Reborn skins

A skin gives Reborn a different look: its own colours, fonts, pictures and screen layouts, for example the shipped Classic skin with light menus and blue highlights. A skin only draws. What the buttons do, the menus, playback, settings and the built-in parts (Cover Flow, the equalizer, text entry, the update screens) stay Reborn's. Reborn's own look is not a skin and is always available as Reborn in the picker.

Installing and choosing

Copy the skin's folder (the one holding skin.json) into a folder
named Skins on Internal Storage or on the SD card, for example Internal Storage/Skins/Neon/skin.json. Any letter case works for Skins; a Themes folder (its name before Beta 7.5) is read too.
On the player: Settings → Skin. The list is read again every
time it opens. Select a skin; it applies at once and is remembered.

The folder name is the skin's id. A skin in a Skins folder with the same folder name as a shipped skin (in /usr/share/reborn/skins) is hidden by the shipped one. A skin that cannot be used appears greyed out with the reason; choosing a broken skin keeps the current look and shows why in a message. If a chosen skin is missing at start (for example the SD card was removed), Reborn uses its own look for that session and keeps the choice.

The package

Neon/
  skin.json        the description (at most 256 KB)
  images/…         PNG, JPEG or WebP pictures, each at most 480 × 360
  fonts/…          TrueType/OpenType fonts (at most 8 MB each)
  LICENSE…         licences of fonts and pictures you ship

Paths in skin.json are relative to the folder, use /, and must stay inside it (no .., no absolute paths, no links that point outside).

`skin.json`

{
  "format": 1,
  "name": "Neon",
  "author": "You",
  "version": "1.0",
  "description": "One line for the picker.",
  "palette": { "bg": "#101018", "text": "#F0F0FF", "accent": "cover" },
  "colors":  { "pink": "#FF3EA5" },
  "fonts":   { "menu": { "file": "fonts/MyFont-Bold.ttf", "size": 18 } },
  "images":  { "bar": "images/bar.png" },
  "parts":   { "titlebar": [ … elements … ] },
  "screens": { "list": [ … elements … ], "now_playing": [ … ] }
}

Only format (always 1) and name are required. Unknown fields are errors, so a typo is reported instead of silently ignored.

Palette

The palette has fixed names. Your layouts use them, and every screen you do not describe is drawn by Reborn in these colours:

Token	Used for	Reborn's own
`bg`	the background (always opaque)	`#06070A`
`text`	main text	`#F6F6F8`
`muted`	secondary text	`#A0A4AE`
`dim`	hints, disabled rows	`#848894`
`accent`	highlights; `"cover"` follows the playing cover	`cover`
`glass`	translucent raised areas (keeps Reborn's opacities)	`#FFFFFF`
`scrim`	dimming behind sheets	`#000000`
`sheet`	sheet and dialog surfaces	`#0E1014`
`track`	empty part of rings and bars	`#1E2023`
`danger`, `success`, `warning`	states	`#FF7864`, `#3CC878`, `#FFBE3C`

text on bg must reach a contrast of 3:1 or the skin is refused; below 4.5:1, and for muted/dim below 3:1, Reborn loads it with a warning.

Colours

Anywhere a colour is asked for you can write #RRGGBB, #RRGGBBAA, a palette token, a name from colors, or accent. Add /NN for an opacity in percent: "accent/40", "text/60".

Fonts

fonts names a font file and a pixel size (8 to 72). Each entry is drawn once when the skin loads, for Latin text (Latin‑1, Latin Extended‑A and common punctuation). Large display sizes may not fit the texture with all of Latin; add "charset": "ascii" to carry only plain ASCII (other letters then come from Reborn's font). Characters the font lacks fall back to Reborn's own font. Text elements may also use Reborn's fonts by name: R11, R13, R15, R17 (regular), L23, L44 (light), S10, S13, S15, S17, S20, S25, S28, S36 (semibold). Ship only fonts whose licence allows it (for example the SIL Open Font License).

Pictures

images names picture files (PNG, JPEG or WebP, at most 480 × 360 each, at most 64). They are drawn at any size; give slice: [left, top, right, bottom] to nine-slice them so corners and edges keep their size while the middle stretches. All pictures and font glyphs share one 1024 × 1024 texture; a skin that does not fit is refused.

Screens

screens maps a screen name to a list of elements, drawn in order (later on top). The screen is 480 × 360 pixels, origin top-left. Reborn looks for the most specific name first:

Name	Shown for
`home`	the main menu (else `list`)
`now_playing`	Now Playing
`list`	every list: library lists, settings pages, pickers, diagnostics
`page`	pages with a heading or facts (About, Storage, Song Info, …)
`artists`, `albums`, `genres`, `songs`, `folders`, `album`, `artist`, `queue`	one library screen (else `list`)
`cover_flow`	Albums in Cover Flow (only this name; else Reborn's)
`music`, `song_info`, `settings`, `wifi`, `bluetooth`, `computer`, `sound`, `playback`, `crossfade`, `screen_off`, `theme`, `library`, `display`, `service`, `battery`, `sleep`, `storage`, `updates`, `about`, `maintenance`, `diagnostics`, `diagnostic`, `value`	one settings or system screen (else `page` or `list`); `theme` is the Skin picker (Settings → Skin since Beta 7.5; the key keeps its name for existing skins)
`time_zone`	the time zone picker (else `page` or `list`)
`date_time`	Date & Time, the date and time set by hand (else `page` or `list`)
`search`, `playlists`, `playlist`, `radio`, `radio_stations`, `radio_categories`	search results, Playlists, one playlist, Radio, a station list, countries or genres (else `list`)
`radio_info`	Station Info: the station as heading, its facts and two actions (else `page`)
`equalizer`	the equalizer (only this name; else Reborn's)
`sheet`	option sheets and pickers that slide over a screen
`dialog`	questions such as “Reset settings?” (else `sheet`)
`toast`	short messages
`volume`	the volume indicator (drawn fading out)
`keyboard`	the full-screen keyboard (search, Wi-Fi password, playlist names): draw your title bar and `{sheet_title}` over a `native` `screen` part, which is Reborn's field and keys in your palette without its own header (else all Reborn's)

Pairing, installing an update, the Power hold and the start/shut-down screens are always Reborn's, in the skin's palette.

Elements

Every element has "type" and may have "if" (see Conditions). Positions x, y default to 0. Inside a list row and inside group/part they are relative to the row or group.

Type	Fields
`rect`	`x y w h color` · `radius` (rounded) · `stroke` (1–3: outline only)
`gradient`	`x y w h top bottom` (vertical)
`image`	`x y w h image` · `slice` · `tint` (colour multiplied in)
`text`	`x y w h text` · `font` (default `R15`) · `color` (default `text`) · `align` `left`/`center`/`right` · `lines` 1–6 · `line_height` · `tracking` · `case` `upper`/`lower`
`icon`	`x y size icon` · `color`
`bar`	`x y w h value` · `track` `fill` colours or `track_image` `fill_image` (+ `slice`) · `radius` · `vertical` · `knob` (colour) `knob_radius`
`art`	`x y size` · `source` `current` (playing cover; a station's logo or initials) or `row` (inside rows: the song's cover, a station's logo) · `radius` (corners take `bg`)
`list`	`x y w rows row_height row` · `focused` · `source` `rows`/`facts`/`sheet` · `scrollbar` `{x, w, track, thumb}`
`group`	`elements` · `x y` offset
`part`	`name` (from `parts`) · `x y` offset
`native`	`part` `screen` (Reborn's drawing of this screen) or `status` (Reborn's battery and radio icons) · `x y` · `recolor` (default true)
`indicators`	the status icons Reborn's bar shows left of the battery, right to left from `x` and closing up when one is off: charging, a computer (`accent` while copying), Bluetooth and Wi-Fi while connected (in `color`; a radio that is only on shows nothing, since 1.0 Beta 9.2.11) · `x y` (right edge, top) · `size` (default 16) · `gap` (default 4) · `color` (default `text`) · `charge` (default `success`) · `dim` (still accepted, no longer used)

Text is cut with “…” to w. One line is centred vertically in h; several lines are centred as a block in h, or start at y when h is 0.

A list draws rows rows of row_height from the list it shows: rows is the screen's own list (songs, settings…), facts the label/value pairs of a page, sheet the choices of a sheet or dialog. row is drawn for each row, focused (default: row) for the selected one. The list keeps the selection visible and scrolls by your row count.

Text values

Write {name} inside text:

Value
`title` `artist` `album` `album_artist` `genre` `track_number`	the playing song; for a station the song it announces, its artist and the station with its country, as Reborn's own Now Playing
`track_number` in a list row	that row's song's number (for `numbered` rows on the album page)
`station`	the station playing (empty for a song)
`elapsed` `remaining` `duration`	`1:23`, `-2:05`, `3:28`
`queue_index` `queue_length`	for “3 of 12”
`quality`	`LOSSLESS · 96 kHz`, `MP3 · 44.1 kHz`
`output`	`Headphone Jack` or the Bluetooth device
`playback`	`Playing`, `Paused`, `Stopped`
`sleep`	a running sleep timer as Now Playing says it: `Sleeps in 23 min`, `Sleeps after song`; empty without one (Beta 8.37)
`screen`	the screen's title (empty on Home)
`battery` `volume`	numbers 0–100
`clock`	the time in the chosen time zone (`21:41`, or `9:41 PM` where a 12-hour clock is usual); empty until the player's time is set
`position`	where the focus is in the screen's list: `25 of 100` (Cover Flow shows it in its title); empty for an empty list
`date`	the short date in the chosen time zone (`Sat 31 Oct`, or `Sat, Oct 31` where a 12-hour clock is usual); empty until the player's time is set
`status`	a page's status line (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, pickers)
`page_title` `page_body`	a page's heading and explanation
`empty_title` `empty_body` `empty_action`	what an empty list says
`message`	a toast's text
`sheet_title` `sheet_body`	a sheet's or dialog's heading and text
`skin`	this skin's name
`label` `detail` `number` `count`	inside list rows: the row's text, its value, its position, the list length

Conditions

"if" takes names joined with & (and), | (or, lower precedence) and ! (not), e.g. "playing & !shuffle | paused".

Anywhere: playing, paused, has_track, has_art, shuffle (Songs or Albums), shuffle_albums (Shuffle Albums only), repeat, repeat_one, charging, battery_low, bluetooth, bluetooth_connected, wifi, wifi_connected, back (not Home), empty, error (toast), danger (dialog), eq, gapless, crossfade, normalise, sleep (a sleep timer runs), has_status, has_clock (the time is known; give the title less room), live (a station plays: remaining and duration read LIVE, the progress bar is full; hide the queue position), favorite (the song playing is in Favorites), has_body, has_title, has_action, has_facts, interactive.

Inside list rows: focused, disabled, toggle, on, check, checked, chevron, has_detail, row_art, numbered (a song on the album page with a track number: show {track_number} there instead of its cover, as Reborn's own album page does), current (the playing song), first, last, odd.

Icons

`back chevron check close play pause prev next play_large pause_large prev_large next_large shuffle repeat repeat_one gapless eq normalise bluetooth wifi lock bolt folder note speaker headphones sd usb warning info sun drive power download refresh search vinyl person crossfade heart palette moon(palette` since Beta 7.5, moon since Beta 8.37), and three that follow the state: play_pause, play_pause_large, repeat_mode.

Limits and checks

skin.json 256 KB; 64 pictures of at most 480 × 360; 8 fonts of at most 8 MB; 4000 elements; one 1024 × 1024 texture for pictures and glyphs. Loading names the first problem with its place, e.g. screens.list[2] (text): unknown value "{lyrics}".

Trying a skin on a computer

From a Y2Reborn checkout (needs FFmpeg development files):

cargo run --bin reborn-preview -- out/preview --skin path/to/Neon
python3 tools/preview/render_previews.py out/preview

out/preview/png/ then holds every screen in your skin and a contact sheet. On the player, rebornctl theme lists the installed skins with their problems and rebornctl theme Neon (or theme reborn) switches.

Reborn ships 16 skins in skins/ (installed to /usr/share/reborn/skins): Classic (pictures from tools/assets/build_classic_skin.py) and, generated by tools/assets/build_skins.py, Nano Glass, Walkman, Terminal, Winamp, Paper, Big Type, Cassette, Neon Night, Zune, Bunny Bow (pixel art and the Pixelify Sans pixel font) and Mini Silver, Pink, Blue, Green and Gold. Each is a complete example to copy and change. charset and case: lower (used by Zune) need Reborn after candidate 33.