phone theme help.

Download, unzip and set up your phone theme on iPhone or Android: icons, wallpapers, widgets and the questions we hear most.

The short version: download on a computer if you can, unzip, open the folder of your theme and colour, then follow its Install Guide PDF. This page is the same journey with every step written out, for iPhone and for Android.

Looking for one theme? Each theme has its own guide with its file names and colours. This page is the general guide, the same for every theme.

On this page: Download · Unzip · iPhone icons · Android icons · Wallpapers · Widgets · Questions · Help

Download your files

  1. Open Etsy in a browser and go to You › Purchases (etsy.com/your/purchases). Find your order and choose Download files. The links in the PDF that came with your order lead to the same files.
  2. A computer is best. The files are large. A phone on Wi-Fi works too: use the browser (Safari on iPhone, Chrome on Android), not the shop’s app, because the app can’t save the file.
  3. A theme can come as one ZIP or as several (icons and wallpapers apart, or in parts). Download every one. They go to your Downloads folder.

Unzip the files

  1. Windows: right-click the ZIP, then Extract All.
  2. Mac: double-click the ZIP.
  3. iPhone: in Files › Downloads, tap the ZIP once. A folder appears.
  4. Android: in Files › Downloads, tap the ZIP. Touch and hold the folder inside, then tap ⋮ › Extract to… › Extract. With Files by Google, tap the ZIP, then Extract.

Then open the folder of the theme and colour you like. Inside are its ZIP files and the Install Guide PDF for that colour, which names the exact files to open. Downloaded twice? Your phone may add “(1)” to the folder name. Either folder works.

Each theme also has its own page, with its file names and colours:

Icons on your iPhone

Quick Install, nine icons at once

What Quick Install is: a small settings profile, signed by Frenetiq Design, that puts 9 theme icons on your Home Screen in one go (Messages, Photos, Maps, Weather, Music, Mail, Calendar, Notes, Safari). It only adds icons: your apps and settings stay as they are. The button that starts it, and its QR code, are on page 2 of the Install Guide PDF in your download. About two minutes.

Step 3: in Settings, tap Profile Downloaded.
  1. Open the Install Guide PDF from your download. On page 2, tap Get the Quick Install and open it in Safari, not Chrome. On a computer? The Quick Install QR code is on page 2 of the PDF guide in your download: scan it with your iPhone Camera.
  2. Tap Allow, then Close.
  3. Open Settings and tap Profile Downloaded.
  4. Tap Install, enter your passcode, then tap Install again. iOS shows the profile as signed by dl.frenetiq.design.

Do steps 3 and 4 within 8 minutes. Too late? Tap the button again.

Your original apps stay. To hide one, touch and hold it, then Remove App › Remove from Home Screen. The app is not deleted.

Any other icon, with Shortcuts

Each other icon is a shortcut that opens its app, set with the Shortcuts app. About a minute per icon: start with the apps on your first Home Screen page.

Step 3: tap the name at the top, then Add to Home Screen.
  1. Open Shortcuts and tap +.
  2. Search Open App and pick your app.
  3. Tap the name at the top, then Add to Home Screen.
  4. Tap the small icon, then Choose File: in Downloads, open your theme folder, then Icons, and pick one.
  5. Type a name and tap Add. Repeat for each app.

Icon names missing? Your iPhone uses Large icons (iOS 18): touch and hold the Home Screen, tap Edit › Customize and choose Small.

Icons on your Android

Set up Nova Launcher, once

Most Android home screens can’t use your own pictures as icons. Nova Launcher is a free app that draws your home screen and can. You set it up once.

Step 2: choose Nova Launcher, then Set as default.
  1. Install Nova Launcher from Google Play. It’s free.
  2. Open Nova, tap Get started, choose Nova Launcher and tap Set as default.
  3. Nova Prime or Plus appears? Tap ✕. The free version is enough.
  4. Tap → through the setup, then Go home.
  5. Not your Home app yet? Settings › Apps › Default apps › Home app › Nova Launcher.
  6. Once: open Nova Settings › Look & feel › Icon style › Icon shape and pick Rounded square, so each icon shows whole. Scroll the list to find Look & feel.

Nova may ask about your data now. Choose either option: the icons work both ways. Stuck on a Nova screen? Message us on Etsy.

Change the icons

About a minute per icon. Start with the apps on your first home screen.

Step 2: tap the icon picture, then Gallery apps.
  1. Touch and hold an app, then tap the pencil ✎ (Edit).
  2. Tap the icon picture, then Gallery apps › Files.
  3. In Files tap ☰ › Downloads, open your theme folder, then Icons, and pick one. The files are named after the app, such as mail.png or browser.png.
  4. Tap Done.
  5. Leave Reshape ticked, so the icon takes the rounded square shape. Tap Done again. Repeat for each app.

Wallpapers

Every theme comes with matching wallpapers for the lock screen and the Home Screen. The wallpaper packs work the same way, without icons: unzip, then follow the steps for your phone.

iPhone wallpaper

  1. In Wallpapers, open the iPhone image, then tap Share › Save Image.
  2. Go to Settings › Wallpaper › Add New Wallpaper › Photos, pick the image and tap Add.

Prefer the Photos app? Open the image there, tap share, then Use as Wallpaper. On an iPad the wallpapers are cropped to its wider screen: pinch to choose the part you like best.

Android wallpaper

  1. Touch and hold an empty spot on the home screen, then tap Wallpapers › Pick image.
  2. Tap ⋮ › Browse…. If it opens in another folder, tap Downloads in the path at the top. Open your theme folder (with two ZIPs, the one named “… Wallpapers”) and pick the Android image.
  3. Tap ✓ Set wallpaper. With one wallpaper, choose Home and lock screen.
  4. With two wallpapers, pick Lock Screen - Android and choose Lock screen. Then repeat with Home Screen - Android and choose Home screen.

Or open the image in Gallery, tap the menu, then Set as wallpaper. A pack sized for iPhone works on Android too: your phone crops or scales it to fit.

Day & night

Some themes, such as Gingerbread, come with a day and a night wallpaper. Your iPhone can switch to the night one at sunset and back at sunrise.

  1. Repeat the iPhone wallpaper steps with the night picture. Both are now in your wallpaper list.
  2. Open Shortcuts › Automation, tap + (or New Automation), then Time of Day.
  3. Pick Sunset, choose Run Immediately, tap Next.
  4. Tap New Blank Automation, search Switch Between Wallpapers and tap it.
  5. Tap Wallpaper in the action and pick the night picture by its preview, then tap Done.
  6. Repeat steps 2 to 5 with Sunrise and the day picture.

Android doesn’t switch on its own: in the evening repeat the Android wallpaper steps with the night picture, in the morning with the day picture.

Desktop wallpapers

Packs with a Desktop folder have 16:9 pictures, the shape of most monitors and laptops. Windows: right-click an image and choose Set as desktop background. Mac: right-click an image in Finder and choose Set Desktop Picture. On a screen of another shape, choose Fill: a thin strip is trimmed from the edges.

Widgets

Some themes have a Widgets folder: pictures that match the theme, each one a photo widget on your Home Screen. Where a theme has them, its Install Guide PDF has a Widgets page.

  1. iPhone: in Files, open a picture from the Widgets folder and tap Share › Save Image. Install Widgetsmith from the App Store (free), tap Add Small Widget, tap it, choose Photo, pick your picture and tap Save.
  2. On the Home Screen touch and hold an empty spot, tap Edit › Add Widget, search Widgetsmith, pick the same size and tap Add Widget. Touch and hold the new widget, tap Edit Widget and pick the one you made.
  3. Android: touch and hold an empty spot on the Home Screen, tap Widgets, find a photo or picture frame widget and drag it to the Home Screen. When it asks for a picture, go to Downloads and pick one from the Widgets folder. None on your phone? Install a free photo widget app from Google Play.

No extra app on iPhone? The Photos widget works too, but your iPhone picks which photo it shows. Menus differ a little between phones and apps: look for the words photo, picture or image.

Samsung, Xiaomi and other phones

Samsung: Galaxy Themes can’t use these pictures, so use Nova. Home app: Settings › Apps › Choose default apps › Home app › Nova Launcher.

Xiaomi: the Themes app can’t use these pictures, so use Nova. Home app: Settings › Apps › Default apps › Home app › Nova Launcher. Swipe gestures not working? Switch to buttons in System navigation.

Want your old home screen back? Pick it again in Home app. Nothing is deleted.

Questions

The download is big or stops halfway

The files are large. Use a computer if you can, or keep your phone on Wi-Fi with the screen on until it finishes. A theme can come as more than one ZIP, and some come in parts: download every part, save them in the same folder and unzip each one.

I only see a folder and no icons

Open the folder of the colour you chose, then unzip the ZIP for the icons. The icons are PNG files in the Icons folder. On iPhone tap the ZIP once in the Files app; on Android choose Extract.

Can I change the colour or theme later?

Yes, at any time. Every colour has its own folder with its own ZIP files and Install Guide, so you can switch whenever you like. Your original apps never go away.

Do I get updates for free?

Only for themes whose listing and PDF say more icons are coming. When we add to one of those, the same links will download the updated theme at no cost. Please keep the links to yourself.

Does it work on iPad, Samsung or Xiaomi?

On an iPad use the Shortcuts method, because Quick Install is made for iPhone. On Samsung and Xiaomi use Nova Launcher, because Galaxy Themes and the Xiaomi Themes app cannot use these pictures.

The icon names are missing on my iPhone

Your iPhone is using Large icons (iOS 18). Touch and hold the Home Screen, tap Edit, then Customize, and choose Small.

Can I share the files or use them for a business?

The themes are for personal use on your own devices. Please do not share the links or resell the files.

Is anything shipped?

No. It is a digital download: Etsy gives you the files as soon as you pay.

Still stuck?

Message us on Etsy: open You › Purchases, find your order and choose Message FrenetiqStudio. Tell us your phone, the theme and the step you are on, and we will help or send the files another way.

Visit the shop on Etsy

Frenetiq Studio