Interview with a Themer: Stephanie Chute talks Android, life, and the San Francisco 49′ers

Greetings fellow geeks! Today, we’ve got a special treat for you. I had a chance to chat with Stephanie Chute, of SCSCreations, over the weekend.

As many of you already know, Android development has always been a predominantly male scene.

Stephanie is among the small handful of women that are working to make a change in that stereotype and her work is a prime example that you don’t have to have a penis to make awesome Android apps, or in her case, themes.

We’ll get into her themes in just a bit, but first let’s hear from Stephanie, shall we?

Q: Hello Stephanie. First, I’d like to first thank you for taking the time to sit down with us and chat. Before we get started, is there anything you’d like to tell us about yourself?

A: Hi Tony! I appreciate you taking the time as well to get to know me better and learn more about what I do.  To start, just a brief introduction of who I am:  I have always had an interest in creating themes.  I taught myself everything I know.  I started with themes for Apple actually but soon learned that Android is the way to go (we won’t get into the sticky details of that because I’m sure every Android person already knows why).

All I can say is I am 100% Android all the way!  I decided to start doing themes for Android phones because as a woman, we really didn’t have much to choose from when Android first rolled out with their service and phones.  It was more customized to suit men.  I just felt like I had to do something about it.  I started learning as much as I could and before I knew it I had created my first theme customized for woman.

I occasionally do themes for men, but just started doing those.  I have over 1000+ themes on the Android Market right now. I absolutely love my job and I love helping others make their phones more personalized.

Q: That’s absolutely amazing! I’m sure a ton of ladies out there are thankful for your work, especially considering that Android development is typically seen as a “guy thing”.

So, how long have you been in the game?

A: I have been “in the game” so to speak with Android since roughly 2008 so about 4 years.  However, I didn’t start actually uploading many themes until about 2 years ago.  I had a LOT to learn and of course, with every Android update there is always something new to learn.

Q: That there is!

So, which carrier are you a customer of, and which device(s) are you currently rocking?

A: I use AT&T as my carrier and of course, I have to always have the best of the best in phones. When a new one comes out I’m itching to buy it (sadly though, I am impatient and have a hard time waiting for my contract to end to buy a new one).  LOL! I have the Samsung Galaxy Note.

It is a great phone, but with every phone comes it’s flaws and the only real complaint I have about it is the screen alignment seems to be off slightly so I often have a hard time with the keyboard on the phone or while surfing the net with it.  It should be getting an update though–  soon, I’d imagine – and will most likely fix the issue, but overall it’s an awesome phone! I always get asked if it’s a phone or a tablet…”Both!” I say!

Q: Ah, the Galaxy Note. Such a wonderful device it is. I may just be partial to Samsung, as a Galaxy S III owner, but hey — who can blame me for that, right?

So you mentioned your job. Are you a full-time themer?

A: I am actually.  It’s been a long time coming.  I work full-time from home during the night.  My husband and I like to keep the same hours.  I have always been a tech-chick since computers came out.  My parents used to get on to me about spending too much time shut away in my room on the computer (essentially learning new things and eventually learning about Android themes) I was probably 13 when I became interested in computers (I think that’s when they really came out with computers – I’m 30 now so yeah, I’ve been at this for a LONG LONG time).  Eventually, all those years I spent practically a hermit in my room paid off.

Q: As a fellow computer geek and aspiring stay-at-home employee, I commend you for getting to where you are. That’s pretty much living the dream in my eyes.

So, as a Galaxy Note owner, are you stoked about the Note II, or are you holding out for something further down the line?

A: First of all, thank you for the compliment to my work.  I never give up on my dream and I don’t think anyone ever should.  I was just about to give up when things took a wonderful turn for me, so I say, “If you have a dream — go get it and make it a reality!”

As for as the Galaxy Note II (I actually didn’t know a new one was coming out) but I kind of think that for girls the Galaxy Note is a great thing and a bad thing.  Most women have small hands and like myself, I find it hard to do anything on that phone with one hand and it’s a little awkward to hold as well because of it’s size.

I guess I’m going to have to do my reviews.  I used to have the HTC Inspire 4G which I really did like, but I get bored quickly with technology and I always want the next best thing.  Perhaps I will get the newest Note when it comes out.

Q: The Note II is definitely a beast. 5.5-inch screen, quad-core 1.6GHz processor (though we don’t know if the US variants will see a dual-core chip like the S3 yet or not), Android 4.1 and (if my memory serves me correctly, 2GB of RAM). I’m sure it will help Samsung pay back some of the money lost to Apple from the patent infringement trial, should they end up losing all their appeals and actually having to pay up.

Speaking of that drama, what’s your take on the whole Android vs iPhone war soap opera?

A: To be honest, I have my head so far buried in my work I didn’t even know about a patent infringement trial, but just hearing that makes me angrier with Apple.  I don’t know much about the drama between iPhone and Android but it sounds to me like any company who is willing to go after another company for a patent issue when they are already a HUGE business is probably worried, and for good reason – Android is taking off like a rocket!

I just saw a post the other day showing Android phones each year and what iPhone’s look like each year.  Clearly the Android phone has progressed a LOT each year, the iPhone looks exactly the same.

Reflecting on my statement earlier, “I get bored easily with technology and always want the next best thing.” I do mean that.  In which, I’m basically saying “I had an iPhone years ago, I switched to Android and will NEVER go back to an iPhone again.”

Having an iPhone or “Apple” product is like being chained up to a tree or fence post like a dog and being told you can only do so much before they decide to cut you off at what they feel are good “limitations”, which in my opinion are just ways to control everything with the iPhone.

As a custom theme maker, if someone tried to take my Android away and give me an iPhone in exchange… they may as well stick me in a room with all white walls and say “Okay, now… think of what you’d like to do but you aren’t allowed to do it, so you’re stuck with plain, boring, white walls.”

I know I have a lot to say on this matter but seriously, can you really blame me for that?  I’m just sayin’!

Q: Absolutely not, even though I must admit, it’s surprising that you haven’t heard about the infringement trials. Currently, Samsung has been found guilty of infringing upon Apple and the damages rack up to about $1.05 billion. Of course, Samsung still has their appeals process, so we’ll have to see how all of that plays out.

I see you have a pretty extensive theme collection available on the Google Play Store. If you had to pick just one of your themes, which one would you say is your personal favorite, and why?

A: Wow, that’s a very difficult thing to do (picking just one, that is).  I test out all of my themes on my own phone to make sure they look right before I submit them for download so I get to see each of the themes and how they decorate my phone.  However, I am a theme creator which means I like a lot of options so having to choose one out of over 1000 themes is difficult, but given that it’s rather unique compared to any other ones I’d say that I really like GO SMS THEME|CherryBlossom the best.  The style in which the bubbles were made is very different from any others and I spent a long time trying to find the perfect fit for it with everything put together so I’d say that’s my favorite.

Q: Awesome! CherryBlossom is definitely a smokin’ theme.

What is the #1 thing on your wishlist for the future of Android? Any features or implementations you’d like to see in the next version?

A:  Okay, so I’ve been sitting here thinking and it’s actually a good thing, but for the life of me, I can’t think of anything else they could add to Android to make it better. Of course, everything added that they feel would be helpful is good, but Android is so dang cool that I honestly don’t have anything bad to say about it, or rather anything I can think of that they could implement to it to make it better.

In my opinion; Android is already top-of-the-line.  So, instead of saying “sadly I don’t have an answer for you” it’s actually kind of a good thing.

Q:  I have to agree with you there. It’s definitely hard to envision Android any better than it already is, though I’m sure Google will find a way. They always do.

Okay, so enough about smartphones and Android for now. Let’s move on to some off-topic stuff, shall we?

Favorite movie, music genre and color. Go!

A: Favorite Movie: The Hangover (love a great comedy!) Favorite Music (everything, literally! I LOVE music), favorite color(s): hot pink and blue.

Q:  Any sports teams have a special place in your heart?

A: Yes, 49er fan here! Football….I love football!

Q: OOOH! I’ll be pulling for SF. I have their defense in my fantasy league this year LOL!

OK, one more and I’m outta your hair. If you had just one wish, and it could be anything in the world, what would it be?

A: That someone would find a cure for cancer.  My husband is a cancer survivor (he literally died and was brought back to life).  He had cancer back when he was 21 but has been in remission for 8 years now.

One last thing though I would like I add that I forgot to add originally is that, in regards to my developing business on the Google Play Store, I would like everyone to know that I do have a blog where I upload all of my themes to as soon as I submit them to the Google Play Store and within 24 hours I upload a direct link that you can click on.  My website blog is: www.scscreations.blogspot.com

Thank you Tony for taking the time to get to know more about me.  I truly appreciate your time and +OMG!Droid you guys are awesome!

Thank you again, Stephanie! We definitely appreciate you taking the time to tell us about yourself and what you do. We’re excited to share this with our readers and look forward to seeing you on Google+. Make sure to keep us in the loop with your future projects.

If you don’t already have Stephanie in your circles, make sure to add her now. She’s a great addition to the Android community, and an amazing person overall.

Now, let’s take a look at a few of her themes.

GO SMS THEME|CherryBlossom

For those of you who love cherry blossoms or flowers- features a blend of colors including pink, light pink, hot pink, white and black.

Included in this SMS Theme:
-Custom Inbox Background
-Custom Chatroom Background
-Custom Chat Bubbles
-Custom SMS Popup Window
-Custom Top Bar & Bottom Bar
-Custom Font
-Custom Font Colors (if you do not like the font/font color that the themes comes with, you can customize the theme font and font colors in the settings menu under the “advanced” tab in Go SMS Pro. This can be done with ANY Go SMS Pro theme).
-Custom Interface

Download GO SMS THEME|CherryBlossom ($1.99)

GO SMS THEME|ZebraPinkBows

Do you like a clouds, skies, bows, zebra print, animal print or anything cute? Then you’ll like this theme – features a blend of colors including silver, gray, white, black, pink

INCLUDED IN THIS GO SMS THEME:
-Custom Inbox Background
-Custom Chatroom Background
-Custom Chat Bubbles
-Custom SMS Popup Window
-Custom Top Bar & Bottom Bar
-Custom Font
-Custom Font Colors (if you do not like the font/font color that the themes comes with, you can customize the theme font and font colors in the settings menu under the “advanced” tab in Go SMS Pro. This can be done with ANY Go SMS Pro theme).
-Custom Interface

Download GO SMS THEME|ZebraPinkBows ($2.29)

GO THEME|FadedShade

For those of you who like simple shapes, squares, wood grain wallpapers or a faded/shady look. This theme has an encasing around each individual icon- features a blend of colors including blue, light blue, dark blue, gray blue, silver, chrome, charcoal gray, charcoal, light gray, brown, dark brown, tan, beige, chocolate, black, white and gray
~Included in this theme~
-complete set of high resolution icons that automatically change ALL icons once the theme is applied
-3+ interchangeable high resolution wallpapers
-Custom drawer background
-Custom font colors
-Custom folders
-Custom interface & much more!

Download GO THEME|FadedShade ($1.99)

Last, but not least, here’s one for the fellas!

GO SMS THEME|FierceSkulls

Download GO SMS THEME|FierceSkulls

Thanks again, Stephanie!