How to install and change S60 3rd Edition themes

To get the most out of this tutorial, watch the video above and then read the text below.

What are themes?

Themes change the way the phone's interface looks, and they can alter pretty much everything including the wallpaper, icons, clock, dialogue boxes, status bars etc. They can even add sound effects.

However, not all themes go to this extreme, many of them just change the wallpaper.


How do I change themes on my N-Gage-compatible phone?

All N-Gage-compatible phones come with several built-in themes, which you can access very easily:

1. Press the menu key (the swirly button).

2. Click on Tools.

3. Click on Settings.

4. Click on General.

5. Click on Personalisation.

6. Click on Themes.

7. Click on General.

8. Move up and down the menu to select a theme, and if you want a preview of what it looks like click on Options and then Preview.

9. When you've found a theme you like, just click on it.

10. When the theme has finished appearing, press the phone's red button to get back to the main standby screen.


How do I install new themes on my N-Gage-compatible phone?

S60 3rd Edition themes are installed just like S60 3rd Edition games or apps, and they even use the same .SIS or .SISX file name ending.

We've already done a thorough tutorial on installing S60 games, so instead of repeating it for themes, here's the link to the game tutorial:

http://ngageschool.blogspot.com/2008/05/how-to-install-symbian-s60-3rd-edition.html

Because the installation process is absolutely identical, everything in the article about installing S60 games applies just as much to installing S60 themes.


Where do I find themes for my N-Gage-compatible phone?

All phones compatible with the new N-Gage platform are technically speaking Symbian S60 3rd Edition devices, so it's S60 3rd Edition (aka S60v3) themes that you should be looking for.

Some of the best sites for finding compatible themes are:

Mobile9: A huge selection of S60 themes

Babinokia: One of the web's best designers of S60 themes

PiZero: Another brilliant S60 theme designer

Jaspp, the blog of P@sco, also a famous S60 theme designer


Do themes work in both vertical and horizontal mode?

If you have a phone that can operate in both vertical and horizontal mode (such as the Nokia N95 for example), you may notice that some themes don't look very good when you change modes.

The best-written themes though (for example those by Babi) use a special technique where they adjust themselves to cope with any shape of screen, so that it doesn't matter if you switch from one mode to another.