Stephen Schenck / Android Authority
TL;DR
- As SpongeBob gets ready to sunset, Google’s prepping two new sets of Pixel themes.
- One is all about Harry Potter, with magic and Hogwarts wallpapers and sound effects to customize your phone.
- It also looks like Google’s prepping some artistic new options from HERALBONY in Japan.
Google introduced Pixel theme packs last year for quickly overhauling your phone’s look, and while we wish we had a little more variety there, we have to admit — they’re pretty great. Depending on who you ask, the current SpongeBob offering may be the best thing to happen to Pixel phones in a while, even if we’re super bummed to only have it around for another month. As we brace for that loss, though, we’re already looking to what’s next — and there is absolutely reason to be excited there.
For this, we’re checking out version 1.0.892133135.release of Google’s Pixel themes app. Now, let’s get the bad news out of the way first: We haven’t been able to find any graphical assets to extract, so we can’t bring you a preview of how your next Pixel theme might look just yet. As for that good news: If you thought Google landed a huge fandom hit with SpongeBob, it is going to knock absolutely knock it out of the park with this next one — Harry Potter.
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That’s just the half of it, though. In this release, we’re finding evidence for two upcoming sets of three themes, each with three wallpapers. Our first set is Harry Potter, consisting of Harry, Hogwarts, and Magic themes:
Code
Copy TextHarry
Hogwarts
Magic
Even if we can’t show them to you just yet, we have managed to pull up descriptions of all the wallpaper options each of these themes will offer:
Harry
- A wallpaper featuring the golden snitch mid-flight above a stormy Quidditch match with Harry on a broomstick reflected on it’s gleaming surface.
- A wallpaper featuring a composition of golden snitches with wings blurred in flight on a red and green gradient background with a soft glow.
- A wallpaper illustration of a Quidditch pitch from above on a stormy day. Three tall, hooped goalposts are visible with packed spectator stands beneath them.
Hogwarts
- A wallpaper displaying Harry Potter and three fellow Hogwarts students in a boat approaching the Hogwarts castle, which is reflected in the glimmering water.
- A wallpaper of a blue-toned corridor in the Hogwarts castle lined with knight armor and flaming torches. An archway at the center glows with golden light.
- A wallpaper featuring Hogwarts castle under a starry, deep blue sky. Warm light emanates from the windows a bolt of lightning streaks above the castle turrets.
Magic
- A wallpaper featuring Harry and Hermione riding a Hippogriff reflected in a glass window. Hermione’s arm and wand are outstretched in the foreground, casting a spell with a brilliant purple glow.
- A wallpaper composed of downward-floating feathers alit with a gentle magenta glow on top of a purple background glittering with blurred stars.
- A wallpaper displaying a lone tower of the Hogwarts castle against a purple, starry sky. A full moon glows in the sky and soft yellow light emanates from the tower windows.
Similarly, we haven’t yet been able to listen to any of the custom audio effects set to arrive with these themes, but we do have their names.
Harry: Alarm – Prophecy, Notification – Soar, Ringtone – Flight | Hogwarts: Alarm – Great Lake, Notification – Arrival, Ringtone – Starry Sky | Magic: Alarm – Glow, Notification – Enchant, Ringtone – Charm
Especially with the new HBO series on the horizon, Harry Potter fandom sounds like a perfect target for Pixel themes. And while that’s probably going to be the new addition that gets the most attention, we’ve also identified another set of three new themes under development.
This one is almost certainly going to be much less familiar than our last entry, but see if you recognize what Google’s cooking up with these new themes:
Code
Copy TextKaoru
Midori
Shigaku
Like we said — Harry Potter it ain’t. But if you are sufficiently plugged in to international design communities, you might just recognize these as a trio of artists associated with HERALBONY: Midori Kudo, Kaoru Iga, and Shigaku Mizukami.
Once again, we don’t have any actual art to share with you from today’s find, but we have spotted some descriptive labels for your wallpaper options that offer some general ideas:
Kaoru
- A textured composition of intersecting geometric planes in shades of green and red.
- A dense collage of rectangular strips with varied textures, contrasting earthy shades with vibrant hues.
- A grid of textured blocks in deep blues and greens outlined by red lines.
Midori
- Thick, cross-hatched marks in patches of warm orange and yellow against cool tones of blue and green.
- A dense layering of multi-colored, diagonal marks over a vibrant wash of blue and purple.
- A dense, mosaic-like pattern of short, overlapping marks in blue, red, and orange.
Shigaku
- Bright green dots on a deep green background meet a blue curve scattered with orange dots.
- A textured, deep blue shape contrasted by a diagonal line of yellow dots.
- A dripping, olive-green texture contrasted by a brushed blue curve, with vertical grids of yellow.
Somehow, we wouldn’t be surprised if these don’t get quite the same reception as the Harry Potter themes, but certain Pixel users are still going to absolutely love these options. Look for all them rolling out to Pixel handsets over the months to come.
⚠️ An APK teardown helps predict features that may arrive on a service in the future based on work-in-progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to a public release.
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