Back in the day all of us here at the Iconfactory lived, ate, and slept customization. If there was a way to change the appearance of something on our desktops, from icons to wallpapers and even the Mac’s overall look and feel, we forged ahead and changed it. Indeed, we built our early business around the fact Mac users loved to change their icons, wallpapers, iPulse jackets, and lots more.
Times have changed of course, and Apple locked down many of the fun pieces of software we used to enjoy so much like Kaleidoscope, iControl, and CandyBar. But today we’re reclaiming just a tiny bit of that nerdy battlefield thanks to our most recent cross-platform updates to Twitterrific. We’ve had theme support in Twitterrific for years, but now we’re giving you the tools to create your own themes for both macOS and iOS, as well as the ability to share them with other Twitterrific users.
We’ve set up a Dropbox archive that contains all of the default themes used in Twitterrific. These themes make great starting points for anyone who wants to customize the appearance of Twitterrific’s timelines and windows.
To help make this process a bit easier, we’re also releasing the internal tool we use to create these themes. Nerdy Bird may not be a slick, polished app, but it gives you everything you need to open an existing light or dark theme, tweak it, and save it just the way you like. Themes can be shared on your devices by simply dropping them into the iCloud Drive > Twitterrific > Themes folder: they immediately become available on both platforms. Neat!
We’ve also included a repository where you’ll find a collection of custom Twitterrific themes contributed by a few brave souls who have already taken the plunge. We hope to grow the number of themes available in the weeks ahead, but there are already a handful to download now. If you’ve created a cool theme and want to share it with the Twitterrific community, write or tweet and let us know – we’ll add a special spot just for your creation.
There’s even a helpful online tutorial about Twitterrific theming from Ringgit Malaysia. He outlines the various colors that go into the creation of one of Ollie’s complex themes, so check it out!
We’re not gonna lie, creating a custom theme is a complex and challenging task. But if you’ve been bitten by the customization bug, like we were long ago, have no fear: you’ve got a fever, and the nerdy prescription is finally here. Have fun, play safe, and enjoy yourselves!
