In case you do not know, Google released the first Developer Preview of Android P yesterday. Also, they provided the information regarding the new changes as well as the timeline of Android P releases. But, what they didn’t tell is the end of support for custom overlays such as Substratum themes.
That doesn’t mean Android P natively don’t allow overlays to be installed. It is possible but only by the system as found on Razer Phone. Now, this is really a sad news for almost every Android enthusiasts. Last year with Android Oreo, Google included Sony’s Overlay Manager Service(OMS) which helped the developers at Substratum to apply themes even on rootless Android devices. Thus, users could change the look of their device’s navigation bar, quick settings, lock screen and even emojis in certain apps.
Now, as the installation of custom overlays is blocked by the system itself, even rooted devices will be affected. To enable custom overlays, the framework.jar will need to be patched and thus it will be possible only in custom ROMs. So, that’s it, the end of rootless themes on Android devices courtesy of Google as they blocked it intentionally.
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What are your thoughts on Google’s strange move? Do let us know in the comment section below.