In conversation with substratum lead Nicholas Chum
An interview of the Lead Developer of substratum: Nicholas Chum.
Android Nougat has already made its way into custom ROMs with version 7.1.1 already available. However, something has been missing ever since version 7.0 first rolled out, and that is the CyanogenMod Theme Engine.

Users had been waiting for months for CMTE to make its debut with Nougat, but the response from the developers had been minimal. Quite fortunately, substratum, a theme engine based on Sony’s OMS system lead by Nicholas Chum and Sykopompos had already made its debut.
At first even I, just like almost everyone addicted to the CyanogenMod Theme Engine was the sceptic of this whole substratum thing and its theming capabilities, but as soon I used it, it felt completely different to what all the critics and reviews said.
With talented themes already present in the substratum scene, themes like Domination, Streamlined White, Biohazard, ModernUI, Swift Black, Mono/Art impressed the user.

What is even more interesting about substratum is that it’s not even as old as you’d expect it to be, and theme designers like Per Lycke (Swift Dark & Swift Black) and moelle (Deep Darkness) are making the switch over to Substratum. Without further ado, let’s get started with the interview.
Hey, Nick! Can you please give our readers a formal introduction of who you are and what you do?
I’m Nicholas Chum and I’m the lead developer of [projekt.], a small group of highly specialized developers creating Android platform mods and apps with a more colorful touch on its functionalities.
How did you first get involved in Android development or development in general?
I started theming a while back, and while it was a fun time, I decided to step beyond the land of Android interface theming to actually writing code for apps and AOSP.
How did the idea of Substratum come by?
I was initially developing an app called dashboard, which was a theme-modification app to be used on CMTE. After a while of success with that app, I was approached by Mike (sykopompos) to start something new, and over time we ended up as partners.

Can you share with our readers, the efforts you’re making to wipe any form of piracy out when it comes to substratum compatible themes?
We protect our themes. Realizing the fact that a band of app developers can’t possibly wipe piracy off the interwebs, we strive to reduce piracy by as high a percentage as we can. We all know piracy is inevitable, so the only thing we can do is make the process of pirating and using pirated apps a lot more difficult.
What have you planned for the future of Substratum?
Rootless, more features and global adaptation. What this means is you’ll be able to use the application without needing root access. Moreover, keep your eyes out for the icon pack studio to make its debut.
Your views on the whole CMTE/Substratum war?
There shouldn’t be a war. As simple as that. Users should use whatever application/iteration of Android theming they prefer. There are pros and cons for each system. Use what you like. Substratum is the result of my time on CMTE, a journey to create something that came from my old bad experience and revamped with my very own touches.

How does substratum differ from CMTE?
The difference between Substratum and CMTE is simple. substratum does not compile themes immediately in the background, unlike CMTE which would previously bog the system down.
As substratum themes have millions of combinations, it is impossible and rather redundant to compile them all for the user’s liking, so it is an “if you want it, compile it yourself” instead of a “let CMTE do the work for you, and if the theme messed up, you’re stuck with a broken theme” kind of set up.
Why should CMTE theme designers make their shift to Substratum?
CMTE themes should shift over to substratum because we aim to develop for the latest and greatest of Android. We like having to have all our work transparent in the eyes of the community, rather than everybody sitting around the fire waiting for CMTE and whether it drops or not, especially since we all know what happened to CM.

These are worth checking out: Substratum Development Community, Substratum Theme Engine, Substratum Main Github.

