you want and just copy them into the /res/drawable-hdpi/ folder of the original com.htc.resources.apk file. Choose to rewrite/replace the existing files if you are prompted. You may now close the archive.
Switch to the Command Prompt / Terminal window again and enter this command:
```
adb push c:\com.htc.resources.apk /system/framework/com.htc.resources.apk
```
Reboot your phone and you’re done!

Now your dial pad keys and background will be of the color of your choice. Don’t forget to show it off to your friends and if you think you have made a great looking dial pad using this hack, upload a screenshot online and share it with us here. =)

If for whatever reason this method does not work for you, simply push the original com.htc.resources.apk file that you saved in Step 3, to /system/framework/ on your phone using ADB.