If Android is fully customizable, why cant you have themes?

[jrl9851]

Just started thinking about this today. I've been with android for a while, but I realized I have only been adding themes once I've rooted. How come stock android phones can't have themes?

 

[dezymond]

hard to find a custom theme on a stock kernel. has to do with coding i guess.

even on my wm6 phone i couldn't get a theme until i flashed a different ROM on it. At least android you can customize to a point.

 

[harrellj]

The main reason is that to theme the phone, system files have to be modified, thats what its only possible to do after rooting.