Ever since the release of Gnome Shell for Linux, there has been quite a handful of different themes that have been coming out for this new desktop environment. However, I haven’t gone over any of them recently, which is a pity considering how pretty some of them really are.

Today, we’ll be covering a very nice theme that should easily find a special place in the heart of Androidlovers. Yes, you guessed it, there’s a well-done theme of Android’s new 4.0 “Ice Cream Sandwich” release for Gnome Shell.

Installation

In order to install it, you’ll need to have the usual tools when it comes to installing Gnome Shell themes, including the Gnome Shell environment itself, the theme package, Gnome Tweak Tool, and the necessary Gnome Shell extensions for changing themes. If you’ve changed your Gnome Shell theme before, you should be fine. If not, you’ll need to install Gnome Shell and Gnome Tweak Tool, then run this (if you’re using Ubuntu) to get the necessary extension for changing themes:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/gnome3
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install gnome-shell-extensions-user-theme

Fedorausers will simply have to run:

sudo yum install gnome-shell-extension-user-theme

You should now be ready to go! Go ahead and download the theme from here, and for the best experience you can also download the corresponding desktop wallpaper and “Roboto” fontsas well. Once all of those are downloaded, you can begin by installing the theme via the Gnome Tweak Tool.

The Theme

As soon as you apply the new theme, you should start seeing a few things change. All items along the top of your shell will turn blue, and “Activities” will change into an icon. The font should also change as soon as you begin installing the four Roboto font files.

Activities

Going into the Activities window, you’ll see quite a few other things change. The favorite icons on the left are now only separated from the rest of the screen by a single, smooth blue line instead of an entire box, creating a very minimal appearance. The Windows and Applications buttons are also styled differently, where both have a blue line beneath them but the selected screen is presented in blue lettering as well as a thicker line. The search box located towards the top right is less transparent than the default theme, but uses a smooth gradient with nice corners. The dock on the very right holding the different workspaces outlines each workspace in blue while the free space is a dark gray. The Applications screen follows the color scheme as well. The icons of each application is a little smaller so that more applications fit on the screen at the same time, and all applications where the mouse hovers of them attain a blue background. The list of applications and the list of categories is only separated by the scrollbar. This helps maintain the minimal look that is present throughout the shell theme.

Conclusion

This new theme contains some great eye candy for all to enjoy. Even if you’re not an Android fan, you can still appreciate the beauty of this theme. Whether this is one of the best themes is debatable, but it certainly ranks among the better ones out there. What’s your favorite Gnome Shell theme? What are your thoughts about this theme? Let us know in the comments!