Posted on 04-25-12 11:16 am
This is a bit out of the way of my usual projects right now, but some people asked for something like this, and I thought I'd start an experimental version of it. Here's "Splash Changer", a dead-simple application that allows users to change the splash screens on their devices. The "splash screen" refers to the screen between the OEM logo (e.g. SAMSUNG) and the Windows Phone animation. Usually, this is a carrier logo, or the logo of the ROM, if custom.
Using the WP7 Root Tools SDK, this is actually really easy to change, and is completely safe. Well, fairly safe anyway. This version of the application is very experimental, and contains pretty much no features; it also requires a little advanced work to actually use. If there's interest, I may make a repo for custom splashes, a desktop app that helps guide it, or something along those lines.
Instructions
Download the splashchanger.zip file. Do not extract this.
Make some custom splash images. You need a 480x800 image, in Windows BMP format. Paint makes these files, for example.
Open it with a ZIP file utility, such as WinRAR or 7-Zip File Manager.
Add your BMPs into the splashes folder, with the built-in ones.
Deploy the entire splashchanger.zip file. To do this, you may need to type *.zip into the deployment chooser, and press enter. It should appear and be deployable. (XAPs are zip files, in case you didn't know.)
Let me know how it goes, and if there's any interest for simplifying this process. Oh, and rooted devices only. Thanks, and enjoy!