Creativity is one of the great characteristics of our faith. It stems right from the very character and nature of our God, and I’ve always appreciated that we at ChurchMag are encouraged to look for creativity and beauty around the web and share them with all of our wonderful readers. That why we came up with ChurchMag Theming Thursday, a monthly post highlighting some awesome creativity and personalization apps from around the web.
With this new endeavor comes a sweet opportunity for our readers as well! As you create gorgeous setups, share them with the hashtag #cmagTT on Twitter and we’ll feature our favorites in a second Theming Thursday monthly post!
With that said, let’s get started!
This month’s apps are Serenity Icon Pack, Radius CM 12/13 Theme, and Surreal Wallpaper app.
Serenity Icon Pack
One of the hottest icon packs right now is Serenity by Travis Hall aka Not Just Another Designer. Travis has been on a roll with recent releases such as Bayside and Aura, but Serenity is handmade from scratch with a gorgeous color palette that came just in time for all those lovey mushy holidays. You literally can’t go wrong here. Fans of a chill, semi-retro style with love this icon pack. Let’s do a brief overview of the app itself so you know what you’re getting into once you pick this pack up.
When you open the app, you’ll be greeted by a personal message from Travis explaining a little bit about the design ideology behind the icons. A quick swipe to the right reveals the icon list. From here you can use the search button up top to quickly search to see if your favorite icon is themed or not, or simply scroll and browse the directory of handcrafted beauties. Another swipe to the right and you’ll enter the wallpapers section full of handcrafted walls specifically for Serenity. And yet another swipe to the right reveals the icon request tool where you can (you guessed it!) request your favorite unthemed icons for Travis to start crafting. And last but not least, if you want to learn a little more about Travis and the team that helped with the app, the last tab is where you’ll want to look.
To apply the pack on Android, you’ll need a custom home launcher. My favorites are Nova Launcher and Action Launcher 3, but there are plenty of other free and paid options out there that might suit you better.
Once you’ve got your custom launcher installed, simply head to the settings, and find where you can apply the pack. Once applied, all themed icons will change over from their stock look to Serenity’s awesome style.
Surreal Wallpaper App
To complement those nice new icons you just applied, you should definitely check out the Surreal wallpaper app by Matthew Fidoe. This pack has over 1,000 walls in 17 different categories in the Pro version. Some of the walls you might recognize from around the web, but Matt has customized each wall with a custom filter that renders each image in a unique fashion. The app is fast, and applying the images as your wallpaper is one of the quickest process I’ve used in a wallpaper app.
There’s even a Star Wars category which I’m sure our readers will love π
Radius CM Theme
What Are CM Themes?
Cyanogenmod is an Android development group that has recently formed it’s own company. They are the developers behind the most popular Android ROM out there to download. Their ROM’s bring useful features and tweaks to stock Android, including the ability to theme the system UI and different apps depending on the theme. It’s yet another reason I believe Android is the supreme mobile OS to date! But we’ll save that debate for a later time. Let me show you exactly what I mean by presenting to you, Radius.
Radius
Radius is a theme by Andre Zimmerman of Kohlewrrk designs. The app has since been released, but Andre was kind enough to lend me a beta version to review for you all. I thought it might be worth noting that I have since purchased the theme. Yeah. It’s that good. You’ll find detail at every corner with Radius. Andre seems to have optimized everything you possibly could with a theme. Everything is crisp, and there’s nothing out of place. In addition to the stock purple option, you can install an app called Arcus to gain access to light versions, as well a few more color options at no extra charge. If you’re deep into the Android theming ecosystem, this is one theme you don’t want to miss out on!
Your Turn
Now it’s your turn. Let’s see those icons, wallpapers, themes, and desktops. Just us #cmagTT on Twitter and get a chance to be featured in a monthly post right here on ChurchMag! We love our readers and would love the chance to check out your setups!!
GIVEAWAY
Drop a comment in the comment section below to be entered to win one of 15 Promo codes for Surreal Walls Pro by Matt Fidoe. Winners will be selected and contacted on 3/10.
Chris Wilson says
Great start to the series Jesse. Can’t wait to see what else you recommend. Travis is great isn’t he.
Jesse Gruber says
Email sent! Thanks Chris!
Jesse Gruber says
He sure is! One of my faves!
Email sent! Thanks Chris!
Austin Barnett says
These look awesome!! I’d love to be a winner π
Jesse Gruber says
Email sent Austin!
Congrats!!
Blaze says
Started using surreal wallpaper (Free) it’s really great and goes well with most of my icons but it’s very limited.. So Hoping to win the promo code for surreal so that I can make more cool setups.. Thank you π
Jesse Gruber says
Hey Blaze! You’re selected to get a code, but we see you haven’t left an email for us to send it to! Let us know where to put it and we’ll get it to you ASAP!
Arham Jamal says
Would be great to own this wallpaper app. Nice article.
Jesse Gruber says
Hey Arham,
You’re selected to get a code, but we see you haven’t left an email for us to send it to! Let us know where to put it and we’ll get it to you ASAP!
Devesh Bhanu says
Serenity to kill the Sanity. Peace.
Devesh Bhanu says
lemme a WINNER.
Devesh Bhanu says
Wanna win the Serenity one, Ones.
Jesse Gruber says
Hey Devesh,
You’re selected to get a code, but we see you haven’t left an email for us to send it to! Let us know where to put it and we’ll get it to you ASAP!
Josiah says
Great recommendations. I’m set with my phone for a while but I just reset my tablet and will be setting this up ASAP
Vishal says
Radius is beautiful. Kohlework does amazing work!
Harish says
Nice article with neat review of 3 beautiful apps.. Keep up the great work sir ?
Benezer says
Thank you for the great apps! π