Where to Find the Best iPod Themes
Customizing your iPod is one of the joys of ownership. From cases to play lists to unusual applications, there are all kinds of options for turning your iPod into your own individual masterpiece. One of the best ways to express your unique personality via the iPod medium is through iPod themes.
What are iPod themes? I’m glad you asked. They are downloadable electronic templates that show up on your iPod display. Think of them as “wallpaper” for your iPod, but with a twist. iPod themes include all the basic information that is displayed on the device, such as volume and battery level as part of the overall theme.
iPod themes range in style from fairy princess to hard-core rocker, and the good news is that you can change them with your mood. So if you wake up in the morning on the wrong side of the bed, you might want a skull and bones look, whereas if you mood improves something more joyous might be in order.
One of the best sites for downloading iPod themes is Rockbox. Their themes are categorized by device type, which is essential to ensure that the themes you are downloading are compatible with the screen resolution of your device. Some of my favorites on the site include mixtage, which looks like an old-fashioned cassette tape (remember those?) and iPirate (perfect for International Talk Like a Pirate Day”). Another great option for iPod themes is iPodwizard.
Getting these iPod themes on to your device is as easy as downloading music – and, better yet, free! All you have to do is download the theme either to the root file of your PC or directly to your player. The theme is usually part of a zip file that can be unzipped by right clicking the file and selecting the “extract all” option. If you run in to any problems (Rockbox, for example, sometimes requires separately downloaded fonts), check out the discussion on downloading themes on iLounge.
In general, iPod themes range from very clean and simple to extra fancy. Your choice of theme for any given day might depend on your mood, the music you’re listening to and, well the company you’re in (try to keep it a little less racy if you’re visiting your grandparents!). You’ll also want to decide how much information you want to display about each song. Some themes will pull in tons of details, from the date of the album to the size of the file being played. Others are on the more minimalist side.
As you’re considering iPod themes, you’ll also want to think about whether you want themes that allow you to show the album artwork for your music. Some of the themes include a space for the artwork that is generally downloaded with your music (unless you choose not to have it included).
And, remember, as with all things iPod, most of these themes have been developed by iPod fanatics, umm, users, who have found ingenious ways to make their device their own – that means that some themes will function better than others. Most of the basic rockbox themes have been checked by numerous users so they should work pretty well. But if you have any problems, all you need to do is delete the files and start over again!
Who knows, maybe you’ll be inspired to develop your own!
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