Wednesday 25 July 2012

Change Mac OS 10.8 Mountain Lion Calendar & Contacts Skins from Leather to Aluminium

UPDATED July 25 for 10.8 Mountain Lion Release Version (Including Retina MacBook)

Here we go again with an Aluminium skin for Calendar.app (formerly iCal.app) and Contacts.app (formerly Address Book.app) in Mountain Lion.

Please note these will not work with 10.7 Lion.  If you are looking for the Mac OS X 10.7 Lion skins, either scroll down the blog or go here.

I created new images files to go inside Calendar.app and Contacts.app to give them an aluminium look like previous versions of OS X.

These modification ONLY change the appearance of Calendar.app and Contacts.app, they do not alter the actual programming or functionality in any way.  It just makes them look Aluminium.

Download the installers here: -
Aluminium Calendar Skin for Mac OS  Mountain Lion (v.1.1) - download
Aluminium Contacts Skin for Mac OS  Mountain Lion (v1.1) - download

These skins are provided free of charge but please make a donation if you use them regularly :)




Important Note: -
Make a copy of Calendar.app & Contacts.app BEFORE you start! (Copy / Paste them somewhere safe).  If you don't make a backup you will need to reinstall to revert back to the original look.

Mountain Lion Installation Restrictions: -
Mountain Lion restricts which applications you can install by default.  If you receive a warning that this package cannot be opened because it is from an unidentified developer do the following.  Go to System Preferences > Security & Privacy > General, click the Padlock to authenticate, then select 'Allow applications to be installed from anywhere'.

Here's a comparison of the leather vs aluminium: -
and...



Reverting back
If you decide you want to go back to the original Mountain Lion versions and you made a backup before you started, do the following: -

1 - Delete Calendar.app / Contacts.app - This can be done in Finder by dragging the application from the Applications folder to the trash can.

If you receive the error 'Calendar (or Contacts) can't be moved or deleted because it is required by Mac OS', go to Utilities > Terminal.app and enter the following command: -

sudo rm -rf /Applications/Calendar.app

or

sudo rm -rf /Applications/Contacts.app

2 - Copy back the backup of Calendar.app / Contacts.app you made earlier in to the Applications folder.

49 comments:

  1. Hi there. Please make a skin for Reminder.app. I actually think Calendar and Contacts are quite nice. But, boy, that Reminder app is hideous!!

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  2. Hey,

    I don't think this is a finished product. Did the instal and there's still a brown finish around Calendar.app. Not really impressed. Screenshot - http://cl.ly/IJub

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    Replies
    1. I just did this without anything brown left on the app at all (...that is after I killed the calendar process and restarted it)....works great.

      Delete
  3. Hello, I have the same issue: a brown shadow around everything. Contacts keep as well a brown finish on the ex-leather cover. Thank you!

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  4. This will be fixed tomorrow :)

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  5. New versions now available :)

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  6. Hi,
    thanks for your work. Unfortunately, the brown borders persist even with the 1.1 version.

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    Replies
    1. Make sure you quit the apps before installing the packages. 1.1 versions should be working correctly. Also make sure your browser didn't download an old cached copy. HTH

      Delete
    2. Hi. Not sure how we can tell if we got a cached copy or not--the dmg is labeled Aluminum_Skin_for_Mac_OS_10.8_Calendar.dmg.

      Anyway, I'm having the same problem as Vince: Text shadows are brown instead of grey.

      Delete
    3. Text will always be a dark brown in the Calendar header, it is hard-coded from Apple's source and cannot be altered unfortunately.

      Provided you are not seeing any brown apart from on the actual text in the header, the patch is working as intended.

      HTH

      Delete
    4. Disappointed about the text. Also disappointed that I didn't scroll down enough in my browser to see that I must copy the Calendar app in order to revert. What do I need to reinstall in order to revert? Mountain Lion OS?

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    5. For those who didn't read to the bottom before this page was edited, here's Calendar and Contacts app.

      Use the terminal instructions above to remove them, then copy these back to the Applications folder.

      http://ge.tt/1UC8p4L/v/0?c

      Delete
  7. Thank you so much for the update. I can't believe Apple is still sticking with (and expanding) this hideous design scheme. If you get the chance, an equivalent patch for the Notes app would be much appreciated.

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  8. Seconding what JPS wrote. Very nice application, so happy to be rid of the "leather", but I'd love one for Notes as well. Thank you!

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  9. Thank you mate! Shame for the brown text but this is already way better :D

    One final note as well about the warning regarding the copy of the apps prior to installing your skins, you should write it on top of your post as a lot of people will indeed start the step by step before reaching it! But thanks to Chris, there is now a link to them anyway ;)

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  10. THANK YOU!!!

    If it's not registering, make sure you fully quit and open again and taa-daa!!

    And text is barely noticeable in the calendar,...still way better than before!

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  11. I don't understand how Apple have managed to do such cheesy reminiscent designs for their state of the art 'clean look' hardware! Thanks for this. I got it for Lion, and now using on Mountain Lion. At least someone gets it right!

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  12. Wow. What a relief! Thanks for helping us alleviate this bizarre eyesore.

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  13. I would also love a skin for the reminders app!

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  14. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  15. I'd love a fix for for Notes too.

    Many thanks for these...

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  16. Is there any way to revert back if you didn't make a backup without reinstalling? Can I copy ical off my friends mac?

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  17. This is just not working for me! I've tried your installer and also another method that involved copying and replacing files, but nothing's worked. I'm still getting a completely brown leather calendar.

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  18. Hi. Sorry if this was answered elsewhere : But how do I remove this aluminium skin , just in case I ever have to?
    Say for example, something goes wrong with it and it no longer works properly and gets buggy,
    or I want to apply another skin.

    If it works forever, I'll probably keep it forever. I like it!
    Thanks.

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  19. Hi,

    I have used the Aluminium Calendar Skin for Mac OS Mountain Lion and noticed there is no longer a "Done" button option when saving a New Event in Calendar. I have a guest account with an untouched Calendar and the "Done" button option appears in that one. Any ideas to solve this without reverting back to the Leather Look.

    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I spoke to soon! I solved my problem in:

      Calendar/Preferences/Advanced

      I unchecked the box for "Open events in separate windows"

      I now have the "Done" button when creating a new event window.

      Delete
  20. This made my day. Thank you!

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  21. Many, many thanks. :) I can't stand that faux leather weirdness.

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  22. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  23. A great improvement. Much appreciated.
    Thank you.

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  24. Thank you! I can look at my calendar again without cringing.

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  25. Thanks for making these available. Those default interfaces are awful. How about a Bitcoin address for donations?

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  26. Contacts worked OK but calendar has worked at all..stuck with yuk!

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  27. Thank you, so much! The leather thing irritated me big time.

    Thanks again, Peggy

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  28. Thanks - HATE those leather skins! Can you change "reminders" and "notes," please pretty please ?????

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  29. Awesome work!

    Just a note: if you get the "unidentified developer" warning and can't open the file, you don't have to go to System Preferences and turn it off altogether. Just right-click and choose 'Open'.

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  30. million times THANK YOU!!!!

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  31. I'd like to go back to the original Calendar.app that came with Mountain Lion. Your instructions for removing the modified Calendar.app do not work, not even after running the sudo command in Terminal.

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  32. A zillion thanks! I just threw something in your tip jar. I'm in the process of switching from Outlook to Mail after a long absence, and when I saw that wretched leather color I wanted to retch. The installation worked perfectly.. You saved me a trip to the toilet!

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  33. I can't install your contacts DMG – the message is that it's not approved by Apple and only Applestore apps will install. What a sad reflection on a once-open and exciting company.

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  34. Thanks a lot for this image!! Don´t know what apple thought, to make a brown image?!? thanks for solve this problem...

    You can also use the ctrl key while open programms from unidentified developers, without changing any ajustments.

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  35. What a wonderful attitude about this. Thanks for posting! Leather Furniture Repair

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  36. I have 10.8. The install went perfectly and it looks SO much better! Thank You!!

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  37. Thanks for sharing guys! I'm wondering how does it come such a design-oriented company as Apple sticks to such a nasty look!

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  38. Great article. Keep writing and shower your readers with such useful information. Keep it Up!!!

    Apple Singapore

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