One of the great advantages of having a Google phone, a Google Pixel, is to be able to enjoy the applications that the big G creates exclusively for your devices.
The best known of all is probably the GCam, but there are also others like the Pixel recorder. These apps stand out for getting all the juice out of smartphones, providing very useful functions for the user.
Another good example of what we are talking about is the Pixel Themes app, which debuted in the Google Pixel with the arrival of the Pixel 4 and Android 10. This application allows you to customize the theme of your Google Pixel, modifying the color of the interface, the font, the shape of the icons, etc.
Interestingly, despite being an exclusive Pixel app, part of the Pixel Themes code is present in the Sony Xperia with Android 10. So, if you have a Sony mobile, see below how you can activate these hidden Pixel themes on your Sony Xperia.
How to activate the hidden Pixel themes on your Sony Xperia with Android 10
If you are wondering why only the Sony Xperia has Pixel themes hidden, it is because Google created this app using Sony’s Overlay Management Service (WHO) as a basis. So it makes sense that part of the Google Theme app code exists in Sony’s Android 10 firmware.
And we say “part of the code”, because the Pixel Themes user interface is not present in the Sony Xperia. That means, to activate these hidden themes, you will have to do it manually using ADB commands like this:
- Firstly, if you have not already done so, install ADB on your Windows or macOS PC.
- Also, enable USB debugging on your Sony Xperia.
- Connect your mobile with the PC using a USB cable.
- Next, open a command window on the PC from the ADB folder.
- To verify that the connection has been established correctly, enter the command ” adb devices “. Thus, the serial number of your mobile should appear on the screen. Otherwise, repeat the process.
- Now, find the available options to customize the theme of your Sony Xperia with this command: cmd overlay list.
- If you want to activate an option, enter this command: cmd overlay enable [put the package name here].
- For example, to change the color of things in the interface, you should type this command: cmd overlay enables com.android.theme.color. <COLOR_NAME>. In this case, you must replace the “COLOR_NAME” with the name of the color you want (in English): purple, black, cinnamon, green, ocean, orchid, or space.
- If you don’t like any changes you made to the theme, you can reverse it with this command: cmd overlay disable [put the package name here].
That’s it! In this way, you can put a theme on your Sony Xperia completely personalized and in the best style of the Google Pixel. In theory, this trick works on any Sony phone that has officially upgraded to Android 10 (without third-party ROMs).
Therefore it should work on the Xperia 1/5, Xperia XZ2 / XZ3, Xperia 10/10 Plus, and Xperia 1 II. Anyway, if you have one of these mobile phones and still can’t activate the hidden themes, let us know so we can help you.