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.
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49 comments:

  1. Unknown16 July 2012 at 09:38

    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!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unknown25 July 2012 at 12:30

    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

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. justinmccoy25 July 2012 at 21:08

      I second this.

      Delete
    2. Unknown14 August 2013 at 21:38

      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. m_rik25 July 2012 at 13:22

    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!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Codeus25 July 2012 at 13:40

    This will be fixed tomorrow :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Codeus25 July 2012 at 16:04

    New versions now available :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Unknown25 July 2012 at 16:08

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

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Codeus25 July 2012 at 16:11

      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. Aaron Deutsch25 July 2012 at 16:31

      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. Codeus25 July 2012 at 16:38

      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. justinmccoy25 July 2012 at 21:10

      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?

      Delete
    5. Unknown26 July 2012 at 08:51

      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
    6. justinmccoy28 July 2012 at 16:41

      Thanks for that. :)

      Delete
  7. JPS25 July 2012 at 17:59

    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.

    ReplyDelete
  8. suspect device30 July 2012 at 12:36

    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!

    ReplyDelete
  9. m_rik2 August 2012 at 01:51

    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 ;)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Suzanne23 August 2012 at 15:12

    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!

    ReplyDelete
  11. visage2 September 2012 at 14:43

    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!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Unknown17 September 2012 at 06:14

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

    ReplyDelete
  13. EZ-B18 September 2012 at 15:42

    I would also love a skin for the reminders app!

    ReplyDelete
  14. W.20 September 2012 at 14:26

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  15. W.20 September 2012 at 14:29

    I'd love a fix for for Notes too.

    Many thanks for these...

    ReplyDelete
  16. Nite4 October 2012 at 09:27

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

    ReplyDelete
  17. MM18 October 2012 at 19:53

    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.

    ReplyDelete
  18. 19143 December 2012 at 15:41

    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.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Unknown3 December 2012 at 22:18

    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. Unknown3 December 2012 at 22:45

      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. Jon.20 December 2012 at 09:05

    This made my day. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous28 December 2012 at 16:43

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

    ReplyDelete
  22. Grover10 January 2013 at 13:41

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Grover10 January 2013 at 13:44

    A great improvement. Much appreciated.
    Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Unknown21 January 2013 at 09:03

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

    ReplyDelete
  25. Unknown9 March 2013 at 09:27

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

    ReplyDelete
  26. Blowitz11 March 2013 at 19:50

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

    ReplyDelete
  27. peggles28 March 2013 at 02:20

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

    Thanks again, Peggy

    ReplyDelete
  28. Unknown5 April 2013 at 10:59

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

    ReplyDelete
  29. Anonymous9 April 2013 at 16:25

    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'.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Nebojsa23 May 2013 at 12:27

    million times THANK YOU!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  31. Brenda5 July 2013 at 06:17

    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.

    ReplyDelete
  32. KateLoom26 July 2013 at 05:37

    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!

    ReplyDelete
  33. Robin30 July 2013 at 09:24

    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.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Anonymous11 August 2013 at 04:26

    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.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Unknown27 August 2013 at 02:07

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

    ReplyDelete
  36. Unknown3 September 2013 at 19:29

    it's still skeumorphic :)

    ReplyDelete
  37. sp7 October 2013 at 03:59

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

    ReplyDelete
  38. Manuela10 November 2013 at 12:37

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

    ReplyDelete
  39. Kiara18 January 2014 at 01:30

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

    Apple Singapore

    ReplyDelete

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