# ColorBlendr: Material You Color Control on Android 12 and Up

> ColorBlendr is a Kotlin Android app that rewrites Material You palettes through root, Shizuku or Wireless ADB. It is genuinely capable, but the mode you pick decides how much of it you can actually use.

**Mahmud0808/ColorBlendr** — An Android app for customizing Material You colors on devices with Android 12+. It lets you tweak accent colors, background saturation, and more for a personalized look.

- Repository: https://github.com/Mahmud0808/ColorBlendr
- Website: https://mahmud0808.github.io/ColorBlendr/
- Stars: 2,491 · Forks: 62
- Language: Kotlin
- License: GPL-3.0
- Published: 2026-09-28 · Updated: 2026-09-28 · Language: en
- Canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/mahmud0808-colorblendr

## The gap ColorBlendr fills between wallpaper and palette

Material You generates a palette from your wallpaper and hands it to the system. Android exposes no built-in editor for that palette. You can change the wallpaper and hope for a better result, or you can accept whatever the algorithm picked for accent, background, secondary and tertiary roles across light and dark mode.

ColorBlendr targets that gap. It is an Android app, written in Kotlin, for devices on Android 12 or newer with Material You support. The README lists the controls it adds: accent saturation, background saturation and background lightness sliders, ready-made Monet style presets, a pitch black theme for dark mode, tinted text color, custom secondary and tertiary colors, and manual per-shade overriding across the whole palette. Light and dark mode hold separate configurations.

The intended user is someone who already knows what a seed color is and finds the default palette close but not right. If you have never thought about your phone's accent color, this app solves a problem you do not have.

## How ColorBlendr changes system colors: overlays versus adb

ColorBlendr does not ship its own theming engine. It changes the colors the system already resolves, and the mechanism differs by mode.

With root, the README states the app uses the FabricatedOverlay API to change Material You colors at runtime without creating permanent files. That is the important detail: the overlay is fabricated in memory rather than written as a static resource overlay, so there is no file left on disk for a future update to conflict with. With Shizuku or Wireless ADB, the README states the app uses adb commands to change Material You colors instead. Same goal, different authority, and the README is explicit that customizations are limited in those modes.

The repository layout matches that split. Top-level entries include libadb/ and systemstubs/ alongside app/ and materialcolorutilities/, which is consistent with an app that talks to the system through more than one channel. The README also notes root is recommended for the full experience.

## Installing ColorBlendr and applying a first palette

The README points to F-Droid and IzzyOnDroid as distribution channels, and the homepage at mahmud0808.github.io/ColorBlendr. There is no documented build-from-source install path in the README, so the practical route is a prebuilt APK.

The README's own steps are short: download and install the APK, allow the app's permissions, then select Root, Shizuku or Wireless ADB mode. If you are not rooted, Shizuku is the usual starting point.

```bash
# From the README's Tasker section, after enabling Tasker integration
# Action: com.drdisagree.colorblendr.action.APPLY_CONFIG
# Package: com.drdisagree.colorblendr
# Target: Broadcast Receiver
```

That broadcast is one of the few automation hooks the README documents. It requires the package name, and the README warns that broadcasts without it are dropped by Android. Supported extras include seedColor as a #RRGGBB string, randomColor and wallpaperColors as booleans, monetStyle as one of TONAL_SPOT, VIBRANT, EXPRESSIVE, RAINBOW, FRUIT_SALAD, SPRITZ, MONOCHROMATIC, FIDELITY, CONTENT or CMF, and accentSaturation, backgroundSaturation and backgroundLightness as integers from 0 to 200 where 100 is the default. Only the extras you send are changed.

For a first run without automation, the in-app flow is the one to use: pick a seed color or wallpaper source, watch the live preview, then apply. The README describes the preview as showing changes as you tweak them, which matters because a palette that looks right as a swatch can look wrong once it is behind text.

## Where ColorBlendr stops working

One UI is the clearest failure case, and the README addresses it directly. Samsung's One UI uses its own color palette for system apps rather than Material You colors. ColorBlendr's modifications therefore affect Google apps and other apps that support Material You, but not One UI system apps. If your goal is a recolored Samsung dialer and settings menu, this is the wrong tool, and no amount of configuration changes that.

The second limitation is mode-dependent. The README states Shizuku and Wireless ADB are supported but customizations are limited, and separately that some features are grayed out because they need a specific Android version or root. Community creations follow the same rule: browsing, searching and upvoting work in every mode, but applying one requires root because it modifies system colors.

The third is uninstall hygiene. The README's own instructions are to disable the ColorBlendr Service from app settings first, then uninstall the app and reboot. Skipping the service step is the kind of thing that leaves a device in an odd state, and the README treats the reboot as part of the procedure rather than an optional extra.

## ColorBlendr against wallpaper-based theming and static overlays

The obvious alternative is doing nothing and letting Material You run. That is not a lazy answer: the system palette is generated from your wallpaper, adapts when the wallpaper changes, and requires no root, no Shizuku and no ADB. ColorBlendr's advantage is control, and its cost is a privileged setup plus the risk of a palette that no longer matches a new wallpaper.

A second alternative is a static resource overlay applied once through a theming tool. That approach writes files and survives reboots predictably, but it is a snapshot. Change your mind and you reapply. ColorBlendr's root path, by contrast, fabricates the overlay at runtime without permanent files, which is why it can offer live preview and per-shade overrides. The trade is that the change lives with the running service.

The third comparison is within ColorBlendr itself, and it is the one that matters most. Root gives you the FabricatedOverlay path and the full feature set. Shizuku and Wireless ADB give you adb commands and a reduced set. Choosing the app without choosing the mode is not a decision.

## Licence, maintenance and the cost of keeping up

ColorBlendr is licensed under GPL-3.0. If you fork it and distribute a modified version, the licence's copyleft terms apply to that distribution. Running it on your own phone is not distribution. This is a description of the licence identifier, not legal advice; read the LICENSE file in the repository for the actual terms.

On maintenance, the last push to the master branch was on 2026-09-27, and the repository is not archived. Recent releases are v3.0.1 on 2026-08-02, v3.0 on 2026-08-02 and v2.1.1 on 2026-01-13. The v3.0 and v3.0.1 pair landing the same day suggests a quick follow-up fix rather than a long beta cycle, though the release notes are not available here.

Upgrade cost is mostly the Android version treadmill. The README says features can be unavailable because they need a specific Android version or higher, so a ColorBlendr feature you rely on may be gated by your ROM rather than by the app. The repository includes a crowdin.yml, which indicates translations are managed on Crowdin, and fastlane/, which indicates store metadata lives in the repository. Neither affects runtime behavior.

## Conclusion

Adopt ColorBlendr if you run an Android 12 or newer ROM with Material You support and you are willing to set up root, Shizuku or Wireless ADB, because the palette controls are the whole point and the README ties the full set to root. Skip it on One UI if your goal is recoloring Samsung system apps: the README states One UI uses its own palette, so changes land only in Google apps and other Material You apps. Before installing, confirm which Android version your device runs, since the README says some features stay grayed out below a specific version, and confirm your uninstall path, which the README describes as disabling the ColorBlendr Service in app settings, uninstalling, then rebooting.

## FAQ

### How do I use ColorBlendr?

Install the APK, grant the app its permissions, then choose Root, Shizuku or Wireless ADB mode. After that you pick a seed color or generate a palette from your wallpaper, adjust the sliders, check the live preview and apply.

### What does ColorBlendr do?

It customizes the Material You colors on Android 12 and newer devices, including accent and background saturation, background lightness, Monet style presets, tinted text color and manual per-shade overrides, with separate settings for light and dark mode.

### Does ColorBlendr work without root?

Yes, but with limits. The README states it uses adb commands in Shizuku or Wireless ADB mode, and that customizations are limited compared with root, where the app uses the FabricatedOverlay API.

### Why is ColorBlendr not working on my Samsung device?

The README explains that One UI uses its own color palette for system apps instead of Material You colors, so ColorBlendr's changes affect Google apps and other Material You apps but not One UI system apps.

### Can I apply a community creation in Shizuku mode?

No. The README states that browsing, searching and upvoting work in every mode, but applying a community creation modifies system colors and requires root.

### How do I properly uninstall ColorBlendr?

The README's procedure is to disable the ColorBlendr Service from app settings first, then uninstall the app and reboot the device.

## Sources

- [License: GPL-3.0](https://github.com/Mahmud0808/ColorBlendr/blob/master/LICENSE)
- [Mahmud0808/ColorBlendr on GitHub](https://github.com/Mahmud0808/ColorBlendr)
- [Project website](https://mahmud0808.github.io/ColorBlendr/)
- [README](https://github.com/Mahmud0808/ColorBlendr/blob/master/README.md)
- [Releases](https://github.com/Mahmud0808/ColorBlendr/releases)

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Hysen Labs editorial analysis, written from the project's own repository and release notes. Cite the canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/mahmud0808-colorblendr