One of the first things when I hacked my 3DS was install a custom theme, because I was tired of the bland look of the 3DS and I had seen some pretty cool themes out there for it that I really wanted to use (plus, I think it’s kinda wrong to charge values of like 2€ for a theme). On the PS Vita side of things, things have not been as rosy in terms of the customization of our home screens. While it is possible to do so, editing the app.db is always risky and even if you know what you’re doing, sometimes a distraction can create more hassle than the end result is worth. Thankfully, developer Mithrenes finally came through with something that will make custom themes on the Vita much more viable: TEMA, an application to download and install themes for both your Vita homescreen or VitaShell.

What is TEMA

As I said earlier, TEMA is an application that makes using custom themes on the PS Vita much less of a hassle. It downloads and installs the themes, taking care of the app.db editing in the process as well. To make a sweet deal sweeter, it installs themes for both VitaShell and the normal Vita OS. I would recommend taking a look at the some of the themes already available, my favorites are the Steins;Gate and Fallout themes which I feel are very well made.

Changelog for TEMA v1.2

V1.2
added confirmation message for deleting themes, so people dont delete them if by accident press the square button
V1.1 Beta
Beta version. Better error messages. Some menu optimization and icon.
V1.0 Beta
Intial Beta Release

Instructions on how to use TEMA

HOW TO USE:

Before using this app remember to create the following folders:

-For Live Area themes:

• ux0:customtheme/u/
• ux0:customtheme/c/

-For Vita Shell themes:

• ux0:VitaShell/theme/

-For downloading temp files (here is where the zip files are downloaded and then deleted after the extraction process):

• ux0:ptmp/

BACKUPS

When installing Live Area themes the app makes a backup of your app.db file in:

• ur0:shell/db/app_orig.db

Copy that bakup to a safe place because it will be overwritten next time you install a Live Area Theme.

NOTE: The themes you want to install must not already be inside a folder. All the images have to be directly inside the zip file.

As a side note remember to name/add your preview images as follows so they will appear in the vita theme manager:

• preview_thumbnail.png
• preview_page.png
• preview_lockscreen.png

Even if the zip does not have these files the theme will work but the preview will appear as blank. The vita will automatically generate a preview image after “equipping” the theme.

Download TEMA

To start using TEMA and give some new life to your PS Vita homescreen just click here to download the v1.2 VPK. If you wish to leave any sort of feedback or suggestions for the developer, just drop by our forums and the release thread for TEMA.

If you are a theme creator and would like to see your theme featured in TEMA, you need to go to this website and upload your creations there.

Enjoy another great release people!