How to Install Winterboard Theme on iPhone without using Cydia

by Simon Ng on January 24, 2009

A reader asked, “Sometimes, I stumbled upon websites that offer some great Winterboard themes for download. I know how I can download & install Winterboard theme via Cydia. But I can’t find those themes on Cydia. So, how can I install those themes that are downloaded directly from web?”

Very good question. Cydia offers the most straightforward way to download Winterboard theme. But it’s not the only channel you can find awesome Winterboard theme online. Say, you can find tons of Winterboard theme at Softpedia. Usually, these Winterboard themes are packed in a zip file. So, how do you install it?

Get Prepared

That’s pretty easy to install Winterboard theme manually. But first, let’s get prepared.

You’ll have to download DiskAid, which is a free file explorer for iPhone. You can use DiskAid to transfer file back and forth between iPhone and your computer. For more information, check out this post.
Download the Winterboard theme you love and extract the zipped file. For demonstration, I download the Super Mario theme from Softpedia and extract in the download folder.

Install Winterboard Theme via DiskAid

So, after you get everything ready. Connect your iPhone to your computer via USB cable and launch DiskAid. Then select “Root folder” in the lower-left option. Answer “yes” for the warning. This option will let you browse the whole iPhone file system.

Next, on the left pane, go to “Library” and then access “Themes” folder. All Winterboard theme files are placed under this folder. If you have already installed some Winterboard themes on your iPhone, you’ll see those theme folders.

Okay, to copy the themes you have download, click “Copy Folder to Device” and select the theme folder you just extracted. Click “OK” to confirm and wait for the transfer process to complete.

That’s it. The Winterboard theme is installed on your iPhone. Go back to your iPhone and launch Winterboard. The theme is already there.

What do you think about this alternative way of Winterboard theme installation? Hope this can help some of you and enjoy Winterboard fun!

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Tagged as: iPhone, iPhone Tips, winterboard, Winterboard Themes

{ 1 trackback }

Winterboard/Themes - AVForums.com: January 31, 2009 at 4:22 am

{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }

1 live-o January 26, 2009 at 3:19 pm

i downloaded disc the program, connected my i phone threw usb and the root folder has been highlighted, only allow me to click on disc aid folder and music folder, whats gone wrong here

2 Cruisin January 27, 2009 at 10:09 am

Godd idea, Simon. Does it work also for PC users? Ifound the site you mension where in we can download winterboard themes, but most of the themes there are not for PC OS.

3 Simon Ng January 27, 2009 at 2:35 pm

@Cruisin, I used the DiskAid on Windows. So, it should work for you too.

4 Exhileration March 11, 2009 at 12:43 pm

i got diskaid working but when i select root folder, it requires me to jailbreak. I got the iphone 3G ver 2.2.1, any help?

5 ipodtouchowner2g16g March 17, 2009 at 1:40 pm

i already jailbroke my ipod touch 2g,but i currently don’t have any wireless connection here.
so can i download any 3rd party games or apps using this software?

6 VAMPiRE April 11, 2009 at 2:37 am

does it work even without winterboard installed on your iphone?

ive tried it several times and it didnt work…

please help.. ^^

7 Simon Ng April 11, 2009 at 11:18 pm: @VAMPiRE, you should install Winterboard first. Normally you can install Winterboard theme via Cydia. But sometimes, you may find some pretty themes on the web. Then you can use the above procedures to install the theme.

Reply

8 Niongniong June 11, 2009 at 1:40 pm

Hi:
Thanks for shAring… Tried to download the themes with your instruction and was successful. BUT I see the themes in winterboard but cannot launch them! Why? My iphone is of ver 2.2.1 but jailbreak with cydia & winterboard. Can launch theme from cydia but not from the net… Please help! Am grateful.

9 weeman21 August 1, 2009 at 12:21 pm

my iphone has had coca cola spilled on it, it wokrs fine but the internet doesnt work, is there a way to download winter board to my pc and then transfer it to my iphone, i have disk aid to install my themes, i jailbroke after the coca cola accident

10 Allisoniii August 16, 2009 at 4:27 pm

When I choose the theme in Winterboard I downloaded from the computer, the theme doesn’t display. Is this the program or the theme itself?

11 gogosim September 4, 2009 at 1:23 am

THAAAAAAAANKS !!!

12 Nafiz September 29, 2009 at 3:53 pm

Thnx guys. Its working on me ! Great Post !

13 sesaros October 27, 2009 at 5:44 am

hy simon

thanx for this help, but when i do all this the only thing thats change is the icons on the iphone and there is NO picture/wallpaper WHY!!! icons are changing lit the theme but the background is still black!!!

help me please

regard
igor from Vienna/austria

14 Grazia October 28, 2009 at 11:55 am

Hi there

Just installed diskaid program but when I try to view “root folder” is says my phone is not jailbroken! and it has! Any one has any idea why?

Thannks

15 Simon Ng October 29, 2009 at 1:18 am: @Grazia, did you use blackra1n to jailbreak?

Reply

16 rommel ramos November 1, 2009 at 3:20 am

wassup simon!!
maybe you could help me here, everytime i use winterboard and choose any themes, all of them are working, i mean the lockscreen , the docks,the icon changes all except for the springboard background, it stays black!! why is that? do i have to restore and jailbreak my iphone again? im using iphone 2G fw 3.0
thanx!!hope to hear from u