After years of work, Saurik has finally released Cydia Substrate for Android. While the Android OS is "open," the devices that run Android usually are not. Cydia Substrate for Android allows for users to modify and customize their device without flashing the entire device with a custom ROM.
Products that use Cydia Substrate allow you to modify any program even if it came with the phone or if it was installed later.
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*IMPORTANT*: Substrate for Android is new. While I've spent a bunch of time testing it on a bunch of devices with many versions of Android, there is always the possibility that there's something unique to your setup that causes an incompatibility. If possible, I'd recommend having a backup of your device handy; I'd also recommend being setup with a recovery mode image that allows you to easily delete Substrate. For more information, see this FAQ item.
http://www.cydiasubstrate.com/id/164f33e4-ca1e-440f-9379-3ff03b11cf5a/
Users should keep in mind that Substrate includes a safety feature: by holding down the volume-up button on your device you can disable Substrate while it is attempting to load these modifications (such as while it is turning on and starting); this will give you an opportunity to use Google Play to uninstall things that might be broken.
Substrate has been tested fairly extensively. It is designed to work on Android versions 2.3 or above, but will work on any "equivalent" versions (systems like CyanogenMod or the Kindle Fire use their own versioning schemes). It is supported on devices that use either ARM or Intel CPUs and works on "strange" devices (including Google Glass).
While Substrate support for Android is very new, Substrate was first released in 2008 for Apple's iPhone and is now being used by tens of millions of devices worldwide. Many people know it as "MobileSubstrate", how it is usually distributed for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch via Cydia, the alternative to the App Store for "jailbroken" devices.
If you are a developer, you can learn more about how to work with Substrate at http://www.cydiasubstrate.com/. There, you will be able to find documentation, tools, and examples. Substrate for Android also shares many development concepts and APIs with Substrate for other platforms, so tutorials from third-party websites may help.
(Users of Substrate on iOS may remember that there is a more general "Safe Mode" feature that will catch crashes, allowing for a more intuitive response to failures. This will be implemented in an upcoming version of Substrate for Android, but please remember: you can always use the "volume up to disable" feature to skip bad extensions.)
(Substrate requires the ACCESS_SUPERUSER permission, and during its installation it will add a few files to your device. No files will be modified or overwritten: only a few new files--all symbolic links, taking up virtually no space--are added. Substrate only requires root during installation and to help it restart your device to use new extensions.)
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Winterboard is already available for Android, allowing for custom icon packs and Theme Chooser all on stock ROMs. It does require root access, however.
WinterBoard is a "theme engine" that allows you to use the numerous themes you may find in the Google Play Store on your device without having to install custom ROMs or use custom launchers. It allows you to use almost any launcher icon theme with your stock launcher and supports "Theme Chooser" themes without CyanogenMod.
Read More [Install Cydia Substrate] [Install Winterboard] via Saurik
Products that use Cydia Substrate allow you to modify any program even if it came with the phone or if it was installed later.
---
*IMPORTANT*: Substrate for Android is new. While I've spent a bunch of time testing it on a bunch of devices with many versions of Android, there is always the possibility that there's something unique to your setup that causes an incompatibility. If possible, I'd recommend having a backup of your device handy; I'd also recommend being setup with a recovery mode image that allows you to easily delete Substrate. For more information, see this FAQ item.
http://www.cydiasubstrate.com/id/164f33e4-ca1e-440f-9379-3ff03b11cf5a/
Users should keep in mind that Substrate includes a safety feature: by holding down the volume-up button on your device you can disable Substrate while it is attempting to load these modifications (such as while it is turning on and starting); this will give you an opportunity to use Google Play to uninstall things that might be broken.
Substrate has been tested fairly extensively. It is designed to work on Android versions 2.3 or above, but will work on any "equivalent" versions (systems like CyanogenMod or the Kindle Fire use their own versioning schemes). It is supported on devices that use either ARM or Intel CPUs and works on "strange" devices (including Google Glass).
While Substrate support for Android is very new, Substrate was first released in 2008 for Apple's iPhone and is now being used by tens of millions of devices worldwide. Many people know it as "MobileSubstrate", how it is usually distributed for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch via Cydia, the alternative to the App Store for "jailbroken" devices.
If you are a developer, you can learn more about how to work with Substrate at http://www.cydiasubstrate.com/. There, you will be able to find documentation, tools, and examples. Substrate for Android also shares many development concepts and APIs with Substrate for other platforms, so tutorials from third-party websites may help.
(Users of Substrate on iOS may remember that there is a more general "Safe Mode" feature that will catch crashes, allowing for a more intuitive response to failures. This will be implemented in an upcoming version of Substrate for Android, but please remember: you can always use the "volume up to disable" feature to skip bad extensions.)
(Substrate requires the ACCESS_SUPERUSER permission, and during its installation it will add a few files to your device. No files will be modified or overwritten: only a few new files--all symbolic links, taking up virtually no space--are added. Substrate only requires root during installation and to help it restart your device to use new extensions.)
---
Winterboard is already available for Android, allowing for custom icon packs and Theme Chooser all on stock ROMs. It does require root access, however.
WinterBoard is a "theme engine" that allows you to use the numerous themes you may find in the Google Play Store on your device without having to install custom ROMs or use custom launchers. It allows you to use almost any launcher icon theme with your stock launcher and supports "Theme Chooser" themes without CyanogenMod.
Read More [Install Cydia Substrate] [Install Winterboard] via Saurik