Substratum introduces FloatUI: A Per-App Theming Solution

Recently, we broke the news that CyanogenMod Theme Engine won’t be making a return in LineageOS.

This development is a temporary blow to the world of custom theming, as CMTE has been one of the major theming frameworks for many years now. However, it isn’t the only framework that provides the ability to theme your device. Substratum is a popular alternative to CMTE, and the developers behind this project recently sat down with us to reminisce on their past, present, and future work.

Speaking of future work, XDA Recognized Developer nicholaschum is now ready to tease a new project him and his team have been working on called „FloatUI„. The project can basically be described as a „per-app theming solution“ and Mr. Chum is giving us a sneak peak of what to expect with FloatUI.

Meet FloatUI: Your Per-App Theming Solution

As you can see in the video above, once activated, there will be a small icon floating on the home screen at all times. Hence, whenever you launch an application, you can utilize FloatUI. Let’s consider an example here:

Let’s assume you have the themes Mono/Art and Reverie installed on your device and FloatUI has been activated. Now, you head over to the settings and change the theme of the settings application to Mono/Art. The change will be made within a second. You now move towards the notification area and want it to look like the one Reverie offers. Use FloatUI and the notifications will be themed instantly, separately from the settings page.

Hence, you can set specific themes for specific apps. You can also toggle framework overlays. Moreover, the themes are applied within the second and the application leaves not a single element janky. Check out the video below by Mr. Chum for another first look, hands on walk-through of FloatUI.